20 most recent innovations in tools

Bilateral Laser Distance Measurer

Wed, 29 Mar 2017 00:00:00 Z

Makers looking for an accurate measuring device may be interested in the world’s first bilateral laser distance measure which is being created by Magpie Tech.

VH-80 shoots two pulses of laser light from two sources in opposite directions and measures the amount of time it takes for each pulse to bounce back to its accompanied sensors. Since light moves at a constant, VH-80 can calculate the distance between itself and the targets with high accuracy.

From ancient foot steps to modern laser technology, the measurement tool went through many transformations. But, one factor never changed: the necessity to start from 0 to your destination. Most cases, the measurer must travel with the tool as well. It’s something we may take for granted, a common sense process. But is it?

Hand-Held Laser Makes Rust Literally Evaporate

Fri, 03 Feb 2017 00:00:00 Z

The system uses short pulses of laser light. When aimed at a metal surface, "the dirt layer and any oxides underneath will absorb the energy and evaporate." The metal underneath will not absorb the laser energy, leaving nothing but a clean surface ready for welding or painting.

Portable Pocket-Sized Duct Tape

Thu, 05 Jan 2017 00:00:00 Z

RediTape is a brilliant, yet simple solution to the age old problem of how to fit one’s incredibly useful roll of duct tape while on the move. Designer Jay Kolb found that the large cardboard interior was not necessary and traded it for a flatter, flexible material, making the roll smaller, more convenient and far more portable.

Metamaterial Mechanisms

Mon, 12 Sep 2016 00:00:00 Z

Researchers started to engineer not only the outer shape of objects, but also their internal microstructure. Such objects, typically based on 3D cell grids, are also known as metamaterials. Metamaterials are artificial structures with mechanical properties that are defined by their usually repetitive cell patterns, rather than the material they are made of.

So far, metamaterials were understood as materials but you can think of them also as machines.

The concept of metamaterials is pushed further by creating objects that allow for controlled directional movement. This allows users to create objects that perform mechanical functions. Our objects thereby implement devices that transform input forces and movement into a desired set of output forces and movement—also known as mechanisms.

An Effortless Key Ring

Wed, 24 Aug 2016 00:00:00 Z

The key ring was invented more than a century ago; a simple device that holds our keys together.

Key rings are hard to use, requiring force and prying. They chip fingernails, hurt, and cause relentless frustration.

By adding a small tab it is now very easy to add keys to the ring.

Crinkling Bicycle Wrench

Fri, 19 Aug 2016 00:00:00 Z

The Crankl is a torque wrench that is designed to be used in order to secure your bike's tightening components appropriately.

Developed by British inventor Tom Lawrie-Fussey, the Crankl is superior to other torque wrenches available on the market because it is designed to be capable of performing hundreds of procedures without suffering lasting damage. It also has a different indication system to convey to users when the appropriate amount of torque is reached -- rather than simply tightening in place, the Crankl's body crinkles, at which point you know it's time to stop turning the wrench.

UV Liquid Plastic Welder

Wed, 17 Dec 2014 00:00:00 Z

Perhaps you've had one or more of the following experiences when trying to stick items together using super glue: the glue sets before the objects can be properly aligned, it won't set fast enough, or it hardens inside the bottle once it's been opened. Well, Bondic is claimed to have none of those problems. It's described as a "liquid plastic welder" that sets within four seconds, but only once it's been exposed to an included UV light.

First of all, adhesives that are cured using ultraviolet light have indeed been around for some time. They typically require users to supply their own UV light, however, and thus are usually limited to industrial or even medical applications.

By contrast, Bondic comes with its own UV LED that sits on the end of a reusable cartridge filled with the liquid plastic.

The liquid is applied via a needle-type applicator, to items made out of materials including plastic, metal, fiberglass or wood. It can then be worked with until users have got everything set up the way they wish. They then just shine the light on the liquid for four seconds, which is reportedly all that's required to cause it to harden.

Along with simply joining things together, this technique also allows successive layers of the plastic to be laid down one on top of another, in order to fill gaps. Once a gap is filled, the hardened plastic can be sanded, polished or painted as needed.

Magnetic Wall-Mounted Bottle Opener

Thu, 27 Nov 2014 00:00:00 Z

Wall-mounted bottle openers are great in and of themselves. It's the 21st century—we shouldn't be using both of our hands like some kind of animal. But Dropcatch cleverly takes this modern convenience one step further with bottle cap catching magnets.

No more inconsiderate house guests littering your floor with small, jagged pieces of metal. Because soon as you pop the bottle open, the cap patiently waits on the mount to be removed at your leisure. There are even two versions—a Junior size that holds up to 15 caps or a Senior size that catches up to 52, making it great for parties and extra lonely nights alike.

