Okay, so the people behind the Hydraulic Press Channel aren’t actually making anything — in fact it’s quite the opposite. If you’re not familiar, this is a channel dedicated solely to videos of things being crushed in a hydraulic press — watches, alarm clocks, fruit, mobile phones, even other hydraulic presses.
What I find most fascinating about the channel is how under so much force, just about everything eventually starts to behave like a liquid, or at least some sort of putty. Once the initial crushing happens and the ram and platen come together, you see the bits of whatever unfortunate object was caught between them ooze out under the pressure. You can see this happen to golf balls, hockey pucks, even bowling pins.
Except, weirdly, paper. Or bowling balls. In one video, they use the press to take on the challenge of trying to fold a single piece of paper more than seven times. Not only did they fail the challenge, but the paper compressed into a brittle substance not unlike chalk – it shattered when they pressed it too many times.
Sure, what they’re doing is much more destructive than constructive, but who hasn’t ever misused a tool to explore, destroy, or amuse? The giggles alone as they watch modern household stuff be pressed into flat pucks are absolutely infectious — but watching how different materials behave under stress fascinates time and time again.
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