Tag Archives: DIY

This invisible home theatre system is the coolest way to tidy up the chaos around your 4K TV

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Over the years, we’ve witnessed an astonishing evolution in technology, where televisions have transformed into elegant, slim marvels that effortlessly blend with our décor. Yet, despite their aesthetic appeal, there’s one aspect that remains an eyesore—the untidy chaos that accumulates on the TV stand, stealing away the charm and allure we strive for.

But fear not! If you possess a touch of woodworking finesse and a sprinkle of audio tech know-how, then brace yourself for a game-changing solution presented by the renowned DIY mastermind, YouTuber DIY Perks. With the video demonstration above, embark on a journey that will revolutionize your living room, introducing an invisible 5.1 channel surround sound home theatre project: a spectacle that will leave your guests in awe.

Designer: DIY Perks

Embrace a flawless blend of form and function, where sound seamlessly envelops you from all angles, without a single visible speaker or TV screen to disrupt the aesthetic harmony. With this ingenious DIY project, you can bid farewell to unsightly wires, hindering TV set, and bulky speakers that mar the elegance of your living space.

After awing us over with triple-screen foldable laptop and an invisible PC – built into a table – the intrepid DIYer dares to take the leap and embark on this extraordinary venture where the TV is hidden away from plain sight.

Once the cabinetry hiding the TV is flung open, you have a 5.1 surround sound home theatre system with a 75-inch LG QNED mini LED 4K TV in the center. Along with this, you get a high-power PC, Blu-ray player, and a PlayStation 5 installed in the designated top chamber, to take care of your work and gaming requirements. And to spice up the décor, you have a fuming fireplace at the base of this unit.

This custom invisible 4K TV and home theatre system, unfortunately, doesn’t come in a ready-to-build kit. So, everything there is, and you see in the video, will have to be handcrafted. You can however get a 3D file for the dimensions of this build to set out and try it at home!

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Unique Reuleaux triangle-shaped wheels on this bike is far more comfortable than you’d imagine

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If you thought the square-wheeled bicycle was a logically impossible build, a Reuleaux triangle cycle ride is even bonkers. Sergii Gordieiev, who’s an engineer by profession and inventive fabricator by nature, bamboozled us with his earlier creation and now, another fresh DIY has left us yearning for more.

Just like the square-wheeled bicycle that seemed logically impossible to move – but still, it did smoothly – this ingenious build too surprises with its nifty engineering. The ingenious bicycle riding on wheels with rollers move in a linear manner, forming adjacent lines between each one of the rollers and the flat surface it’s riding on. This enables the triangle wheels to overcome their limitation and roll more comfortably than presumed.

Designer: Sergii Gordieiev

Even more so, the bicycle can traverse and maneuver uneven terrain like dirt trails with equal dexterity. If we think based on the laws of physics, for the Reuleaux triangle-shaped wheels it is the “simplest and best-known curve of constant width other than the circle.”

The DIY bike is ridden like any other pedal-powered bicycle even though it looks highly improbable. Also, the rider doesn’t feel as much discomfort as one would assume. Articulated arms soak up most of the wheel’s movement and don’t transfer it to the rider. Truly a feat of engineering that’s a cakewalk for Sergii, given his previous builds.

Although it doesn’t ride as smoothly as the square-shaped version, still the dampening of all that lateral movement is an achievement. Just seeing those wheels and the noise coming from them will grab anyone’s attention.

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The Beepberry is a messaging gadget that curbs smartphone addiction while looking like a retro BlackBerry

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Pebble smartwatch founder, Eric Migicovsky has been under the wraps for quite some time, and he has a side project that’s got everyone interested. While he’s deeply engrossed with his chat aggregation app Beeper and a mystery Android phone, Eric has gone back to his roots and created a computing device for sending or receiving messages.

Dubbed Beepberry, the strange-looking gadget is a raw prototype that is right out of the hardcore tech DIY realm. It’s a dump phone to get rid of smartphone addiction as the innovator wanted a “weekend device” to keep connected with people but not have the multimedia distractions of a modern phone.

Designer: Beepberry

To keep things simple, the gadget only works with the in-house Beeper app and nothing else is a privilege here. For those who don’t know, Beeper is an all-in-one chat device with all the chat platforms like WhatsApp and iMessage in one place.

