When Adam received his new shop workbench, builder Andrew Klein incorporated his take on Adam's LED lamp lighting solution into the bench, attached using a strong Magswitch for durability and ease of adjustment. Adam still has the lamps from his previous workbench, and modifies them in this quick build to attach to Magswitches to give his new bench a few more lights! Your workspace can never have enough illumination!

Adam is super excited to install a new lathe chuck he bought to upgrade his shop's machine lathe--it's an adjustable six-jaw reversible chuck, which is a big step up from the chuck he had previously installed. Adam completely disassembles the piece to clean all of its parts and shows us how the self-centering jaws work, before greasing it up and installing the chuck for a test run!

Streams: Weathering a Beskar Ingot Prop

Today's super quick build is an exercise in tool organization, but for Adam a new way about thinking about organization as well. As opposed to placing tools and materials in a place for ease of storage and access, Adam talks about rearranging a tool's appearance to streamline its use. Taking his mill's tightening wrench as the example, Adam cleans, masks, paints, and labels it in a way to mitigate visual ambiguity and optimize its place in his mental workflow.

Adam is well known for his love of armor, so he couldn't resist picking up this vintage miniature suit of armor--that also happen to be a working lighter! The condition that Adam bought it in is in dire need of repair and care, so today's build is a teardown of this mini suit to bring back its luster and get its fire feature working again!

His Ugg Boots!

Adam's latest machining project is a return to his Mercury spacesuit replica, his very first spacesuit replica project that keeps on getting improvements. Adam just upgraded the gloves on this suit with an amazing custom sewn pair, and turns to machining the distinct wrist coupler rings that connect them to the main suit. It's a painstaking process of turning a large round aluminum bar into hardware that looks right out of NASA's spacesuit shop.

Adam is back to finish his replica wrist connectors for his new Mercury spacesuit costume! After the arduous process of machining the glove rings in the first part, Adam gets to the fun of weathering the aluminum to look like real vintage NASA hardware. And for that, he brings out a new piece of equipment that he hasn't used for a build before--a rock tumbler for real wear and tear!

This weekend project has Adam taking apart his Powermatic drill press and lugging the entire machine to the center of the cave to switch out its table with a new one he bought online. But here's the catch: the new table's mount is just slightly narrower than the drill press's column can accommodate, so Adam needs to precisely mill out just enough steel to get it to fit. And not all goes according to plan...

Adam makes the iconic Leviathan Axe from the God of War games as a Christmas gift for his nephew! Using straightforward reference of the in-game axe found online, Adam scratch builds this replica prop out of sintra PVC foamboard for the axehead and carves a real wood handle. Including the paint and wood stain finish, it's a true One Day Build that takes just one day to complete from start to finish!

Adam drops some clamping knowledge in today's One Day Build that's all about improving the organization of his lathe's collet collection. Adam explains how the various collet formfactors work on his mill and lathe, lays out all of the collets in his shop on the workbench, and builds a storage system to have them at arm's reach when working at the lathe.

Adam reveals his surprise Christmas present for his wife--a set of custom-designed and built bedroom end tables! These cedar tables aren't just a woodworking exercise; they encapsulate all the aesthetic and functional design that Adam has wanted to put into this kind of furniture, including built-in lighting and power outlets. It's a multi-day journey to make the pair of tables in time for Christmas!

Real-Time Box Build!

Adam tackles a shop shelf build that he's been putting off for a long time--finally reorganizing his loose wire storage that sits above his Sortimo hardware boxes. It's a chance for him to implement his philosophy for a storage system that houses and dispenses rolls of wire--that doesn't mount the spools along a dowel. As you'll see, it's a solution that's as elegant as it is satisfying!

One of the ways Adam has been getting through lockdown has been binging television shows, including Netflix's The Crown. And in the midst of his obsession with the show, Adam builds his own replica of the most important piece of The Crown Jewels: St Edward's Crown used for the coronation of British Monarch. Adam's replica is based on the stage prop made for the Hamilton musical, and will be the centerpiece for his King George costume!

in Real Time: God of War Leviathan Axe Blade

Adam embarks on one of his most ambitious builds yet: fulfilling his lifelong dream of a wearable life-size velociraptor costume! With the help of the amazing designers and builders at character shop Animax Designs, Adam begins his raptor costume build in the cave with some materials experimentation and figuring out the movement of the tail. Follow about this epic journey that will take Adam cross country in a build that spans an entire month!

Adam's latest build taps into his love for Studio Ghibli films, a bit of modelmaking, and in-camera practical effects as he constructs a stunning display inspired by one of his favorite Miyazaki films. It's a slow burn of a build as Adam gradually reveals his sketched out plans; the result is a mesmerizing combination of light and movement that is beautiful to behold!

