50 Handy Tricks

Here's a collection of fifty how-to tricks that can be understood from a photo or two.
To see even more of them, check out
Handy Tricks 8: Island Handy Tricks
and 40 More Handy Tricks
and Yet More Handy Tricks
and Australian Handy Tricks
and Guatemalan Handy Tricks
and Handy Tricks Volume Six!
For a bunch of things that didn't work, check out How Not To.

First Trick: "The Handheld Food Processor" a.k.a a "Pair of Scissors".

Anna Blaedel chops grapes for sangria. This trick works for all types of food. Didn't shred your lettuce small enough? Sciz them up a bit!

Step 1 Separate Bananas To Ripen Slowly

Tom and Millie MacKenzie, my Kenyan hosts on Lamu Island would arrange individual bananas on their kitchen shelves.
I asked why and they said it was to prevent them from ripening so fast.
Apparently they emit ethylene gas which signals the other bananas to ripen. When they're separated they get less exposure.

If instead you want to make them ripen more quickly, put them in a plastic bag together, or with a banana that's already ripe.

Comments

[connorcancount!]

add them to your ice cream, like sprinkles. :P

[jb4me]

eewww!!!!

[Grey_Wolfe]

Some ants actually taste pretty good, many are quite spicy as a matter of coarse. Though the little black ones pictured here taste nasty. Don't ask. lol

[The Lance Armstrong]

They make a great energy shake for those long distance rides.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjWb7hQJy5g

[connorcancount!]

hahahahahaha

[technogenuis]

if you have acetone (in nail polish) that works well too since it eats plastic

[freedive57]

Sort of OT but while we're on the general subject - Squat/perch on the rim as if you are using a japanese toilet. Not only do you not need a cover but its way more efficient anatomically. I tried it for the heck of it about 20 years ago and never went back. Freaks people out in public restrooms because they can't see my feet in the stall. No paper or seat covers but you do have paper towels? Wet them in the sink, add a little soap and it's a handi-wipe (DO NOT put it in the toilet! Paper towels will clog the toilet). Throw it in the trash on the way out. I use this even if there is tp - prevents swamp ass. you heard it here first, on Roller Derby.

[sanity]

So you do not use toilet paper?

[doo da do]

Make bannana hanger from old clothes rack. The bananas will last about a week. The said hanger was made from an instructable site. Search hanger it should get you on the right track.

[andersonamenda]

Pressure washing is a great technique to clean the carpet. Its more beneficial and easy than other methods.

[DrWilliamHorriblePhD]

I'd like more detail on this one, looks like you tapered the skis?

[KauaiHawaii]

The trick to getting the tire to seal on the rim and then inflate is applying GOOP between the rim bead area and tire.
GOOP can be made by taking a handful of baking flour and mixing with dish washing liquid such as Joy and a little water. Apply liberally.
Then use ratchet strap on center of tire to apply pressure and help seat tire.
Inflate with air compressor. Done. : )

[ArtsyFartsyGirl]

No thanks!

[ArtsyFartsyGirl]

They are beautiful to look at. If when I move, I have taller ceilings, I'd like to make a loft bed and this would be the perfect "staircase" for me. I couldn't risk the usual ladder type steps since I'm not a teenager anymore! Plus, this would be great storage!

[bleary2]

sorry, but that is disgusting....
I am a fan of skulls. I have done two myself.. I agree with Metal blade. Hot water maceration or cooking and then pulling the meat off. I have a nice clean white skull of a wild turkey exactly one week after I brought it home. I put the head into boiling water as soon as I cut it off. I boiled it for as long as it took me to prep the turkey for roasting. I then shut the hot water and let it cool. I then pulled off all loose tissue and meat. Then I boiled it the next day for about 15 min, and repeated. Three days ago.. I boiled it, let it cool and sat down and pulled all the meat off. I used the back of a spoon to rub down to the bone and get all the meat off. The fossa did separate and I was left with several pieces of the skull... nothing broken, just separated at the fossa. I then let the skull pieces dry for two days. Yesterday, I pulled any remaining chunks of meat off.. I think there was one small one. Then I took out my super duty liquid nails glue and gently glued all the fossa pieces back. I also glued the articulations at the jaw and beak so that the skull could be picked up in one piece. I am very very happy with it. I will run a q tip over it dipped in a drop of bleach in a few minutes to polish it up nicely.
I have seen several skulls just left to rot.. they get a very weatherized creepy look to them.. and they all had bits of brains and fur left in them.. not to mention the teeth usually fall out.,

[threecardmonty]

My biggest fear would be the pinch point between the drum and its guard. I've lost skin on the sanding wheels we use at work; no problem, it happens. But the idea of having my hand (or shirt sleeve, etc) pulled between a still moving drum and getting trapped there would have me breaking out a disc grinder to remove most of the housing around the drum, possibly even removing the entire motor and drum assemblies and shortening up the band to make it a permanent modification. Instructable idea?

