This was too good of a hack, it opened it twice
August 20, 2018 2:23 AM   Subscribe

10 Amazing Life Hacks with Hydraulic Press

Enjoy more pressing of things that probably shouldn't be pressed on the Hydraulic Press Channel. My recent favorite: Making Giant Playdough Worms.
posted by Mizu (22 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
Well, that was smashing.
posted by kinnakeet at 2:43 AM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]


Excellent tips. I definitely need a press to get the last few drops of toothpaste out.
posted by greenhornet at 2:44 AM on August 20, 2018


Brilliant. Please tell me nobody actually thinks you can whiten teeth by putting toothpaste in coke though? Also, what is with all the toothpaste?
posted by stillnocturnal at 3:18 AM on August 20, 2018


Toothpaste is the number one hack for all things. Move over, apple cider vinegar. Toothpaste can clean your dishes, repair leather furniture, tutor your kid in algebra and set up an economically feasible colony on Mars.
posted by Mizu at 3:21 AM on August 20, 2018 [9 favorites]


The instant they put a kitten on that thing, I was going to turn it off..... maybe.
posted by HuronBob at 4:42 AM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


"That wasn't useful by any means, but it also was really cool."
This was much more happy-making than starting my day with the political thread(s).
posted by MtDewd at 5:42 AM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


This made me chuckle. I was also a bit curious if the obvious physical placement of name brand items was product placement. It's probably the first time I've noticed it in a video like this.
posted by abandonedwig at 6:07 AM on August 20, 2018


Having gotten sucked into way too many “life hack” videos, and knowing exactly what the schtick was going to be from the title; I still found myself clicking and giggling like a maniac. They got the music and the hand modeling/miming down perfect, but the periodic offscreen comment or laugh is just gold.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 7:26 AM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


The "lets destroy stuff" style of video leaves me cold, but I enjoyed and would recommend some of their other ones, particularly Can you fold paper more than 7 times with hydraulic press (no, but what you end up with is pretty interesting), and Making Frying Pan from Aluminium Foil (yes! sort of, although I think they could have layered the foil more efficiently—here's how it's done for real, though, in very-not-OSHA-approved China).

And then it led me to this video of a 3500-ton press squeezing a billet of aluminum under such pressure that it makes a 180-degree turn and basically turns the billet inside out, into a hollow tube. Apparently this is the same process used to make soda cans and aluminum baseball bats.
posted by Kadin2048 at 8:34 AM on August 20, 2018


He has the perfect understated voice for complete mayhem and annihilation voice overs. The accent is so charming and then MASSIVE DESTRUCTION.
posted by Brockles at 8:34 AM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


Brockles: it's no coincidence that Finland rules at heavy metal.
posted by Vesihiisi at 9:00 AM on August 20, 2018


David Letterman was doing this before it was cool.
posted by tonycpsu at 9:13 AM on August 20, 2018 [2 favorites]


Have to admit, I like the tip on how to peel bananas best. I never considered the cucumber assist.
posted by flamewise at 11:12 AM on August 20, 2018


His wife's Youtube channel has some amusing life hacks involving pantyhose.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:20 AM on August 20, 2018


I was prepared to be all snotty and superior about the humor (or lack of) in this video, but by the end of the phone repair, I LOLed and was happy to watch the rest.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:39 AM on August 20, 2018 [1 favorite]


At the auto parts store I worked at long ago, we had a pretty hefty hydraulic press primarily for replacing rear axle bearings on RWD cars and trucks. The walls surrounding it were peppered with scars from the shrapnel of other, more creative projects. Presses rank right up there with pyrotechnics, blenders and tree chippers.
posted by klarck at 11:48 AM on August 20, 2018


I thought the addition of the elastic band was a nice touch.
posted by arcticseal at 12:09 PM on August 20, 2018


man i have been using that egg slicer all wrong
posted by numaner at 1:27 PM on August 20, 2018


It says a lot about lifehack videos that this one is exactly as useful as the rest of them.
posted by GoblinHoney at 2:36 PM on August 20, 2018


I, too, am not especially fond of "let's destroy stuff" videos but always enjoy the Hydraulic Press Channel. I suppose it's because there's some genuine surprises from time to time in how things react under pressure. Plus they both have such infectious personalities.

Now that I think about it I think it hits a similar place as Mythbusters, which was always so good about trying to find the right balance between genuine curiosity and smashy-smashy.
posted by traveler_ at 5:32 PM on August 20, 2018


Thirty-four years later, we finally find out the purpose of the watermelon in Buckaroo Banzai: they were making cocktails.
posted by Johnny Assay at 5:35 AM on August 21, 2018


The instant they put a kitten on that thing, I was going to turn it off..... maybe.

Do we need to add "Does a kitten get squashed" to the list of triggers at doesthedogdie.com?
posted by she's not there at 8:37 PM on August 23, 2018


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