Adam's velociraptor costume starts to take form as he builds out the external frame and structure of the main torso. It's the week leading up to his trip cross-country to Animax Designs, and Adam scrambles to problem solve the balance of structure and weight for this costume. Thankfully, he has some experience building large character suits like his Totoro cosplay, and also finds a solution in a specialty textile called spacer mesh!

To aid in his machining projects, Adam recently picked up a full set of micrometer screw gauges--precision calibrated tools for measuring his machined parts and components. Today's One Day Build is a deep dive into how measurement affects machining processes and the ways to achieve ultra-precise measurement, and the customization of a beautiful wooden case to organize and hold all of these important gauges.

It's the final two days before Adam makes his drive to Animax Designs in Nashville with his velociraptor costume in tow, and there are some final components to build before it's ready for transport. First is the eye mechanism that goes inside the raptor's 3D-printed head that will allow Adam to control its blinking, which is no easy mechanical feat. And then there's the carving of the feet themselves that will be puppeted directly by Adam's own walking motions. We can see the dino almost snapping to life!

Adam has one final machining task to complete on his Hellboy Samaritan prop, and that's adding the interior rifling details of the replica's massive barrel. To accomplish that, Adam uses a custom tool called a broach, which needs to get precisely pushed through the barrel with a tremendous amount of force to make its cut. Adam has an idea of how to achieve that, and it's going to require quite a bit of elbow grease!

Adam adds a new vise to his workbench: a versatile Instrument Maker's Vise designed to grip flat or cylindrical workpieces at different precise angles. This vise is actually a kit from Hemingway, and putting it together becomes a machining adventure unto itself! But the journey is well worth it as Adam couldn't be happier with the finished kit and the machining lessons and experience he gained along this build!

It's about time: Adam revamps his shop's dust collection system by building a network of ducts for his various woodworking stations that feed to a Delta dust retriever that lives in the cave's loft. In the process, Adam demonstrates ways to make shop dust collection more efficient with automatic duct gates and even builds in a drop-down vacuum hose help make short work of shop clean-ups after future One Day Builds!

Adam sets up a new machine in the cave: a Formlabs Form 3L that's his first workshop 3D printer! To get it up and running, he builds a cart for the printer to live on with storage and workspace for processing the resin prints that come out of his large formfactor machine. And after running his first test print, Adam reveals his plans for putting the Form 3L through it paces with a prop and costume project he's working on this Spring!

Adam recently made a replica of the royal crown featured in the musical Hamilton and the show 'The Crown'--most famously the centerpiece of the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom. And upon finishing that build, Adam wanted to immediately try making it again using everything he learned in his first attempt. What follows is a rare One Day Build revisited where the second replica may look like the original at a glance, but done using new construction methods and finishing techniques that makes it so much better!

As Adam becomes more familiar with the post-processing workflow for his new Formlabs 3L 3D printer, he goes through the rite of passage for SLA 3D printer owners: building his own UV curing oven for finishing his resin print parts. It's a straightforward build that can be adapted for any size, and Adam goes big to make a parts curing station that can hold all the prints that come off of the Form 3L's large build plate! Follow along to make your own with the components list below!

Adam's next big costume project is a return to his build-up of his Iron Man Mark 1 armor! Previously, Adam reworked the costume's chest chassis and shoulder parts, and today he's tackling the legs and boots of the suit. Even though the castings are a good foundation to work off of, it's going to take a lot of modification and scratch building to get the armor ready for wear. Next up will be painting the whole thing!

The past year in lockdown has yielded so many new projects for Adam and the Tested team, but the Hellboy Samaritan prop replica is the one that encapsulates all of Adam's new machining learnings and adventures. That build is finally done, and Adam lays out all its pieces for a final assembly and weathering pass to show off its authentic black oxide finish. The prop exceeded all of Adam's expectations when he embarked on it, and has sparked new ideas for more replica builds from the Hellboy universe.

What is Adam's favorite part of making? The paint, of course! Wanting a beaten-up, shiny metal finish for his Iron Man Mark I suit, Adam applies a gloss black undercoat, adds liquid chrome, then seals it all with a clear coat. But the job's only half done; Adam needs to wait a week for the paint to cure before he can start weathering (which will be another One Day Build)!

Adam has a background in animation, so it's with great pleasure that he breaks out a flip-movie kit to make an animation machine! As he completes his galloping horse flipbook and adds a motor to automate the hand crank function, Adam reflects on the history of this analogue form of storytelling, and how it allowed humans to see the world in a way we'd never seen before.

Now that his Iron Man Mark I suit has been chrome painted and sealed, it's time for Adam to apply the washes that will tell the story of the armor's age and construction! Using acrylic-based paint, rubbing alcohol, water, rags and elbow grease over his lacquer base coat, Adam refines his technique to the point that he has finite control over his weathering. It's one of Adam's finest paint jobs to date, and he caps off his build by trying on the costume in full!

