We've all heard that "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." And that’s usually fine when it comes to tasks at work or baking your own birthday cake. But if you want a specific lamp built for your bedroom or a tricked-out bicycle, you might need to acquire some skills before you can get started.
That’s why it’s so impressive when people actually do manage to finish amazing DIY projects that would have never existed without their out-of-the-box ideas. Here’s a list of posts from r/Maker featuring some of the coolest creations and inventions people have made at home. Enjoy scrolling through, and be sure to upvote the ones that inspire you to channel your inner engineer too!
#83 I Made A Chess Set And Needed A Container For The Board And Pieces. I Designed This In Fusion 360 And Then 3D Printed It. Inserts Are Next. All Designed, Just Have To Order Filament To Print Them
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21points
#86 Pocket-Sized Guitar
A fully functional, pocket-sized guitar built from scratch in 48 hours at REDHackathon in shanghai. Six capacitive touch "strings" respond to finger contact to trigger chords. A joystick selects the configuration, a rotary encoder scrolls groups. It actually plays music. The stack: ESP32-S3, ES8311 audio codec, 240x240 SPI LCD, IMU, RTC, 11 RGB LEDs. All in one hand. Polished enough to ship. Tactile feedback feels real, and it has instant "wait, what is that?" party energy. Guitar players would love it. With proper influe͏ncer marke͏ting, this goes vi͏ral. Well-deserved.
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19points
#88 I Make These Airplane Wing Tables From Scratch Using .050” Aluminum Sheet
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18points
#90 Made This Field Notes Cover From Buffalo Leather - Wonderful Leather! It Was Awesome To Work With It:)
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18points
#91 Project - 3D Printed Hybrid Bike Frame
I’ve been working on a DIY bike project for a while now and finally have a rideable prototype (V0.2). It’s built with 3D-printed PA12-CF lugs and bamboo veneer tubes from MOSO, all bonded together with epoxy. I wanted to see if a home-built frame with printed lugs could actually hold up in real riding conditions, and so far it's been surprisingly solid.
The lugs are printed on a Creality K2 Max in PA12-CF with full infill, printed slowly for strength. I didn’t try to hide the layer lines, so the texture is still visible. The bamboo tubes are CNC-milled MOSO N-Vision veneer tubes. They’re lightweight, straight, and fit nicely into the lug sockets.
Test riding so far:
I’ve done around 30 km on it on asphalt, cobblestones, and a bit of off-road. (All on safe non-traffic places and wearing protection) The frame feels stiff, tracks straight, and didn’t make any strange noises. No cracks or issues with the lugs or the bonding. The epoxy joints actually feel like they’ve stiffened a bit over time, maybe because the real cure time was longer than the datasheet suggests.
I am fully aware the frame will break eventually, just curious when. I honestly think the seatlug will crack first. Due the flexible nature of Nylon, I don't expect it to break suddenly.
I don’t have a rear brake mounted yet, so riding it is a bit more exciting than usual. Also the drivetrain rattles because the rear gear is old and I put a new chain on it, so the teeth and chain don’t match perfectly. But the important part, the printed lugs, are holding up better than expected.
Some basic details:
- PA12-CF printed lugs (full infill)
- Bamboo N-Vision tubes
- Standard BSA bottom bracket
- Tapered head tube
- PA12-CF printed dropouts
- Frame weight is 1.85 kg
- Printer: Creality K2plus
- Bamboo N-Vision tubes
- Standard BSA bottom bracket
- Tapered head tube
- PA12-CF printed dropouts
- Frame weight is 1.85 kg
- Printer: Creality K2plus
What’s next:
I’ve started designing a version specifically for indoor smart trainers like the Kickr Core. That one will have a more reinforced rear triangle, Some aluminium lasercut parts for enforcing the dropoutss - thicker lug walls, and a fixed front setup to handle the lateral forces during sprints on a trainer.
If anyone here has experience mixing composites with FDM parts or has ideas for improving printed lugs, I’d love to hear it. I can share more photos or details if helpful.
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17points
#93 Made These Sword Earrings Out Of Clear Acrylic! Let Me Know What Ya Think!
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16points
#97 Made Some Recycled Hdpe Plastic Scales For This High Carbon Steel Chef’s Knife. Love The Marbled Effect!
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15points
#98 I Finally Finished A Project! This Is My New Bench Power Supply
I feel like this is the first project in a very long time that I actually saw through to the end and I wanted to share my joy with the community i love :) Not as impressive as most of the builds here, but I am proud of this one
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14points
#99 My Brother And I Made A Giant Crossbow Out Of Pvc Pipe And Painted It To Look Like A Nerf Weapon So We Could Chase Inflatable Dinosaurs Around A Field, As You Do
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13points