Migicovsky says that the raw gadget is essentially an “e-paper Cyberdeck” that seamlessly fits in “your pocket.” For the Beepberry, the creator has mashed up Sharp’s 2.3-inch Memory LCD screen (400×240 resolution), genuine Blackberry Classic keyboard and Raspberry Pi Zero W into one. Since it is virtually open source for now, so in the right hands it acts like a portable e-paper computer for geeks.

In fact, the official website where the Beepberry is up for $79 describes it as a handheld device that can be tweaked for getting weather updates or playing Ascii Star Wars. Since the gadget is barebones for now, you’ll have to figure out a way to somehow hook on the 2,000mAh battery. Some of the demos show the creators using a rubber band to hold it in place!

Shell out $99 and you’ll get a Pi Zero W preinstalled to make things easier. For now, there is no cellular connectivity option, so you’ll not be aware of those messages if they are important. Nor does the gadget come with a case, so you’ll have to 3D-Print it yourself.

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Square-wheeled bicycle does MJ’s moonwalk on the tarmac – and I still can’t get my head around it

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When we think of wheels, the first thing that comes to mind is a circle. But for once, a DIY wants to mess with your perception of how anything on wheels can move in any other geometric shape. Yes, a square-shaped wheel for a bicycle, and it can still be pedaled smoothly – just like Michael Jackson performing Billy Jean!

An engineering feat worth applauding, the wheel on the bicycle doesn’t actually roll, rather the rubber on a conveyer belt-like platform rotates as you put the foot to the pedal. Picture a war tank moving on its metal tracks sans any wheels, only this time around it’s a bicycle and the wheel is square-shaped.

Designer: Sergii Gordieiev

While the bicycle messed with my sense of logic and physics at first, the ingenious custom built started to grow eventually for its actual rideability aspect. You can even take turns with it, so completely useable in a city – for intent and purposes of course. Coming on to the actual build, the engineer turned DIYer used discarded bicycle parts to craft the square shape of the tires with the frame to hold the chainrings in place. Then he added rollable wheels between them to make the rotation smooth with minimum friction. Topping it up with the rectangular chains wrapped in tire rubber completed the DIY.

While the metal used on the wheels makes it bulky, the weight is offset by shredding some of the body. This balances things, making the pedal-powered ride bewilder anyone passing by. Sergii labels this as one of his craziest projects ever, and other projects on his YouTube channel are not ordinary either.

As he cheekily puts it, “Please meet the almost normal bicycle but with one modification – square wheels.”

Is the design practical? Absolutely not, since on ascends the riders will have to sweat it out as compared to a normal bike that has lesser surface area something in contact with the surface it’s riding on. However, we absolutely love the build because of the clever approach the DIYer adopts to turn eyeballs on the pavement. He sure is winning some lady love around town for this bicycle’s swift moves. Smooth Criminal indeed!

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Actually functional tiny washing machine made from Coca Cola feels like a perfect DIY summer project

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This fully-operational washing machine is so tiny that it can’t even accommodate a single sock. However, just because it’s possible to create such a machine doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good idea… but that’s seldom how the internet operates, right?! Meet this tiny little contraption, put together by YouTuber Inventus, using a couple of Coke cans, an empty pill bottle, a flexible straw, popsicle sticks, and a USB-powered mini DC motor. It’s portable (although that’s hardly a feature), and even manages to dry the scrunchies after washing them. Don’t expect different modes for your denims and delicates… they don’t belong here.

Designer: Inventus

Building absurd miniatures from Coke cans seems to be one of Inventus’ more incredible talents. Using the sheet metal of the can to his advantage, Inventus’ YouTube channel features objects like clocks, bicycles, mini vacuum cleaners, and even a functional sewing machine. Obviously, the Coke can isn’t the only thing he uses, but it forms a dominant part of the overall aesthetic. In the case of this washing machine, there’s a DC motor under the hood, and the rotating drum of this top-loader is, in fact, a perforated plastic bottle once used to store medication.

The entire machine holds about a cup of water, and features a drum small enough for scrunchies, ribbons, and maybe shoelaces.

A tiny capful of detergent probably feels like overkill, but anything to get that froth going, right?!

Watching Inventus build the machine out feels like pure eye-therapy. It’s fun as he figures out all the moving (and non-moving) parts, and puts together, using craft tools, what feels like a pretty reliably functional appliance. This would score top marks in a class science project.

The build starts with the drum, which Inventus makes using a half-cut Coke can and a perforated plastic pill bottle. The can remains stationary, while the perforated bottle rotates inside it, creating the vortex forces that help agitate the water and wash the clothes. A mini DC motor sits underneath the drum, powering it at pretty impressive RPM speeds.

