Cut in Half: The Hidden World Inside Everyday Objects

By Mike Warren and Jonothan Woodward

A science writer and a photographer explore the complicated inner workings of seeming simple everyday objects.

What exactly is inside a laptop, a golf ball, a vacuum cleaner, or a novelty singing fish toy? The insides of these and dozens of other objects are revealed in this photographic exploration of the stuff all around us, exposed and explained. With the help of a high-pressure waterjet cutter able to slice through four inches of steel plate, designer and fabricator Mike Warren (creator of the popular Cut in Half YouTube channel) cuts into everything from boom boxes to boxing gloves, oil filters to seashells, describing and demystifying the inner workings and materials of each. With gorgeously detailed photography, Cut in Half is a fascinating and accessible popular science look at the extraordinary in the everyday.

Praise for Cut in Half

“If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like inside a hair dryer, or a baseball, or a Magic 8-ball, this book is for you. Mike Warren cuts things in half with a high-pressure waterjet cutter and then has an explanation of what you’re looking at inside. . . . One fun feature: the cover of the book itself is “cut in half” along the center.” —GeekDad

“A book of mesmerizing photographs of objects that have been perfectly cut in half. . . . Accompanying each photograph are explanations from Warren, who has been doing this for years on his YouTube channel, that walk us through the amazing complexity of the many apparently simple objects.” —Fast Company

“Let your device addict explore the fascinating inner workings of common household items with this book from gadget You Tuber Mike Warren.” —Real Simple

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Oct 9, 2018
• ISBN: 9781452168746

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

Iam a product designer and fabricator by trade, and get to use some fun industrial tools as part of my job. One of those tools is a waterjet cutter, a computer-controlled industrial machine that uses a high-pressure jet of water mixed with garnet to cut all manner of sheet goods like steel, glass, tile, and high density plastic. While the jet of water is the medium, it’s the very fine grit of the garnet that does the cutting, through abrasion. The water is pressurized to 60,000 psi (pounds per square inch) and can cut solid steel up to 4″ (10cm) thick, and is great at cutting repeatable, highly precise geometric shapes in flat materials. It’s quite impressive, for those into nerdy tools.

One day, as I was cutting on the machine, I got to thinking, what if I put something else under the cutting nozzle? The results are what you see in this book.

Since early 2016, I have been using the power of this machine to cut into everyday objects and then showcase the insides on my YouTube channel Cut in Half (youtube.com/c/cutinhalf). The format of the channel is deliberately straightforward: demonstrate the object, cut the object, reveal the insides. Simple, clear, no narration, with a focus on the object and the interior architecture. Making this book presented a different opportunity. The still images in these pages offer something the videos do not—a chance to really pore over the intricate details of the cut objects up close. We can explore and explain some of what’s going on in there, what we see and how it works. To take full advantage of this, all the objects here have been cut and photographed exclusively for this book.

As a kid I used to take things apart all the time, just to see how they work. Like a lot of kids, I wanted to know the why of everything I picked up. Why does a phone ring? Why do my electronics get hot? Why does my mixtape sometimes get eaten by my boom box? All questions I could answer, if I just knew what was going on inside. Years later some of those answers still elude me. (I may never know why my ABBA cassette was destroyed in my boom box.)

The cutting head at rest over the pool. The yellow cup is a rubberized shield, usually flipped down in operation but flipped up here to show the cutting nozzle. The flat material to be cut is secured on the bed slats, and in normal operation, the water level is raised to cover it, and the nozzle is set and moves just above the material. The water pool helps dissipate the energy of the jet as it cuts through. The thick tube feeds garnet into the nozzle from the hopper above.

As an adult, my curiosity still hasn’t been satisfied— it never really will be—but now I have access to this amazing device that allows me to slice into and peek inside the stuff all around us. My aim is to reveal everyday items and showcase the beauty of what we normally don’t get to see. As a lifelong learner, I find it’s always interesting to see how design problems are overcome. Even when I think I know how something works, I usually learn something new with every item I cut open. The kid in

Reviews for Cut in Half

[sgk1776 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Out of all the items in this book, my favorites were the geodes, pinecones, and seashells. To see the inner design of them was spectacular.I also enjoyed the sports equipment such as golf balls, a bowling ball, baseballs, softballs, and sports cleats. It was interesting to learn how these items are manufactured and what material is used.The sections on household appliances and electronics were interesting, too. They were also much harder for me to understand because they are so complicated, but for someone who is mechanically-minded, this would not be an issue.This is a good book to satisfy a common curiosity. I had a lot of fun seeing inside of everyday objects.

[wenestvedt_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Even though I am a grown-up, I enjoy paging through the book to examine the inside of modern mechanical devices. Because of the way the items were cut, there is some discoloration of the objects -- but the details of their form is clearly visible, and very captivating.

[hooligansmama · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is a huge hit in our house. It is fascinating to see all kinds of objects cut in half and what is inside of them. Our only critique is that there aren't more pages. Its a fun book to see how things work for sure.

[michaelglenn-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was fascinating to see all the items the author had cut. It was interesting to know how the machine he uses works, and also to see things from a perspective most people would never get. Not a hard read by any means, but pleasureable. I now have to go to his YouTube channel and see the items being cut.

[rosenectur · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

We received this book just last night and already it's been super entertaining. For about half an hour last night the 8 year old looked through it and on every page there was laughter and exclamations of amazement as she said..."A phone cut it half!""A golf ball cut in half!""A camera cut in half!"She did that through the whole book.My husband and I enjoyed it too and I will sit down and read it more in-depth at a later date. A very interesting book, sure to be a conversation starter for any age.

[glennbell_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book is a unique set of pictures with labels and brief descriptions. The sliced in half pictures are interesting in most cases. I feel that the book could be improved by providing a more useful discussion of the principles of operation and more labels. While I am confident that it was challenging to generate the items and pictures, I am left with a paucity of explanation. The book is interesting but disappointing.

[sherylhendrix · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A quick and fascinating read about how everyday objects work, and what their innards look like. Author Mike Warren takes his YouTube channel Cut in Half to the print world by using a high powered waterjet to cut everyday objects in half (including an assortment of small appliances, sporting equipment, electronics, toys, games, and miscellaneous other stuff), revealing their mysterious insides. This would be a great book to add to any school STEM program or class. No trade secrets are divulged here, just interesting generic information that gives the young technology or engineering buff a fun read. The cover is cleverly cut away to reveal how the book is bound together.