Handy Tricks Episode 9

Handy Tricks 9: Oodles of random tricks! More will be added randomly!

To see even more handy tricks, check out the rest of the saga at
Handy Tricks 8: Island Handy Tricks
and Handy Tricks 7: Bike Mods and Projects
and Handy Tricks Six!
and Australian Handy Tricks
and Guatemalan Handy Tricks
and Yet More Handy Tricks
and 40 More Handy Tricks
and Fifty Handy Tricks.
For a bunch of things that didn't work, check out How Not To.

First collection of tricks:
Damon checks out the riggers for his new rowing shell.
0. The boat is carved from pink styrofoam insulation and covered with fiberglass.
1. The boat is up on plywood boat stands made by Vincent Bachet.
2. They are padded with carpet scraps.
3. Damon made the riggers from chunks of aluminum tubing fiberglassed together.
4. The oarlock pins are stainless tube, lashed on with kevlar roving that's then soaked with epoxy.
4a. After some use they slipped. He drilled holes through kevlar and aluminum, sunk screws to pin them in place.
5. The handles of serious oars are not varnished or painted. They are left as bare wood. Apparently that is easier to grip and causes fewer blisters.

Step 1: Check Cloth for water-proof-ness

Star is making a tarp for ultralight camping. She checks the cloth porosity by trying to suck air through it.
If no air goes through, there's no porosity and the coating is continuous. It's waterproof.

An Ojibway Indian showed me the same method to find leaks in a birchbark canoe.

Comments

[abys10383]

Do not pour antifreeze down the sink drain. That crap is toxic as hell and municipal water cleaning systems can not scrub that stuff out and that stuff takes a very very long to break down because of its chemical composition. Its almost the same as that of plastics its chemical properties is extremly stable meaning that it doesn't break down very much if at all. So the environmental and public health impact should be obvious then again I am saying this to a person whom pours antifreeze down a drain. An in case my credentials are in question and am currently a college student majoring in wildlife biology so I just may know what I'm talking about. I've certainly have had to suffer enough going through with chemistry and biology classes to know a bit about this.

[techturtle2]

DO NOT POUR ANTIFREEZE DOWN YOUR DRAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That stuff will KILL YOU DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ilpug]

Well, if you drink out of your drain,yeah.

[ilpug]

That idea of sticking drink cans in fences to make art is phenomenal... wish i had thought of that.

[Elmundo]

"Solo" disposable drink cups work really well too. Scavenging enough may take time, but birthday parties and keggers are a great place to find them.

At Fort Hood, Texas, there were hundreds of yards of messages to troops that were deployed in the fence around the perimeter. They seemed to stand up to the Texas sun and wind really well, too. They were up there a year later when I visited.

[silentdisco]

So true about the mind perceptually synchronizing unrelated sounds and motions - event when two channels are going, to the onlookers it seems as though everyone is moving to the same beat. Silent Storm Sound System throws silent disco events in the states - maybe we'll cross paths at one someday!

[benner81]

I see in the picture you're using RV antifreeze, which is probably propylene glycol.  Regular automotive antifreeze is usually ethylene glycol, which is considerably more toxic.  You should probably avoid pouring ethylene glycol down the drain, especially if your cabin has a septic system.

[SandDevilJack]

If S.I. can paint bikinis on supermodels, then why not sandals on your feet!

[backyardmunitionist]

Ceramic makes a pretty good sharpening surface. I even picked up a large ceramic baking dish at a local store. It has a flat unglazed bottom instead of the normal ring found on most ceramic kitchenware. It's big enough to sharpen a large knife like a machete.

[harley_rly]

theres like, 85 cans there

[sharlston]

the bullet proof tire you mentioned ive got one it comes in a aerosol can you simply attach the hose to the valve and turn it on and it instanly fills the tire up with a hard green foam

[greatscotmagic]

Hi, Tim,
Since I started baking bread using the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day I have gotten into other types of baking and cooking which resulted in my using kitchen appliances from the 1950s. I started out with getting a Sunbeam Mixmaster from my Mother-inLaw and resurrecting my wife's Sunbeam electric fry pan.
I came across this article from e-how while researching methods for cleaning up the fry pan and future appliances for my collection.

These older appliances had many uses, the makers were pretty ingnious when it came to making them multi-purpose.

The instruction manual for my fry pan has recipes for baking cakes, making roasts, hamburgers, and things that you would not imagine you can do with the fry pan.
I discovered that some electric fry pans were also broilers by adding an electric coil in the lid and a grill rack that fit in the bottom.

Until I read your tip, I didn't think about the things you mentioned like energy efficiency and how well it cooks due to the thermostat.

There are lots of uses for these vintage appliances and the more I find out about them, the more I want to add them to my kitchen,

BTW, I discovered the Artisan bread baking method here on Instructables. Here is the URL:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Artisan_Bread_in_Five_Minutes_a_Day/?&sort=NEWEST&limit=50&offset=50

Keep making these great Instructables, I really appreciate them.

P.S. I live a few miles from Saxtons River.

[Brianinmaine]

Yep, they sell them at Walmart.

[Sandisk1duo]

gut cancer from burned food? never heard of that... is it true?

[the_mad_man]

well, apparently carbon (charcoal) is carcinogenic

[Sandisk1duo]

aww..

[sonic_dan]

hey, i'm from cambridge - the Man on the Moon's a cool little pub. my band used to play there too!

[Wade Tarzia]

Here's *my* request: I'd like an instructable on building a foam-and-glass boat like that. Seems to me that would answer some calls I have been hearing for light car-topper boats, something more than a kayak and less than a trailer-sailer. I know people with some serious boats but they are so high-techy they take too long to set up if all you have is two hours for a quickie cruise. I heard one such fella daydream the other day at the beach about a car-top outrigger sailing canoe, very light, 5 or 6 foot BOA. A slim Dow-foam and glass outrigger, similar in build to this rowing shell seems promising. A wet boat, sure, and not terribly comfortable, but just the thing for those free two hours.

[TimAnderson]

Here's Damon's full instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/Building_a_Rowing_Shell/

[Wade Tarzia]

Thanks. I don't know why I didn't think I'd find it here ;-) He seems to be missing an important step, though. Not aure sure how he got from thin foam sheets to the nice hull on the table.

[thebluemartyr]

sewing kit and double sided tape were the only really clever ones, but the thermostat controlled skillet and solar helmet, whats the handy trick? go buy a skillet with a thermostat? and the helmet could have done with a little more detail or instruction, and i can't even tell what is going on in the first one, maybe its useful to a more specific audience, but all i took from that was cover boat stands with carpet.

[dchall8]

In the intro there's lot of discussion. I'm guessing the handy hint is to make the stands out of wood...but I'm just guessing. In Step 2, there is a good reason for leaving the ends out of a Nicopress fitting. If you leave the ends out and suddenly notice that the loose end has pulled up inside the sleeve, you know to throw that wire away because the sleeve is slipping. When you start out with the end inside the sleeve, you'll never know that it was slipping until it releases entirely. When your life (or very expensive equipment) depends on it, you have to have something to inspect for failure. Use two sleeves and leave one cable diameter length of cable extending beyond the sleeve. If you make a mistake, clip the sleeve off and start over. In Step 9 the pictures are sort of confusing. What am I looking at? One piece looks like a grinding machine but there's a lot of clutter to sort through.

[Plasmana]

Wow, you made that quick! :-)