The machine’s built to be a top-load style contraption given how much simpler it is. The lid on top rests loosely over the drum, preventing water from splashing out, while the rest of the machine is pretty reliably water-proof, so there’s really no leakage anywhere. Water is poured into the machine using a cup (there’s no fancy tap-connected inlet here), but a pretty elaborate drainpipe lets you drain water out from the machine once a cycle is over.

The top of the soda can gets turned into a lid for the washing machine

Sure, Inventus’ washing machine doesn’t have separate cycles for different clothes, or isn’t even big enough FOR clothes, but it’s a fun build that was enjoyable to watch from start to finish. Personally, I’d upgrade this by adding a Raspberry Pi to this and configure the drum to move in clockwise and counter-clockwise patterns to wash the clothes more effectively. I’d also probably add an LCD display with a timer or a piezo unit to play one of Schubert’s melodies once the cycle is complete. I’d also make it big enough to wash something more than just scrunchies and shoelaces.

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Watch how this rusty old drill bit is converted into a 24k gold-plated Kunai throwing knife

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YouTuber Random Hands has a reputation for transforming absolutely anything into a shiny, brilliantly hand-crafted EDC tool. The man’s turned an anvil into Thor’s Mjolinr, a rusted bolt into a pair of scissors, and now, a grungy industrial drill bit worthy of the scrapyard into a pretty brilliant Kunai throwing knife. The process pretty much started with identifying the right bit of raw material for the project – some bits were too narrow, some too short. Finally, Random Hands settled on a large honker of a drill bit, only because the actual drill part would be practically unusable. Made from incredibly hard materials, the drill would be difficult to forge, and would crack if hammered into shape. Instead, the rest of the bit would be where Random Hands worked his magic. A bit of forging, hammering, angular-grinding, polishing, and anodizing later, the bit got turned from a rusty old mess into a shimmering Kunai. As impressive as the end result is, the process is just as enticing, as Random Hands gives you a sneak peek at every single process required to get from raw material to finished EDC.

Designer: Random Hands

One-half of the drill bit was used to make the Kunai. It involved separating the hardened steel from the softer low-carbon steel part and then forging the low-carbon steel into a flat plate. Random Hands then used a drawn template to create the Kunai’s design on the flat metal slab, before cutting the slab to the desired shape.

Once cut, the Kunai went to the lathe machine to smooth out the handle, and the sanding machine to flatten out the blade, its edges, and the handle. As the Kunai’s final form took shape, Random Hands chucked it back in the oven to help the surface harden, before polishing it and letting it rest in pre-heated sand.

Before polishing

After polishing

The polished Kunai is then nickel-plated before getting a plating of 24-carat gold. Once coated with a shimmering layer of the precious metal, the Kunai is finished with a woven grip, right before it gets tested against a dart board. The Kunai was originally a farming and general-purpose tool in Japan, which was then adapted as a throwing weapon by the ninjas. It’s unclear if this particular 24k gold Kunai is up for sale, but Random Hands does mention that it weighs a hefty 328 grams.

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This 43-inch screen laptop defies portability, proving bigger is not always better

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While most of us purchase a laptop for its portability, on the other end of the spectrum, efforts are being made to create a computing machine that is a behemoth. Just for the sake of creating such a gadget or you can say, going by the notion “bigger is better.”

We saw a humungous 17.3-inch display laptop by Lenovo at CES 2023 with an eye-popping 21-10 ultra-wide aspect ratio. Even Razer created an 18-inch screen lappy recently.  If that’s not huge enough, rewind your memories back to the year 2017 when Acer introduced us all to a 21-inch laptop.

Designer: Evan and Katelyn

Minisculing all of them is this DIY laptop which should claim the tag of being the world’s largest laptop ever. It has a 43-inch display which should put even your desktop setup to shame. This custom build is the work of YouTube creators Evan and Katelyn, who’s bloated up the perception of the visual world we are accustomed to. Yes, this laptop is by no means portable, and nowhere near lightweight weighing 100 pounds. In fact, this custom build is something straight out of the Gulliver’s world.

A laptop this big should and could sandwich your hands if you are careless in closing the lid. Reason enough for the duo to incorporate robust metal rails to create the industrial-strength hinge. This raises, lowers, or even locks the screen in the desired position courtesy of adjustable tension levers. A laptop such big requires a keypad and trackpad to match the gigantic looks, hence, an oversized Redragon K605 mechanical keyboard and a touchpad the size of a normal laptop are used. Even though the Redragon K605 is a monstrous keyboard in its own right, here even it looks minuscule.

