By Rain Noe - Sep 15

Videos on Furniture Design, Production Efficiency, Organization and Some Just Plain Nifty Stuff

Weekly Makers Roundup

Weekly Maker’s Roundup is a weekly list of our favorite builds, tips and tricks for makers. Ranging from classic to novel, practical to outrageous, these projects represent what making is all about—problem solving and having fun.

By Rain Noe - Sep 08

How to Build a Mobile Bar Cart, Epoxy-ize Chair/Table Feet for Protection, Turn Stone Into Jewelry & More

Weekly Makers Roundup

Weekly Maker’s Roundup is a weekly list of our favorite builds, tips and tricks for makers. Ranging from classic to novel, practical to outrageous, these projects represent what making is all about—problem solving and having fun.

By Rain Noe - Sep 04

How to Make a Leather Handle Wrap--Without Stitching

This craftsman's experimental technique looks pretty cool

Artist Cam Bergerman counts archery and leatherworking among his hobbies. Having learned how to craft leather handle wraps the traditional way, with stitching, he decided to experiment a bit: I had an idea a while back for a way to join a seam in leather without anything but the leather

By Rain Noe - Sep 01

How to Build a Workbench Out of Plywood, Cut Circles with a Circular Saw, Line Wood with Steel & More

Weekly Makers Roundup

Weekly Maker’s Roundup is a weekly list of our favorite builds, tips and tricks for makers. Ranging from classic to novel, practical to outrageous, these projects represent what making is all about—problem solving and having fun.

By Rain Noe - Sep 01

Resource: Free Plans/CAD Drawings to Make Your Own Custom Systainer Inserts

Festool users have already done the measuring work for you

When it comes to modular, portable tool storage, it's hard to beat the Systainers designed by German company Tanos. They come in five sizes and can be linked together for easy transport. While Systainers can be purchased separately at places like Woodcraft, Tool Nut and Amazon, Festool products all come

By Rain Noe - Aug 31

A DIY Contraption for Height-Adjustable Drill Press Outfeed Support

Tell me if you've been in this situation: 1. You need to put holes in a very long workpiece using your drill press. 2. You find clamping the piece to the bed impractical or impossible. 3. You decide that rigging up proper-height outfeed support is too time-consuming.

By Joel Moskowitz - Aug 30

Tools & Craft #62: MoMA's Lost History of Woodworking and Craft Classes

Nowadays the Museum of Modern Art, aka MoMA, is well known for a rarified take on expensive modern art. I try to go visit MoMA several times a year (natives and savvy tourists know when the $25 admission fee is waived) and often feel frustrated by the insularity and smug

By Rain Noe - Aug 29

Does Your Camera Get Hot During Long Shoots? Here's How to Hack a Heat Sink to It

Making things can be time-consuming, and if you're recording your entire process on video, your camera can start to heat up as the minutes tick past. Industrial designer Eric Strebel found his Lumix GF7 getting so hot that it would shut itself off. Strebel's solution: Harvest an aluminum heat

By Rain Noe - Aug 29

The DTV Shredder: A Cross Between a Skateboard, a Snowmobile and a Scooter

Young inventor Ben Gulak has created a compact, year-round off-road vehicle

Canadian inventor Ben Gulak conceived of the DTV shredder, the unusual vehicle you see here, while he was still a teenager. His motivation was practical: “It doesn’t make sense to have to buy an expensive snowmobile that you can ride for three months of the year and an ATV

By Rain Noe - Aug 25

A Table Saw Accident, How to Install Anti-Split Bowties, Design & Build a Chair & More

Weekly Makers Roundup

Weekly Maker’s Roundup is a weekly list of our favorite builds, tips and tricks for makers. Ranging from classic to novel, practical to outrageous, these projects represent what making is all about—problem solving and having fun.

