Tag: Inspiration

Here's what we looked at this week:Sony's personal wearable air conditioner / heater is coming to the U.S. Architect Paco Martinez's low-tech height-adjustable workbench.Star-M's substantial No. 4960 edge band trimmer.

Yesterday we wrote about the Japanese trend of making tools with a matte black finish. Today we've tracked down the origin of that trend.Just over a decade ago Yasunobu Nozaki, the President of Japanese tool brand Fujiya, felt that the market was ready for design-forward tools. "Around [the 2010s], Japanese manufacturing began to shift away from low-cost, mass-production models, and people started to demand value that brings richness to the heart," Nozaki said in an interview. "In other words, it is important to create products that are market-oriented, listening to users' opinions, rather than product-oriented, which sells what you have made. That's where

"Form Follows Fabrication" is the motto of Steel & Form, a UK-based metal fabricator. The firm employs designers, engineers and craftspeople. "We recently completed this bespoke handrail for a high-end private client, designed to blend strength with understated elegance," they write. "Precision fabricated and carefully installed, every detail was considered to complement the surrounding architecture."

Tool retail sites are now flooded with anonymous designs from China. The anonymity is a pity, because assuming this works as advertised, the inventor deserves points for thriftiness and creativity.Sharpening drill bits is often done at a bench grinder, using a relatively pricey adjustable-angle grinding attachment that you bolt to the bench: In contrast, this green gewgaw clips onto an angle grinder's shroud, vastly easing set-up:

As we know, even tools are susceptible to fashion trends. In Japan, tradespeople are coming to prefer tools with a matte black finish, as demonstrated by this All Black sledge. Made by tool brand Tsubaki Model, the double-headed hammer features a faceted steel head and a glass-fiber-reinforced polypropylene handle.

About thirty years ago, Swedish company W.steps invented the telescoping ladder. Now they've made it a bit safer for use in tricky places, with these add-on Adjustable Safety Feet. They're a lot larger in person than they appear in the photos. The feet are on ball joints, allowing them to tackle both level and slanted terrain.

This sexy piece of hardware is a quick-release pin. The ball end of the pin locks into a socket within the latch bolt. To release it, you press the spring-loaded button in the head of the latch bolt. Originally designed for automotive applications, you can use them anywhere you've got a panel that you'd like to quickly remove.

A group of freshmen at the Olin College of Engineering built this autonomous self-balancing bicycle:View the full content here

This Gordix invention, by Taiwanese manufacturer Muherz, aims to offer CNC-mill-like capabilities, without the bulk of a gantry and table. You drop a trim router inside the object, and then unfurl four belts from its corners. These belts are then connected to the four corners of your workpiece—a 4x8 sheet of plywood, say—and the device uses the belts to sense its precise position as it cuts.

Elevator indicator panels take up a certain amount of wall space. Installers cut a hole in the wall roughly the size of the panel. However, Mitsubishi Electric Building Solutions has designed an easier-to-install solution. Their Projection Lantern for elevators requires just three holes: One for the wiring, and two for the anchor bolts that hold the bracket. There is no large