On the inside, the huge laptop gets an Intel NUC 11 mini desktop computer, so high-end gaming is out of the question. A laptop of this size requires tons of power to function portably. Therefore, the duo has fitted massive 150W batteries to supply power for the big screen, mini PC, and the other installed hardware. To polish things off, they installed RGB LED lighting on all sides, and the final build looks impressive considering the DIYers have not tried out such geeky creations in the past. The only thing needed to certify this as the world’s biggest laptop is a visit from the Guinness World Records team to make everything official.

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DIY wall clock is an enchanting way to tell time using prismatic lights

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Clocks, especially the ones we put up on walls, are no longer the single-function products of ages past. Many of them also serve as decorations, sometimes to the point that telling the time has become secondary and almost optional. That’s the case for some clocks that look stunning in terms of aesthetics but sometimes at the expense of easy readability of the time. Given how wall clocks are rarely used to accurately read the time down to the minute, however, that shouldn’t be a problem for most cases anyway. That, in turn, allows for a lot more freedom in how to represent time. This beautiful DIY project, for example, almost completely does away with the convention of distinct clock hands, instead using different hues of light to let you eyeball the time to some extent.

Designer: David Tweeto

Like many DIY wall clock projects, this Decorative Analog Clock involves quite a number of small electronics, wiring, and a bit of 3D printing. As the name suggests, however, this clock bucks the trend of defaulting to a digital presentation and clings to the analog way of telling time, at least in theory. In reality, it is completely driven by software, and the three distinct light colors each tell a different aspect of the time, just like physical hands.

Instead of ticking gears, the Decorative Analog LED Strip IoT Clock uses a small microchip that syncs with NTP (Network Time Protocol) server to know the time. This also controls a strip of 120 LEDs that is folded to form 60 pairs of LEDs back to back, running the strip inside a wide wooden ring that serves as the “face” of the clock. Although it would have been easier to 3D print a plastic ring cover, wood had the advantage of not only looking more stylish but also preventing the light from bleeding through.

The light uses the three primary colors of light (not pigment) to indicate time. Red is used to tell the seconds, and it only shines outward from the rim. Green is for the minutes, and its short light is also on the outer periphery of the circle. Finally, blue stands for the hour, and it is the only one that shines inside the hole of the ring.

In practice, this light analog clock isn’t exactly good at giving you the exact time since the lights can occupy more than just a single “tick” in the clock. It can still give you a general idea, though, which is what analog wall clocks are often used for anyway. As mentioned, the actual clock feature becomes secondary with these decorative clocks, and this DIY project definitely fulfills the primary purpose with much success, especially when the lights are dimmed. It creates a beautiful splash of colors on your wall, serving as a piece of light art that some might not even associate with a clock, even with the red light moving around the circle every second.

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DIY AR glasses get a bit geekier with this monocle clip-on

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Hollywood had us dreaming about augmented reality way before “metaverse” became an overhyped buzzword. Of course, fiction and reality don’t always see eye-to-eye, pun intended, and experiencing this augmented reality has been less than ideal, if not unreachable, for most people. The problem has been making AR hardware available and accessible to more people, not to mention comfortable to wear, unlike your typical helmet-like headsets. AR glasses are the ideal solution, but the technology just isn’t completely there yet to make that happen. In the meantime, creative and adventurous people are making their own designs and interpretations of this largely unexplored territory, and this open source device turns any eyewear into AR glasses, though with a very distinct aesthetic that might look a tad ridiculous to some.

Designer: Brilliant Labs

The AR hardware problem has always been a matter of size. While gear like the Microsoft HoloLens or even the new Meta Quest Pro is powerful, they’re also bulky and heavy. AR glasses, on the other hand, not only have significantly limited hardware but also have to make sure that the wearer’s line of sight is still clear. Putting a display in front of both eyes might seem ideal, but just having the screen on one or the other eye is more realistic.

This is the kind of design that the defunct Google Glass adopted, and Monocle has taken it to the extreme. Just like its namesake, it’s a circular device that goes over just one eye, leaving the other free of any obstruction. Unlike existing AR glasses today, though, it doesn’t come as a complete eyewear product. Instead, you clip the Monocle onto any pair of glasses, which is especially useful if you wear a prescription.