By Emily Engle - Aug 25

Nike Encourages At-Home Sneaker Customization with the Gakou Flyknit

Logo placement put into consumer hands

Tired of seeing the Nike swoosh in the same place, over and over? Tired of seeing logos on sneakers in general? Nike's now giving you the option to place your own or opt-out entirely with their recently released Gakou Flyknit. In all honesty, the design of the sneaker itself isn't all that revolutionary—by this point, we've all grown accustomed to sock-like shoes being worn everywhere from the gym to the office.

By Rain Noe - Aug 25

Resource: Free (and Almost Free) Downloadable Photoshop Metal Styles

No need to reinvent the wheel when you can snag one of these

We know many of you have access to top-notch rendering programs and/or fast manual rendering skills, but sometimes you just need to bang something out quickly in Photoshop. In that instance it might be handy to have, say, a bunch of metal styles you can apply to type. SpoonGraphics has

By Shannon Rogers - Aug 24

Hand Tool School #43: Improve Your Hand Tool Skills with One Thing

Mastering this will fix a lot of issues

I get a lot of questions about hand tools. When you get past the "should I buy this or that" or "what should I get first" questions and get down to the usage questions where a woodworker is struggling with a tool or getting uncertain results, invariably they can all

By Rain Noe - Aug 22

3D Printing Ergonomic Knobs with a Resin Core

Hack your tools for greater efficiency

If you're making something for yourself and casting it in resin, you can probably live with the inevitable air bubbles that appear in the object. But if you're an industrial designer prototyping something a client's going to see, bubbles are a no-no. That's why professional prototypers like Eric Strebel use

By Rain Noe - Aug 11

Tiny Space Living: Ikeahacks...from Ikea

Kitchen cabinets in the bedroom and other tricks

I came across this interesting series of videos in Ikea's archives. Called the "Square Meter Challenge," Ikea's designers were tasked with using Ikea products to create livable, functional, comfortable space in some seriously tiny footprints. They start off with on-screen drawings explaining the concept behind each space, then show you

By Core Jr - Aug 09

We Asked DIY Designer Ben Uyeda 5 Questions

Uyeda tells us what his favorite DIY tool is and how to monetize your YouTube content

Over the past few weeks, we've been fielding questions from our Core77 audience for a favorite YouTube maker of ours, Ben Uyeda of HomeMade Modern. Founded in 2013, Uyeda has managed to build up a collection of videos showing anyone how to make simple yet elegant DIY projects. In the

By Rain Noe - Jul 20

Clever Designs for Perpetual Calendars

…that all have one glaring design flaw

For those of you that still use physical calendars, maybe you like having a dozen photos of hapless kittens or shirtless firemen cycling through the months. But a subset of you might prefer a single grid that will serve for the entire year and that doesn't have any pages to

By Rain Noe - Jul 20

Make This DIY Ruler Stop

Designed by a Dutch guy named Bas

Combination squares come in very handy in the shop. But the thing I hate is that I'll often set the depth, then need to leave it at that setting for various stages in a project, and I basically can't use the square for anything else in the meanwhile. For that

By Core Jr - Jul 20

Sponsored Post: Building Better Products Through High Fidelity Prototypes & Low Volume Manufacturing

Every product starts as an aspirational vision for how the finished result should look, feel, and function in the consumer's hands. However, the design process to transform ideas into mass manufacturable products is a road paved by technical reality and practical compromise. Mitigating risk before investing in mass manufacturing is

By Core Jr - Jul 19

Q&A with Ben Uyeda of HomeMade Modern: Send Us Your Questions

Got any questions for this Master of DIY?

Ben Uyeda has made a splash on Youtube with his HomeMade Modern video series, managing to turn perceptions of DIY from a novice craft practice into a pastime for the design-minded that should be taken seriously. A former architect, he's one of the masters in the DIY video community when

By Rain Noe - Jul 18

FoamCore Basics, Modeling Tips & Tricks for Designers, Part 2: Making Clean, Curved Shapes

Here in Part 2 of this series, pro industrial designer Eric Strebel shows you how to go beyond flat/straight shapes when working with FoamCore. Follow Strebel's tips to get a variety of different radii while keeping your piece clean-looking and professional:

