Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2016 i Popular Mechanics South Africa

One of the advantages of this job is that you get to meet really, really interesting people, like the one pictured (for the record, the interesting one is on the right). But let’s start with Braam Malherbe. One exquisitely balmy pre-spring afternoon a few weeks ago, I lounged in a garden chair near the summit of Lion’s Head chatting to Braam, who – besides having a view from his stoep to die for – is a household name through simply daring to do stuff that the rest of us regard as extreme, to put it mildly. Like co-running the entire Great Wall of China at the rate of a marathon a day or co-racing through the Antarctic. And now, expecting to have to complete two and half million oar-strokes to…

MON 3/10 Septemberfest would be a more accurate term for the legendary celebration of Bavarian (or should that be beer?) culture. The festival actually runs from mid-September and finishes in early October. It all started back in 1810 in honour of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The Bavarians couldn’t get enough of a good thing and repeated the celebrations annually until they realised that September nights provided more pleasant weather for wandering until the wee hours. FRI 7/10 rAge is the country’s annual video gaming, computer, technology and geek culture exhibition. Each year, the event attracts enthusiastic gamers for three days of gaming, technology, gadgets, shopping, and more much more. Here is a taste of what to expect at this year’s edition: • Console…

Do you have unusual questions about the world and how it works and why stuff happens? This is the place to ask them. Don’t be afraid. Nobody will laugh at you here. Email popularmechanics@ramsaymedia.co.za Questions will be selected based on quality or at our whim. Q Many countries make you fill up your car yourself. In the US, for example, only two states have declared it illegal to pump your own fuel – New Jersey and Oregon. What’s up with that? A LIKE MANY SILLY LAWS, bans on self-service fuel in some countries exist under the guise of safety. In others, like South Africa, there is, of course, the rather important matter of tens of thousands of petrol pump attendant jobs to be taken into account. Back in the day,…

1 THE LENSES Buy two lenses – one convex with a focal length of 20 cm and one concave with a focal length of 5 cm. (Available at amazon.com.) The concave lens should have a smaller diameter. 2 THE TUBE Buy a telescoping mailing tube – the kind with an inner tube that slides out for larger documents. (Available at most office-supply stores.) Cut the inner and outer tubes to 15 centimetres each. This will put your lenses near the correct position to focus.* 3 THE LENS FRAMES Cut a circle of manila paper to the diameter of each tube. Cut out the centre of the circles so that the lenses fit in them. Using rubber cement, glue the paper to the lenses. 4 THE EYEPIECE Glue the smaller lens…

OPTIONS FOR PAINT REPAIR RANGE from simple tinted waxes and As-Seen-On-TV miracle pens to multistage treatments matched to your car’s exact colour. As someone who’s capable with a spanner, I went with the latter and tested an automotive touch-up kit on my pockmarked 1993 Ford SUV. It costs about R600 depending on which supplies you need, compared with R60 000 for a professional all-over repainting. This collection of aerosol cans and sandpaper is as close as you can get to an appointment at the paint booth. Here’s how it works, and whether it’s worth it. 1. ABRASION It feels very wrong to lean into your car’s bodywork with a folded piece of 180-grit, but that’s what you have to do. You make the scratch much, much worse before making it…

ONLINE BUSINESS ‘3 STEPS TO SAFE CYBER-SHOPPING. STEPHEN BALLOT, OLX SOUTH AFRICA CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER MORE AND MORE people are opting to buy online rather than in traditional brick-and-mortar shops. Which is why more and more scammers are heading online. OLX recently implemented mobile OTP verification because the now outdated email verification method allows too wide a margin for suspicious behaviour (think multiple, fake email addresses). But there are things you can do, too: GET A SENSE OF THE BUYER or seller before making arrangements to meet. OLX’s app offers chat functionality to get to know the person. Buyers who are the real deal will never offer to transfer money before viewing what you have to sell. DON’T POST A PRODUCT to someone without verifying that the money is in…

A mighty new Milwaukee-Eight engine and new suspension are the headline items in a Touring package that Harley-Davidson is calling its most powerful, most responsive, most comfortable and most advanced ever. An all-new design, the Milwaukee-Eight engine offers quicker throttle response, more passing power, purer sound, better fuel economy and a smoother ride. New emulsion-technology rear shock absorbers offer 15 to 30 per cent more pre-load adjustment than previous standard Touring shocks, with a single knob to hydraulically adjust pre-load. The front suspension features new Showa SDBV suspension technology, aimed at delivering the damping performance of a racing-style cartridge fork with linear damping characteristics and reduced weight. H-D says acceleration compared with previous models is better by two bike lengths from 0 to 100 km/h, and by a similar margin…

WINNING LETTER THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED I have just finished reading your September issue and I was amused to read about the Editor’s love for his 2007 Subaru Forester. A friend is also an owner (he has had two) and, if you let him, he can ramble on about these amazing vehicles. Reading about the very capable Forester being taken off-road on boulder-strewn roads reminded me of a trip my late co-pilot Glyn (she hated the word wife) and I took in our ‘05 Opel Corsa in 2008. We decided to detour to Katse dam on our way to Durban (as a motoring journalist, Glyn and I loved the serenity of quiet open roads, seeking new adventures. One time, we did 5 000 kilometres to Cape town and back in…