A perfect weekend project is this beautiful model kit: the Hyperdo from Zometools. Adam received one based on the recommendation of his good friend Kevin Kelly, and spends the day putting this complex geometric object together. It's a hyperdodecahedron--or more specifically the 3D projection of the 4D object known as the 120-cell. It's not a simple assembly, but the finished model is so very rewarding!

Adam heads over to the Tested studio to find enough space for a 2000-piece custom LEGO build of the Spinner car from Blade Runner! This model comes courtesy of BrickVault, who put together detailed instructions and parts lists for massive MOCs inspired by our favorite movies, games, and fandoms. Follow along as Adam puts this kit together and shows off the clever ways that fan designers have replicated this iconic vehicle.

While in a midst of a multi-week prop replica build, Adam takes a break from the long-term project to take on a more relaxing assembly: this intricate 4-cylinder car engine model kit. Made of diecast metal parts, this animated model is an elegant visual representation of how a four stroke engine works, and a nice project to get done in a single day!

Adam embarks on his first full prop replica project using his shop's new Form 3L 3D printer: a replica of the Amban "tuning fork" blaster as seen in The Mandalorian! It's an extensive build that's also mixed-material, combining 3D printed resin parts with carved wood and machined components as well, giving it a veracity not only in form but also weight and feel--as if it lives in the Star Wars universe. It's an essential prop for Adam's Mandalorian cosplay, and stay tuned for the paint application in the next build!

Adam often builds props just so he can paint and weather them, so this paint-up of his Mandalorian Amban Phase-Pulse Blaster replica has been a long time coming! With the mechanical construction completed--built from 3D-printed, machined, and hand carved parts--Adam preps and applies paint passes using screenshot and photo reference. It's also a chance to test a new chrome mirror paint that can be quickly brushed on the parts!

Adam makes use of one of his lifecasts to make a perfectly fitted skullcap for his Iron Man Mark I helmet. It'll require laying down epoxy fiberglass on top of the lifecast, padding it with neoprene, and then sewing a leather liner to give it a welding-jacket aesthetic that fits inside his Mark I's flip-up helmet. And keep an eye out for a special appearance by Adam's dog Maggie!

Adam has recently been binging and enjoying Netflix's The Crown, and builds a prop he imagines would fit in the show's portrayal of Buckingham Palace. In the show, Queen Elizabeth makes use of a buzzer to ring in guests and heads of state for meetings, so today's prop build is Adam's take on what that instrument would look like if he made it for the palace using technology from 100 years ago!

Adam adds a very special set of acrylic paints to his workshop: Archive-X's line of paints designed to exactly replicate the colors used in painting the studio scale models for Star Wars and other ILM modelshop projects. These are hues that are very familiar to Adam's sense memory of working at the ILM modelshop, and he spends today building a display and storage rack for this awesome collection.

Adam cuts, sews, and breathes life into this adorable hand and rod puppet using a kit from the team at @Monkey Boys Productions. This beginner kit includes the fur, fleece, and felt needed to fabricate a colorful monster puppet, with easy-to-follow instructions and plenty of room for customization!

Adam loves riding his OneWheel XR electric skateboard around the neighborhood, and makes modifications to his board to give it some attachable payload capacity as well as GoPro mounts to film his rides. The satchel he sews allows him to repurpose car airbag he rescued from a car in his MythBuster days, and the camera mounts will give us a sense of how smoothly the board glides up San Francisco's hills. And the modifications aren't completely without a custom charging stand to build as well!

It's been almost five years since Adam made his bear costume to walk through Comic-Con, and the suit is in dire need of repair, refit, and refurbishment. It's an opportunity for Adam to completely rebuild the one part that's never quite satisfied his original design--the bear's head. So it's time to get the bear suit out of storage and make a whole new headpiece for it, turning Adam's original sketch into a full-formed and fur-covered animatronic head!

Adam's obsession with historically significant gems dates back to his childhood, and he fulfills a lifelong curiosity by assembling this collection of famous diamonds and other gems from around the world (and from fantasy as well). Follow along as Adam goes through the process of figuring out the best way to display and experience this collection, and the resulting custom display box he builds for it.

Adam gets to work fixing a vintage Schoenhut toy piano that he recently picked up at auction that's in dire need of repair. In fact, it's going to take the disassembly of two broken pianos to make one working one, in addition to completely remaking the keys and restoring the metal harp. Let's take a look inside this classic children's toy and see if Adam can get it back to a tuned and playable state!