Multifunctional Tool Pen

Thu, 27 Nov 2014 00:00:00 Z

If you’re going to drop a pen in your pocket for unexpected note taking, you may as well choose one that can come in handy in other situations. This Multifunction Tool Pen isn’t just a trusty writing instrument, it also includes both a flathead and Phillips head screwdriver, a level, a stylus, an eraser, and a ruler.

A Compass That Can Draw Digital Files

Wed, 26 Nov 2014 00:00:00 Z

Ken Nakagaki's Comppass brings an age old design tool into the modern era. "The initial idea came from simple curiosity. How would it feel to draw a square with a compass?" Nakagaki told Dezeen.

Equipped with Bluetooth, it is able to draw 2-D shapes from digital files that are beamed over via iPhone. Two steel rods emerge from a center that is stuck into the paper, and by rotating the rods 360 degrees, the attached arm can trace or cut the programmed shape, just like a regular compass drawing a circle. The Comppass also can easily trace existing shapes from paper—or any desired shape you conjure up—to store in its memory as a digital file from which exact copies can be made immediately. Even more amazingly, the "copy and paste" function even works with 3-D objects, automatically drawing a shape that can be folded into the dimensions measured.

"Down the ages, people have been used rulers or compasses to draw precise figures with their own hands," Nakagaki told Dezeen. "On the other hand, as computers developed, CAD software has enabled us to draw precise figures and duplicate them easily on the display. But these systems lack the intuitiveness of drawing on paper. We needed a drawing tool that included the advantages of both digital and manual."

Nakagaki's Comppass was shortlisted for the James Dyson Foundation Award, which went to James Roberts for his cheap inflatable baby incubator.

Tool-less Connectors

Tue, 07 Oct 2014 00:00:00 Z

IKEA designers have developed new, no-tools-required connectors for their new Regissör line of furniture. Rather than using knock-down fasteners, they've created a wooden plug that looks like a cross between a dowel and a honey dipper.

The way that these "honey-dipper dowels" (not what they're officially called, but better than the "wedge dowel" title other blogs are calling it, which makes no sense) work is that the narrower end is pre-installed at the factory, leaving an exposed male end.

The female end of the connection, meanwhile, has been plunge-routed into the surface-to-be-adjoined, keyhole-style. Because the router bit has the same accordion-like profile of the dowel head, the male end then slides into the routed grooves, maximizing the contact area to create a nice friction fit.

Dust Extractor Gives You An Extra Hand

Mon, 18 Aug 2014 00:00:00 Z

Festool has a new tool accessory that at first sight looks like a gimmick, but it turns out it might be more useful than you think. The new Festool CT Wings is an add-on that turns your dust extractor into an expensive, but useful, third arm.

Attaching to the end of your dust extractor hose, the CT Wings use the powerful suction of your dust extractor to clamp themselves to walls, ceilings or other flat surfaces. Once suction-clamped in place, you can rotate the "wings" to help you hold materials in place. They could be useful when doing crown by yourself, but so are these crown hooks, which cost only a few bucks.

Multi-Tool Pen

Mon, 14 Jul 2014 00:00:00 Z

Those in the market for a new multi-tool already have plenty of choice, but Mininch aims to stand out from the crowd with its Tool Pen: a screwdriver-like tool which draws inspiration from a 1980s kid's pencil and can carry six bits in its barrel.

The Tool Pen is made from aluminum, and is available in silver, champagne, or gunmetal. It measures 15 cm (6.2 in) long and 1.75 cm (0.68 in) in diameter – so it's bigger than your average pen, but still pocketable.

With the six bits inside, the total weight of the tool comes to 93 grams (3.2 ounces). The side of the barrel includes windows, which allow the user to work out where the required bit is, and there's also a magnet-secured lid to stop you stabbing yourself.

The bits are available in various sizes and come in slotted, Phillips, hexagon and star shapes. When you need to change one bit for another, it's pulled off and inserted down the back of the barrel – this action pushes out the next bit in the line. There's a ring in place to stop the bit popping out the back again when pressure is added. According to Mininch, the mechanism used draws inspiration from the "Pop-A-Point" pen and pencil line from the 80s.

Fast Bicycle Flat Tire Repair Tool

Fri, 20 Jun 2014 00:00:00 Z

For something that can happen so easily, a flat tire is responsible for a disproportionate amount of angst. Even if your wheels spin on the quickest of quick-release axles, patching up a tube or replacing it all together can be as frustrating as it is time consuming. The team behind patchnride has developed a device claimed to quickly repair a punctured inner tube, no greased-covered hands or fidgety levers required.

As the name suggests, patchnride is designed to provide a quick-fix for a punctured tire, without having to remove the wheel. Unlike the SLiME Smart Tubes and Michelin Protek Max inner tube, which offer a self-contained solution, the patchnride is a separate tool that is small enough to keep in your pocket.

