Making your own impact tester

So, a bit of a story...

I was watching this video on trying to build 3d printed objects by using half layer offsets...

...and got halfway through when I saw the YouTuber test his products with what seemed to be a homemade Charpy-esque impact tester.

5:38 in the above video

That homemade impact tester is something we've been talking about in our summer camps as a hypothetically simple thing to build, but our discussions tend to be fairly abstract and general - not at all specific as to plans that could be followed. This, however, looks to be something fairly specific and even branded by CNC Kitchen's blue and white logo.

So I went searching and came upon this video by CNC Kitchen that shows a homemade tensile/compression tester at about 8:15, a three-point bend tester at 10:45, and the same impact tester at 12:10.

So onward I went to find plans for the various testers.

I did find a video showing how to make the tensile/compression tester.

...and another for the 3-point bend tester.

...but I wasn't able to find a video for how to make CNC Kitchen's impact tester. Luckily, the impact tester's plans are available online.

How tough is the new Gorilla Glass 6?

Wait, Gorilla Glass 5 has been improved upon?

Fine, but I'm sure nothing will ever surpass Gorilla Glass 6.

In all honesty, I did like seeing the various tests that the glass designers undertake when they're developing a new glass. I haven't had the issues described with the purse, but I'm assuming those are real issues.

In the video below, we get a brief glimpse into the manufacturing and prototyping of the various glass compositions on the way toward a final product.

MAKING A BOWIE KNIFE WITH REAL ENGINEERING!!! PART 2 - WHY we heat treat steel!

Finally, the testing...

The first part of the video is more making a knife - grinding the blade, drilling to attach the handle.

Then, at 5:50, the actual materials testing comes in. Alec Steele takes a steel bar and heat treats it different ways (not on camera, sadly) and gives each piece a few solid wacks with a sledge hammer.

These two videos (Alec's and Real Engineering - whatever that guy's name is) really balance the two sides of material science. Alec shows a lot of a practical knowledge. Real Engineering shows a lot of academic knowledge. Together they're pretty awesome.

Oh, and the testing wraps up around 12:25. Then it's back to finishing off the handle of the Bowie knife.

The Glass Age (parts 1 & 2)

Yeah, it's a shill for Corning, but I'm okay with that because corning makes some pretty frickin' cool materials, and the Mythbusters guys - Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman - are pretty solidly entertaining.

We get some history of glass developments, a look at modern developments in Corning glass (optical fiber, willow glass - check 7:00 for the phenomenally flexible willow glass), and then...well, an end.

Luckily there is also The Glass Age (part 2) from the same folks. Here we get a few destructive tests with older cell phones, an explanation of Prince Rupert's drops, and a windshield glass explanation.

For Gorilla Glass testers, every day is a grind (and scratch and drop...)

Glass isn't supposed to do that, the bending thing that the Gorilla Glass in the photo there is doing.

See, glass shatters.

It's inflexible and rigid.

Yeah, it's tough, but it's not gonna bend like that without a catastrophic failure.

Unless it's Gorilla Glass being bent in Corning Lab's testing lab as chronicled in a cnet article recently. In the article (and included video, check below for the embed) we get to hear why sapphire might not be the material destined to replace Gorilla Glass on all of our smartphone fronts anytime soon.

I particularly enjoy this quote...

We put on safety glasses, walked into a restricted corridor and soon entered one of the main labs, which -- despite all the secretiveness -- looks a lot like shop class. 

I can't tell whether I'm entertained more by the thought that anything that's 'just' a shop class can't do any real science or whether I expect the quote to be followed up with photos of guys with three and a half fingers.

MaterialsScience2000

I love seeing the crystal grains develop as the acid etches the metal surface. It's just gorgeous.

The eight-and-a-half-minute video above shows the preparation of a few different samples, some of which show crystals large enough to be seen by the human eye as well as a few samples that have been etched through natural processes over time.

MaterialsScience2000 has ten total videos posted, and many of them are worth a watch, including a thorough explanation of the tests being preformed. Check out these, too...