One of the biggest upgrades made to Adam's shop over the past year has been the addition of his new workbench, which was made by woodworker and engineer Andrew Klein. And as Adam has used this workbench's numerous features for his builds, he's come up with ideas of his own to make the bench work better for his needs. Today's upgrade is to the bench's vise, giving its handle better ergonomics and a design inspired by the handles on his mill.

Every time Adam needs to wrap his head around the layout of a building, he makes a scale model of the structure as an exercise to better understand the space. One such building is the Fab House community maker space in Cleveland, for which Adam is on the advisory board. Using digital renders and blueprints as reference, Adam recreates the four floors of the Fab House in a 1/24 scale architectural model form using trusty foam board, a craft knife, tape, and hot glue!

Today's build is the intersection of two of Adam's favorite things: and his collection of new hats, and the movie John Carpenter's The Thing! That's right: Adam is working on a MacReady costume inspired by Kurt Russell's iconic character, and it all begins with making an ultra-accurate replica of his distinct and ridiculous hat!

Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Excalibur Henchmen Armor!

Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Aliens Colonial Marines Shoulder Lamp!

Adam Savage's One Day Build: Fake Beard Wiring!

Adam Savage Makes a Papercraft Animal Mask!

Adam Savage's One Day Build: Acrylic Display Box!

Adam Savage's One Day Builds: 2001 Spacesuit Helmet Repair!

Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Hasbro Mandalorian Helmet Repaint!

Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Aliens Colonial Marines Armor!

Adam Savage's One Day Builds: Ghostbusters Proton Pack!

For the first time, we document the build of Adam's spacesuits in its entirety! Inspired by a next-generation xEMU design, Adam and his collaborators spent months building two spacesuit costumes worn in our short film "The Beacon"--celebrating the relaunch of the gaming network G4. To kick off this multi-part series, we jump back to the beginning of the summer as Adam begins the project in earnest, starting with the literal hard parts of the suit's frame and inner shell.

Adam had the opportunity to make a prop for the new Ghostbusters: Afterlife film! Based on the production team's design, Adam sculpted and made castings of a stylized Aztec Death Whistle that is featured in the new movie. And to work on the painting and weathering of this prop and its stunt castings, Adam recruited the help of his former co-host on MythBuster Jr. Allie Weber (@robotmakergirl on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok) to finish the project before heading to the Ghostbusters: Afterlife set to deliver them to director Jason Reitman!

Work continues apace on Adam's pair of xEMU-inspired spacesuits to celebrate the relaunch of the gaming network G4. One distinguishing feature of these suits are how you enter them--through a hinged backpack door. Adam spends this episode creating that backpack, which will also house the suit's ventilation and electrical systems, and builds the all-important spacesuit stand that will allow him to get in and out of the suit during test fittings!

Adam's xEMU-inspired spacesuit continues to take form! Now comes some of the real fun stuff--wiring the electrical systems for lights and sound, and making all of that functionality accessible from a custom control box mounted to the front of the suit. The proper helmets finally arrive as well, and getting them attached magnetically with a CNC-machined neckring couldn't be more satisfying!

We're at the final stretch of Adam's extensive build of two xEMU-inspired spacesuits that's consumed the latter of half of 2021. But with the suits sewn up and wired with electronics, it's time for a full pass of weathering to give them some real character and history. And to cap off this months-long project, Adam and G4's Kevin Pereira suit up in the completed spacesuits and test their mobility and dexterity in a friendly game of chess! The perfect opportunity for a photo shoot and lighting tests before heading off to make our short film!

Hang out with Adam as he spends this morning repairing the pot lid for his favorite rice cooker. This quick and dirty repair job turns the failed spot welding on his handle into something that will last for as long as Adam will use it. Planned obsolescence won't have its way today!

After Adam finished his epic spacesuits build this past summer, he decompressed from that months-long project with a return to his ongoing Ghostbusters costume improvements. And that meant resuming work on his lightweight wearable replica of the Ecto goggles he's building from scratch. It starts with painting and dressing his vacuum-formed shells and them outfitting them with hand machined knobs and lenses. Here's how Adam got this essential piece of Ghostbusters costuming ready for his incognito at New York Comic Con!

Perhaps the smallest EMU spacesuit in Adam's collection is this 1/4-scale Blitzway replica he purchased this past year--a remarkably detailed recreation of the iconic NASA spacesuits worn by astronauts on spacewalks outside the ISS. This magnificent mixed-media replica served as inspiration during Adam's own xEMU-inspired spacesuit build, and he recently built a custom compact display stand for it to live in the cave.

One of Adam's latest ongoing projects is a new hero sword, ground from a pre-made blank and finished using the techniques he learned from his time working under the tutelage of Weta Workshop's Peter Lyon. Today, Adam takes the blade he's ground and adds some real weathered patina to it, using a combination of his favorite rust remover and polish to give it the look of an ancient uncovered artifact.