As with conventional patching jobs, the first step is to locate the leak. The patchnride kits includes a leak detector, which is essentially a liquid solution and a cloth. Rubbing the solution over the tire reacts with the air that is being released and causes bubbles to form at the site of the leak.

After pinching the tube, the tool's pointed tip is inserted into the puncture with a twisting motion. Using a thumb slider, patchnride injects a patch and adhesive from a single use cartridge (called a "patch pod") into the puncture. Pumping the tube full of air then causes it to press the patch against the underside of the tire and lock it in place, leaving the hole sealed tight and you with enough pressure to continue the ride. According to the developers, the process takes less than 60 seconds and requires little technical know how.

Auto-Expanding/Contracting Hose

Mon, 14 Apr 2014 00:00:00 Z

This is the only 100' hose that uses only water pressure to automatically expand for use and contract to 65% the size of a typical hose for convenient storage. Its 100' length enables one to reach flower beds as easily as all sides of automobiles without the need for multiple hoses. Its construction includes a durable, multi-layered 3/4" tubular latex inner-diameter hose that generates robust water flow and an outer covering made from strong nylon webbing. Capped on both ends with solid brass fittings that include an integrated valve, its patented design ensures against twists, tangles, or kinks, providing easy maneuverability.

A 3D Printing Tattoo Machine

Fri, 11 Apr 2014 00:00:00 Z

Behold, the first human to be tattooed by a 3D printer. The machine tattooed a ring on his forearm.

It all started with an idea that came to Pierre Emm, a young student in France, while riding his bike on the way to design school.

Working with his fellow design students, Piotr Widelka and Johan Da Silveira, Emm took a MakerBot Replicator 3-D printer and reconfigured it to "make the machine more incarnate," as he describes to NPR. "An image passes very quickly ... I wished to give them more time." So the students hacked a printer to write an image on human skin.

The prototype for this hack was built as part of a challenge set up by France's Cultural Ministry, to get students to come up with remixes of images, videos and sound available in the national public domain.

"They borrowed a manual tattoo-machine from an amateur tattoo artist and found some artificial skin for the first tests ... The big difficulty was to repeat the same exercise on a curve surface and on a material that has much more flexibility than silicone. Many tricks were tried to tighten the area around the skin (a metal ring, elastics, scotch tape...) but the most effective one was a scooter's inner tube, open on the area to be marked."

Glovebucket

Tue, 08 Oct 2013 00:00:00 Z

From time to time, just about everyone has to perform messy jobs such as cleaning paintbrushes, scrubbing greasy vehicle parts with solvent, or removing dried-on mud from footwear. Usually, you have to change into old clothes in order to so, and even then you'll still get some "overspray" on your face and arms. With the Glovebucket, however, you can do those jobs while wearing a tux.

The device itself is pretty simple.It's a square 5-gallon (19-liter) high-density polyethylene bucket, with a removable transparent acrylic lid. The bucket has round holes in two of its sides, which a pair of included heavy-duty rubber gloves extend through from the outside – the gloves seal around the holes.

Leveraxe

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:00:00 Z

The Vipukirves axe separates sections from the log using a unique lever action that allows logs to be split into firewood in seconds. The splitting force of Vipukirves is considerably stronger than with a traditional axe.

Vipukirves has an unique design. Upon striking the log, it automatically turns to the right and detaches the chopped portion from the log. Vipukirves functions like a convention axe with the exception that the user must loosen his/her the grip on the handle when the blade strikes the log. Chopped sections are removed with a single strike and the blade doesn't become lodged in the log, but keeps it in the same place and ready for the next strike.

A whisk that helps you separate eggs

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 Z

separating an egg is not an easy task. You need to crack the egg and carefully pour the yolk from one half shell into the other. Then repeat this several times until the yolk is completely separated. There is a good chance that by then some piece of egg shell have made it into your food or that the yolk has ruptured en mixed with the egg white.

That's where this new whisk comes in. The original function of "whisking" has been guaranteed, and at the same time this innovative new tool can effortless separate the yolk and egg white in one simple step. Easy and efficient!

SymTyre machine makes old tires flat-packable

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:00 Z

Tires are one of those things that our society goes through a lot of, yet their disposal can be problematic. Being round and containing a large air cavity, they’re not exactly the most efficient things to store or transport. Those that don’t get recycled can end up collecting water and acting as breeding grounds for mosquitoes, or becoming part of giant “tire mountains.” A new device, however, is designed to cut them apart so they can be flat-packed – thus reducing the space they take up, and maximizing the amount that can be transported at once.

Made by UK-based Symphony Recycling Technologies, the SymTyre-S300 semi-automatic tire cutter can reportedly disassemble a standard automotive tire in approximately one minute. According to the company, tires that are cut apart occupy up to 70 percent less space than whole tires.