By Fictiv Inc. - Jul 17

A List of CAD Software Programs, Both Paid and Free

Designing 3D parts is tough, but with good software it becomes easier. Everyone has their favorite tool, and below we outline some of the most popular CAD programs. And if you're prototyping on a budget, or have a quick fix to make, there's lots of great free tools out there

By Shannon Rogers - Jul 13

Hand Tool School #38: Hand Tool Shortcuts

Breaking power tool habits can make your handwork faster

When you woodwork all by hand, you need to find some shortcuts to speed up the processes that normally we would do with power tools. I'm going to show you a shortcut where you can skip shooting the ends of a board and create a new reference surface for all

By Rain Noe - Jul 11

Ten Nifty Linkage Designs

Ten Fold Engineering's mechanicals enable different types of transformations

At the heart of things that can mechanically transform, whether it's Optimus Prime, a sofabed or a scissor lift, are linkages. With a cleverly-designed linkage, you can create cool things like Haefele's Lemans corner cabinet pull-out: Independent of Haefele's invention, a company called Ten Fold Engineering has devised and patented

By Allison Fonder - Jul 10

The Exposed Plywood Trend in Architecture and How to Make It Look Great

Where and how did this trend emerge?

Sheathing plywood: an incredibly practical and long lasting material when it comes to building the exterior of homes but rarely has it been lauded for its refined look. If you're one to frequent architectural magazines or Pinterest, you may have noticed in the past couple years the material showing up

By Fictiv Inc. - Jul 10

Understanding the Different Types of 3D Files

You should know your .STLs from your .STPs

There are three different types of digital files, broadly speaking: ones for printing, ones for modeling, and ones for 2D drawings. In order to produce a physical part, a 3D printer requires a specific file type. Known as a 'mesh model', the most common file type for 3D printing is

By Rain Noe - Jul 07

FoamCore Basics: Modeling Tips & Tricks for Designers, Part 1

What to do and, more importantly, what not to do when using the material

Industrial designer Eric Strebel's got a new series, this one on working a ubiquitous mock-up material for ID'ers and architects: FoamCore (or "FoamBoard" for those outside the U.S.). Here he shows you how to move beyond the primitive techniques you used at design school and up your game a bit:

By Rain Noe - Jul 04

How to Make Your Own Mechanic's Creeper with Onboard Lighting and Tool Storage

Bob Clagett's functional DIY design

You can spend as little as 20 bucks for a cheapie mechanic's creeper, or upwards of 150 for a fancy one. However, here Bob Clagett shows you how easy it is to build your own, to your exact specifications and dimensions, while adding some extra functionality to boot:

By Rain Noe - Jul 03

Furniture Finesse: How to Easily Create Pillowed Legs

No power tools necessary

While the legs of any wooden piece of furniture often start out as perfectly rectilinear off of the table saw, sometimes that blocky shape doesn't work with your final design. Tapers are easy enough to do with a tapering jig, and of course you could turn them on a lathe,

By Rain Noe - Jun 30

How to Build Furniture With Limited Tools

Creativity on an extreme budget

Here's a prime example of "If there's a will, there's a way." Izzy Swan demonstrates that you don't need a lot of fancy tools nor a huge budget in order to create things. Watch how he creates a sofa table while spending practically nothing on tools and materials:

By David Frane - Jun 29

How to Move an 800,000 Pound Tree

Half the battle is getting it out of the ground

I've read a number of stories about the 100-year-old giant sequoia that was recently moved to a new location in Boise, Idaho. Without exception, they concentrate on the most dramatic, but to me the least interesting part—the tree being moved on rollers. Don't get me wrong; moving giant objects is

By Rain Noe - Jun 28

Upcoming "Digital Self-Defense and Empowerment Workshops"

One day only, experts at the New Museum will provide free training on how to protect yourself

For those of you in the NYC area this summer, the New Museum is holding a fascinating-sounding series of "Digital Self-Defense and Empowerment Workshops" on July 22nd. This afternoon of workshops extends the exhibition's inquiry into the complexities of determining identity and truth to the online sphere. Addressing increasing