steel

Steel just as it comes from the steel yard looks undeniably cool. If you leave it that way though, you'll be treated to a rusty piece of metal in short order, as the iron in the steel inevitably oxidizes from the moisture in the air. To keep it clean, you need some kind of coating that seals off the surface. You can paint it and you can coat it with a clear polyurethane, but my favorite finish is simple bowling alley wax.

Velcro has proved plenty useful as a quick fastener on shoes and other household items, but lacks the strength to resist fiery temperatures and powerful chemicals in industrial settings. Now German scientists have taken the hook-and-loop fastener concept and developed a Superman version, called Metaklett.

You can stop pounding on that anvil now; steel fabrication has moved onto the web. Shapeways, a company that made its name offering custom 3-D printing in plastic and resin, will now print your designs in stainless steel. All you have to do is upload your brilliant CAD design (or pick from a range of stock items). Shapeways will print it out in cold, shiny steel, and mail it to you.