Having access to an abrasive media blaster of some kind is great if you’re restoring a car, truck, or working with other types of metals that need to be completely clean and free of any contaminants. There are several kinds of media blasters available for both the workshop and mobile applications. Prices vary, but typical consumer-style portable … Read more
I grew up playing a ton of air hockey, so this video from one of our Favorite YouTube channels, I Like to Make Stuff, showing us how to make our own air hockey table was just something I thought I’d share as a short post. Good stuff.
When I was 17, my pride-n-joy was a ’72 Olds. My dad bought it for me as a project car—and man, was it a mess. I worked on that thing day and night. When it came time to laying down paint, however, I just didn’t trust myself. Today, I’m a bit more confident, but still haven’t properly … Read more
We all have our favorite tools, but us old guys sometimes have a hard time reading their labels. You can buy etched sockets and other tools already, but that’s expensive. And permanent markers or stickers just won’t last. One of our favorite YouTubers, Chris Fix, shows us how to etch and personalize our tools DiY … Read more
Garage geeks love their Shop-Vacs (we’ll call them wet/dry vacs, since Shop-Vac is a specific brand), but boy are they noisy! Depending on many variables—room dynamics, how close you are to the unit, etc.—the typical decibel reading for a running wet/dry vacuum is anywhere between 85-95db. That’s pretty loud. For comparison, the average conversation is around 60-65db. There are … Read more
As a teenie-bopper back in 1987, I bought a brand-spankin’ new red GMC S-15 pickup truck. It was the first vehicle I bought with my own money, so I was super-proud. I didn’t get a bed liner because I didn’t want to cover the painted truck bed. Lo and behold, two weeks later a buddy of … Read more
Ever been assembling a project and really, really wished you had an extra pair of hands? Most of us improvise using whatever clamps, vices or props we have laying around to hold everything in place. I once drilled through a piece of wood right into the plastic housing of a portable radio I was using … Read more
Pallets have a long history of helping man to move stuff from ship to shore and warehouse to door. Pallets go back as far as the ancient Egyptian times to the more common World War II wooden pallets we know today, which are still lifted via forklifts and similar machines. Pallets are a critical cog in … Read more
SketchUp is a 3-D modeling software application from Trimble, which acquired the software from Google in 2012. Used by many in the engineering, construction and product design industries, to name a few, SketchUp is free for non-commercial use (a pro version is available for about $500). And as Popular Woodworking Magazine puts it: The original developers … Read more