> popularmechanics@ramsaymedia.co.za I’VE BEEN A sportswatch fanboy for more than a decade now, since a Garmin Forerunner 301 completely sold me on the idea of GPS tracking combined with heart rate monitoring. With its latest flagship wearable, though, the company has managed to cram so many more functions into a device still capable of being worn on the wrist that it constitutes a minor miracle. The fēnix 3 was introduced at this year’s CES. It’s the latest in the line of watches aimed, initially, at GPS-focused outdoorsy types like hikers and climbers. Now, while retaining those outdoors features, the fēnix is more of a genuine sports watch, albeit that it’s listed on Garmin’s website under “Outdoors”. Dedicated activity profiles include indoor and outdoor options for running, golf (40 000 courses…

A significant downside of apartment life is the lack of great outdoor living spaces. Balconies have potential, but uncovered they are no place to be in bad weather. And sometimes mega-city living comes sans outside space at all. To remedy this, start-up company Grobo has developed an app-controlled indoor gardening system that allows anyone to grow plants inside a home. Grobo systems house plants in a completely enclosed space, with no risk of the enclosed plants becoming victims to pests. Construction of aluminium, plastic and Canadian hardwood with LED lighting, ensures that the planting space is beautiful, yet functional. It’s designed to maintain practicality, while at the same time displaying the plant without any compromise of the closedloop system. Grobo offers a home to a wide array of plants. Herbs…

Chris Bertish is attempting to go unsupported and unassisted on a custom-made six-metre stand up paddle board/craft, for four straight months in support of charity. The SUP Crossing will surpass anything Chris has ever attempted before and will see him paddle across 7 500 km of open ocean setting off from Morocco, in mid-December 2016 and then finally landing in northern Florida, doing the equivalent of a halfmarathon a day for over 120 days straight. His craft is based on elements of the ocean racing SUP board used by Bertish for his 24-hour all Africa record and incorporates many design elements from the ocean row craft used to cross the Atlantic. The crossing is described as “a multilayered project that seeks to change the lives of millions in Africa and…

LEONARD HOROWITZ Theorises Aids is a genocidal weapon created by the US government. Sells crystal pyramids for pain relief. Has a degree in public health from Harvard. DANNION BRINKLEY Doesn’t believe in death. His book about getting struck by lightning and meeting angels in the afterlife was a New York Times best seller. LAURA EISENHOWER UFO fanatics think her great-grandfather Dwight held meetings with aliens in the White House. She claims many current politicians are aliens. SEAN DAVID MORTON Called “America’s Prophet”. Psychically predicts the stock market. Recently arrested on charges to defraud the IRS. Has amazing taste in neckties.…

Rocket stoves are highly efficient, thanks to a strong draught. Sticks and leaves produce a flame hot enough to boil water or cook breakfast. And they can be easily built with three concrete blocks, two pavers and a brick. Just add a trivet or burner grate as a cooking surface. 1. On flat ground, lay one block with the holes facing out. 2. Stand another block vertically against the end of that first block. 3. Form an H-shape with the brick and pavers on top of the first block. The brick standing on end should be the same height as the pavers standing on their sides. (Approximately 20 centimetres for standard bricks.) 4. Stack the final block on top of the H-shape. 5. Build your fire in the top hole…

NO. 2 PENCIL Used on: Paper, wood, concrete Hold the pencil at a 45-degree angle from the surface you need to mark. Keeping the pencil perpendicular to your straightedge, with your hand resting on the surface, slide your hand towards you. LASER Used on: Floors and walls Lasers are useful for marking longer spans or, if the laser rotates quickly enough on its tripod, projecting a line around an entire room. This is helpful for setting a chair rail or suspended ceiling, even if the floor is not perfectly level. MARKING KNIFE Used on: Wood Its lines can’t be smudged and the groove of the line gives you a place to rest a chisel or seat a saw. Place the tip of the marking knife against a square. The flat…

1. Use a level to mark a plumb line on the existing wall at the point at which the new wall will meet it. Have a helper hold a tape measure where the line hits the floor and, using a framing square to ensure a 90-degree corner, extend the tape measure to the point on the floor where the new wall will end. Mark that end point and a few spots along the tape measure on the floor. 2. Use a stud sensor to locate the direction of the ceiling joists relative to the new wall. If the wall runs parallel to them, you’ll deal with that later. If it runs directly under a joist, mark the sides of the joist in a few places along the length of your…

1. Set a sheet of acrylic on your workstation. This will be your casting surface. 2. Cut a piece of foam core to the dimensions of the art you wish to frame. Subtract 6 mm from the length and width of that piece and cut two more pieces of foam core to those new dimensions. 3. Use double-sided tape to stack the two smaller pieces. Seal the edges with packing tape, then fasten the resulting block to the casting surface with more double-sided tape. Seal the edges of the larger piece of foam core and affix it squarely over the block on the casting surface with double-sided tape. 4. The dimensions of your frame will be determined by where you set the edges of your mould. To create the edges,…

