Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2015 i Family Handyman

editors@thefamilyhandyman.com POWER WASHER WONDER Any pressure washer can clean a hard surface like concrete, but it takes forever, and if you move the nozzle too fast or too slow, you wind up with streaks and striping. That’s why we were blown away by the results from this whirlybird-style surface cleaner from Briggs & Stratton (No. 6178; $60 at home centers and pressure washer stores). We snapped it onto the end of our power washer and put it to work cleaning dirty concrete. As soon as you pull the trigger, the cleaner lifts off the surface and floats like a hovercraft. We just pushed it along at a steady pace and let it do its job. The spinning jets blasted a clean, uniform 14-in.-wide swath, and the brush skirt prevented damage…

In 1883, John Michael Kohler coated a large rectangular basin with an enamel powder he’d developed and heated it to 1,700 degrees F. He marketed his product to farmers as a water trough and hog scalder and to the regular consumer as a bathtub. The bathtub was a hit and became the first of thousands of bath products the Kohler Company would go on to manufacture. Today the Kohler Company headquarters is in Kohler, WI, and it has more than 50 manufacturing locations, employing more than 30,000 people worldwide. It’s one of America’s oldest and largest privately held companies. Kohler’s first enamel tub. The original ad copy read: ”Cast-Iron Enameled Water Trough and Hog Scalders. (Five Sizes) When furnished with Legs can be used as a bathing tub.”…

editors@thefamilyhandyman.com I love projects that allow me to walk into my workshop with a few boards under one arm and then walk out a few hours later with something sturdy, useful and attractive. In other words, I like simple projects. Even more, I like ridiculously simple projects. I like them so much that a few years ago I wrote a book called “Ridiculously Simple Furniture Projects.” Here are three stools inspired by that “simpler is better” concept. Glue-and-screw furniture can look awesome The three projects in this article have a few things in common: They’re all stools, they’re all made with dimensional lumber or plywood, and they’re all better looking because they’ve been “dressed up” with a roundover router bit. How often do I use that bit? So often that…

editors@thefamilyhandyman.com The key to long sprocket and chain life is to keep your motorcycle chain clean, well lubricated and properly adjusted. But even with meticulous maintenance, the chain eventually wears, and that causes the two sprockets to wear as well. And once one sprocket shows wear, it’s best to replace the chain and both sprockets at the same time. You can do the job yourself in just a few hours and save about $200 in shop labor and parts markup. You may have to invest about $30 in a chain breaker tool and a large socket to loosen the drive sprocket, but you can do the rest of the job with just hand tools, a breaker bar and regular sockets. We asked Ryan Scott, the owner of Blue Cat Motors,…

In 1986, Craig Sommerfeld was in the process of building his own home and wanted a way to attach the face frames to his kitchen cabinet carcasses without nailing through the front of them. Being a tool and die maker by trade and a DIYer at heart, he designed and built his own single-hole pocket hole jig. This first “Craig’s Jig” was made from steel and aluminum, and it worked so well that his friends and coworkers encouraged him to build more. He changed the name to “Kreg” out of modesty and started demonstrating the tool at woodworking shows. The professional cabinet shop folks saw the benefit and were the first to buy the tool, but eventually, a whole lot of us weekend warriors wanted a strong and super-easy way…

editors@thefamilyhandyman.com SAVE TIME, SAVE WATER & PAMPER YOUR PLANTS There’s an easier way to keep your plants watered, even when your life gets busy or you’re away from home—a simple, automated drip irrigation system. These systems are affordable and easy to set up. In small yards, you can complete the job in a day for about $150. Not only will your plants thrive, but you’ll also spend less time dragging around hoses and setting up sprinklers. Drip systems deliver moisture straight to the roots instead of blasting water through the air, where much of it evaporates or lands where it isn’t needed. That uses a lot less water—up to 70 percent less compared with overhead watering. Automatic watering is also good for plants because it’s consistent, eliminates fluctuations in soil…

editors@thefamilyhandyman.com An asphalt driveway can last almost 30 years. But you can’t achieve that long life span unless the driveway was installed properly and you perform regular maintenance, like filling cracks annually and applying sealer when needed. We covered the art of filling asphalt cracks in the March ’15 issue. In this story, we’ll show you how to clean and prepare the driveway so you get the longest life and best protection from driveway sealer. Preparation can take a full day (including drying time), and it’s tedious. The application phase is much faster, taking only a few hours per coat for a typical driveway. Most sealer manufacturers recommend two coats with a minimum drying time of eight hours between coats, so this project will fill an entire weekend. The materials…

The United States has always been a home to inventors, tinkerers and problem solvers. Countless innovative tools and materials that we all use were born and bred right here in the U.S.A., and many of them came to life in the workshops of DIYers just like you. We decided to celebrate the stories of a few American trailblazers who created products that are a testament to American ingenuity. editors@thefamilyhandyman.com AMES TOOLS Older than the U.S. Captain John Ames started manufacturing shovels in West Bridgewater, MA, in 1774—that’s before the American Revolution! Shovels were in high demand in the young expanding country, and business was good. During the California gold rush, Ames shovels were so valuable that they were sometimes used as currency! President Lincoln personally asked Oakes Ames (son of…

WHAT IT TAKES COST: $230 or less TIME: One day EXPERIENCE: Beginner TOOLS: Circular saw, drill, clamps, tape measure, caulking gun, framing square, paintbrush, putty knife, hacksaw editors@thefamilyhandyman.com My wife wanted to dress up our patio, so she brought home a few water plants from our local nursery and dropped them in a new lime green plastic planter filled with water. I was impressed with the plants, but the planter…not so much. Being careful not to criticize her buying decision, I decided to ditch the plastic and create a patio pond that would be a little more suitable for the space. I came up with a wooden container that holds both water plants and regular plants. My wife was thrilled with the final results and never even asked where the…

editors@thefamilyhandyman.com Drum composters convert yard waste to finished compost much faster than stationary compost bins do because they allow you to churn and instantly aerate the waste. Plus, drum composters are easier on your back. You can buy them online or at any garden center for as little as $150 for the smallest units and up to $400 for the large fancy rigs. They all follow the same basic design—a drum on a stand. Our version is an adaptation of that using a plastic 55-gallon drum. The drum and stand together cost about the same as the low-price models, but our composter is built stronger and has more features. It takes a full day to customize the drum and build the stand. We used rivets to speed up the assembly,…

editors@thefamilyhandyman.com Once you’ve used a pressure washer, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without one. In fact, you’ll find new uses for it every time you fire it up! We talked to a few power washer fanatics and several manufacturers to learn the best tips for using and maintaining a pressure washer. And we learned how to avoid the most common mistakes DIYers make, like leaving water in the pump through winter, using the wrong nozzle for the job, and letting the engine idle for more than a few minutes. 1 Make your pump last longer Leaving water in the pump can result in mineral buildup and corrosion, which wear out the pump seals and pistons (a $200 repair). So it pays to flush the pump after every use—a…

editors@thefamilyhandyman.com Put on your thinking cap and take this month’s quiz to see just how smart you are when it comes to DIY. Here’s how it works: ▪ There are easy, intermediate and really tough questions all mixed together. ▪ There may be more than one correct answer! ▪ Find the answers and get your DIY rating on pp. 86 – 87. Good luck! 1. How do you know if your overhead garage door is properly balanced? A. The door should stay in place when opened halfway. B. The door should slowly rise when opened halfway. C. The door should slowly descend when opened halfway. D. The door should rapidly descend when opened halfway. 2. What are the three most common widths of carpet rolls available from the factory? A.…