The device isn’t exactly the sleekest way to get an AR experience with your regular glasses. It has to be thick to hold all the electronics in a single piece, including a 720p camera, a 640×400 OLED display, Bluetooth, and a battery. It’s pretty much a small, partly transparent puck that you attach to your glasses, ensuring that everyone will know you’re looking at them with more than just your human eyes.

What makes Monocle different from commercial AR gear is that both its software and its design are open source. Anyone with enough knowledge, experience, and patience could, in theory, do their own thing, perhaps tweaking the design to make it perhaps a bit less conspicuous. For the rest of us, however, Brilliant Labs is selling the finished product for $349, which includes a charging case in the box.

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This mini electric drill pen and benchtop press make crafts easier and more enjoyable

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Back in the day, bringing your creative visions to life was mostly a pipe dream that could only become a reality if you had resources or connections with people in the industry. Fortunately, it’s much easier to get started today, and while you do still need to save up for the right tools, those won’t require taking out huge loans anymore. 3D printing has made creation a lot easier, but it isn’t the only tool you’ll need for crafts and projects. There will be times when you’ll need to bore holes into materials and objects, and that’s where this drill and press duo comes in, providing a portable yet powerful tool to make your designs come alive in the real world in a simple yet effective way.

Designers: Yin Liu, Shi Teng Yuan & Chun Hiu Tseung

Click Here to Buy Now: $129 $220 (41% off). Hurry, only 104/500 left! Raised over $160,000.

You might think you need something like a bulky power tool just to put holes in parts and materials, and that may be true for larger or thicker pieces, especially metal, but not all crafts actually use those. For smaller or thinner materials, especially those that need finer precision, a smaller drill will be more efficient. Fortunately, that’s exactly what the SDS ULTRA brings to the table, almost literally, providing an electric drill that can easily fit in your pocket if you really need it to.

The SDS ULTRA PLUS comes in two parts. The most important is, of course, the pen-sized mini drill that you can use any time you need to put a hole into something. Its rounded rectangular shape makes it easy to hold in your hand and ensures that it won’t roll off tables when you put it down. Despite its small size, it houses a 500mAh battery that lets you work cable-free for up to three hours. And when that time is up, charging via a USB-C cable means you can top off even using your phone’s charger or a power bank.

The drill pen is the epitome of “small but powerful,” possessing much-needed features to make drilling a breeze. Compared to previous models, it boasts a top speed of 600RPM, but you can actually set different modes to lower the speed as needed down to 300RPM. An easy-to-use switch lets you switch modes, which you can clearly see thanks to the built-in LCD screen on the pen’s body. And unlike any mini drill, the SDS ULTRA has four shadow-less LED lights that let you see your target more clearly. The drill bits are made from titanium-coated steel for high wear resistance and low friction coefficient, making them ideal for working with wood, aluminum, plastic, or even circuit boards.

Users can freely adjust the gap between the drill bit to the bottom plate from 33mm to 83mm.

Holding the electric drill pen in your hand might be fine for some processes or materials, but if you need a more stable surface to work on, the SDS ULTRA PLUS also has you covered. It comes with a Hedgehog Benchtop Drill Press when you need more control and accuracy in where to put those holes. Made from aviation aluminum alloy for durability and corrosion resistance.

Precise Multi-angle Adjustment – The holder rotates up to 180° to drill, polish, sand, and more at any angle.

Users can switch the drill angle to +/- 15, 30, 45, 90, or 180 degrees are used for tasks such as polishing metal objects, sanding different shapes, and sanding metal pieces.

Drill Bit Placement – Has dedicated slots for ten drill bits so that you can easily pick and swap the bit you need right then and there.

The drill press isn’t just a place to hold your drill, though. It also has dedicated slots for ten drill bits so that you can easily pick and swap the bit you need right then and there. The press’s adjustable height and 360-degree rotating head offer the utmost convenience to crafters and makers.

And when the work is done, you can easily stash the SDS ULTRA drill pen and its bits inside a CNC Alloy Storage Box that you can slip into your bag or even your pocket. You never have to be limited to doing work in a sequestered workshop or room, waiting for the perfect opportunity to start drilling. For only $129, the SDS ULTRA PLUS Mini Electric Drill Pen and Hedgehog Benchtop Press offer a convenient and portable tool that lets you work on your crafts and projects almost anywhere the inspiration strikes.

Click Here to Buy Now: $129 $220 (41% off). Hurry, only 104/500 left! Raised over $160,000.

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