"I worked on a project in 2018 where we had T0 shots to qualify after 14 days and production pieces less than a week after that. Some catches are: it took being in person to inspect first articles, it's a soft tool only good for 10k shots, a bunch of design compromises were made to not need sliders etc., and it wasn't done in either the US or China. "

"Yo this is cool. I deal with CMs and vendors overseas all the time for work but haven't gathered the gumption to do it for personal projects. I think Apple set a precedence for high-quality things from overseas and everyone else wanted the same results. The part you don't see from the outside is that every engineer is maxing out the 90-day/year limit on their visa to physically be there to assure everything is exactly how they want it. "

"I'd consider stretch bolts a type of thread locking mechanism also. "

"This reminds me of the Death Cab for Cutie song "Your New Twin Sized Bed." "

"This is very cool. It's really cool to see folks pouring their own silicone (or whatever similar material) and making their own molds. You can make really professional and quality prototypes with just a few things.I've never seen tools so clean. I really take care of my tools, but usually when I'm wrenching my tools are covered in dirt and at least some oil, if not just to prevent rusting. I wonder how the material performs in this situation. "

"The way I understand it, truckers do that to restrict airflow in winter; diesels run cooler than petrol engines and the cold air at highway speeds in the winter cools the engine off too much. Ha, that's what my dad told me when I was a kid anyway ;)"

"The original See n Say toy from the 80s was entirely mechanical. It actually had a small vinyl (cheap plastic, rather) record inside of it. It played all those animal noises with a needle attached to a speaker cone membrane."

"It's clever, but does anyone else think this is a patch for a larger design issue? That a single-wall camping mug is a poor design in the first place?"

"The Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride at Universal Studios in Orlando uses Kuka robotic arms on a moving track -- the same kind of robotic arms that I associate with assembling Teslas and other large products. Also, it's the most well-designed ride I've ever been on, and the most sick I've ever been from a ride."

"I forgot to mention that this is really similar to the way you'd repair a surfboard. Deep dings have to get filled to replicate the shape of the original foam in that location. Mix Q-cell (aka microballoons) into standard resin and it makes a toothpaste-like putty that adheres to the foam really well. You still have to finish with fiberglass to prevent ingress. Check out Pilgrim's post on ding repair."

"I've never heard the trick with the silicone pad, either. Is that so that the hardened material comes off easily? Is that well-known? I've only ever used newspaper or beer box to mix things on."

"Apple probably has a decent deal on those boxes by now, but it's forcing other white product brands to spend $40 on the boxes that their products ship in. "