[ilpug]

for your tennis ball faucet aiming device, all you need to do is glue a little scoop made of an old peice of clamshell packaging underneath with the scoop pointed forward to catch the slop over and direct it back into the sink.

[Suzayn]

In other news, it looks like the counter is drier now...

[ssouthard]

some times that will not kill them lots of bugs can survive freezing
look up Torpor and Diapause

[hjjusa]

Microwave the wood

[gumby_kevbo]

Even with my size US14 feet that would not be a problem IF you back down it like a ladder.

[LilithAvalon]

There are a lot of those steep staircases in Japan. I saw them a lot, especially in older buildings when I went there. They're climbed a little like a ladder going up, but are scary coming down. It saves horizontal space.

[polymeme]

Having worked for several years in floor maintenance at a large discount store which shall remain nameless but has a large emoticon as a mascot - I can tell you that yes, the toe of your shoe works just as well, but it's actually pretty physically demanding and can wear your leg out over the course of an 8 hour shift if the scuffs are especially heavy (the cart monkeys are the worst about scuffs, making huge skid turns with a train of 20 shopping carts with hard rubber wheels.) The tennis ball uses the same muscles you use all night every night to dustmop and whatnot.

[squirrelMLM]

Lemme take a stab at it. Is it per chance happy foods? :P

[ElvenChild]

I saw ayoutube video with another really cool way to inflate a flat tire they sprayed between the tire and rim with a flammable substance and then brought a lighter near it for about half of a second.

[nativewater]

For thicker wood it helps to have a bending strap. But you also need a form to bend over. Wood bends mostly by compression on the inside of the bend and very little by stretching on the outside of the bend. The bending strap limits stretching and forces the wood into compression. Excessive stretching causes breaking. Careful selection of pieces with straight grain is also essential to good bending success. Anyway, the bending strap is anchored to the bending form on one end and free on the other. Insert the steamed wood between bending strap and form and start bending while applying pressure with the strap to force the wood against the form. A leather belt or piece of sheet metal can be used for the strap.

[luneydude]

and i like cut little peices of wood to fit inbetween the bends to hold it flush against the inside of the case would that work

[luneydude]

okay so im wanting to make me a new electric guitar thats built like a acoustic but its not acoustic i have a hard c=guitar case thats the shape i want my guitar if i put the steamed wood in there and bended it to the inside shape of it and then closed the guitar case with it in there and let it dry up would that work

[nativewater]

It should work in theory. You never know till you try it. Only thing is that you have to work pretty fast to get the wood bent before it cools down too much. If your idea doesn't work you can always build a bending form out of plywood

[luneydude]

thanks man, yah if mine doesnt work ill try that, thanks once again

[masterochicken]

Those chains on those mudflaps look like forklift chains to me.

[tjesse]

No, a giant bicycle ridden by monsters. Can't you read.

[tjesse]

We lived near a canal, we would tie a rope to a dock pillar and throw to animal in the water. The crabs do most of the work.

[urtlesquirt]

Good design, but wayy to steep. also steps must be woder.

[derttiej]

lol i like the note"works" so its not mistaked as a piece of trash.. this might be my next project i do.. maybe something above or around my bed.

[DorthyBlueBird]

It was probably a find from his local University's Property Disposition. Having been a scrounge rat, I know it is a common way to show to potential customers (usually paying $5-$10 bucks for the privilege) that they passed the on/off test.

Shame this won't work for flat screen monitors. I don't think that there's enough clearance to space the holes without nicking (or worse) the electronics...

Though it occurs to me that a mutt-rigged bracket made with a bike rack might do it, though...

[DorthyBlueBird]

I imagine that a corn-cob would be great for removing cruft from your saw blades, files and other cruft-prone tools.

[DorthyBlueBird]

It depends on how the wool is treated. Some wools are treated in such a way that the water just sits on the top, but others (like say, natural wool socks ) absorb an astonishing amount of water, yet the wool surface stays dry. This can also create a cooling effect, which is why anybody bothers to wear wool at all, say... in the middle east or other dry desert climes.

[DorthyBlueBird]

Oops! I forgot to mention that most desert climates also get VERY cold at night... also why it's a good idea to bring something warm even if you are going somewhere warm and dry. Not sure it's as big of a problem with dry and wet.

[vitruvian8807]

What about rats? That won't work.