SUPPLIES As with any serious touch-up kit, there are a lot of materials. The box for my black SUV includes prep solvent, rubbing compound, sandpaper of various grits, rubber gloves, a tack rag to pick up dust, pretaped plastic to block messy overspray (like blue painter’s tape for your car), and cans of primer, base coat, and clear coat. It all suggests a lot of work, which turns out to be accurate. I watch a how-to videos and print out the instructions. I take everything outside, then pick the most unsightly scratches and a rust spot on the bonnet. I wipe them with the solvent and rag, then tape a perimeter to protect brightwork.…

SMART HOMES REQUIRE SMART SECURITY – and one of the first to market is Yale’s Keyless Connected Smart Lock, which features an optional Z-wave module, making it compatible with most smart home automation systems. To open this digital wireless lock, you can choose between an RF card, phone sticker, tag or PIN code. For multiple users, the system allows for up to 20 user slots. All that tech wizardry is wrapped up in a standard lock format, making it a drop-in upgrade. Based on a high-security Yale Y3 nightlatch, its standard size makes it easy to fit on timber doors. Using the backlit touchscreen keypad, you can personalise PIN codes to any 4-to 10-digit number with the ability to reprogramme at any time. There’s also a single-day access code for…

EBEN HORTON SLIDES open the door of his workshop’s furnace. He is greeted with a low roar and a blast of dry heat to his face as he pushes a 137-centimetre stainless-steel blowpipe into the waiting crucible. Working at a seemingly casual pace that accompanies his familiarity with an ancient trade, he sweeps the pipe through the barrel-deep reservoir and scoops up several millilitres of liquefied glass. At just on 1 100 degrees, this lemonsize dollop of molten glass, known as a gather, emanates orange light. At his workstation, Horton rests the blowpipe’s midsection on a metal arm. With his left hand he slowly spins the pipe, causing the molten gob at its end to rotate within a wet, wooden shaping tool, called a block, which he holds in his…

Q My hammer has a big chip in its head. That shouldn’t happen, right? A I haven’t seen a hammerhead chip in more than 30 years. Given some of the abuse dished out on construction sites and on volunteer workdays, all I can say is that today’s hammers are so abusetolerant, it takes a lot to chip one. Here are a few rules for keeping your hammers whole. See if one of these situations sounds familiar: • Claw hammers are designed to hit nails, sets for sinking finish nails and specially made bars that are used to dig out nails or pry wood away from a surface. Don’t use them to strike hardened steel or to break up cast iron or concrete. Those jobs require a sledgehammer. • Don’t use…

A workshop air filter WHEN IT GETS COOL, the amount of workshop time spent with the garage door down is going to increase. That means more sawdust and other particulates in the air and your lungs. Reader Larry Brannock has a solution: a box fan rigged with a furnace filter. Brannock simply duct-tapes the filter to the back of the fan – a common size for both is 50 centimetres square. Placed as close as possible to the source of dust, his device traps the bad stuff and outputs clean air. One thing to keep in mind: the higher the rating of the filter, the harder the fan will have to work to pull air through. A TIP FOR SPRAY-PAINTING FASTENERS If you find yourself spray-painting a batch of fasteners,…

BECAUSE I’M A CHEF, every so often someone asks me about the future of food: “What ingredients will we have in our pantries?” they ask. “What will our stoves and refrigerators do?” I don’t know the answers to these questions, so I usually handle them like a politician: I change the subject. But recently, I took five of 2016’s most futuristic kitchen toys for a test drive and I got a glimpse of where we’re going in the process. Here’s what’s next. WE WILL GRILL INSIDE. Philips Smoke-Less Infrared Grill (williams-sonoma.com) Every time I make a steak or burger for dinner, I have to disable my apartment smoke alarm. Philips’ new indoor grill is designed to save me from this insanity. On outdoor grills, most of the smoke is caused…

I’VE BEEN TOLD that my four-centimetre cut is too short to require a hair dryer, but I use one anyway. Not to get my hair so it’ll fall just so, but to expedite the morning routine. I think it was my old man who told me never to show up with a wet mop. It makes you look like you were in a rush. When I tried the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer (out this month), it didn’t make my hair several thousand rand more lustrous than the communal Conair in my gym’s locker room. It didn’t even dry my hair faster. But those metrics don’t apply to Dyson products. You pay a lot of money for a Dyson vacuum or humidifier because it’s so ergonomic and pretty that it makes…

A European duo has designed the ultimate electric bicycle for the modern commuter in the hope that it will encourage people in cities across the globe to take up cycling. The MATE is a collapsible allterrain bicycle that is fitted with a 250-or 350-watt electric motor to make tackling long distances and hills a little less sweaty for the everyday commuter. The battery is hidden within the MATE’s collapsible frame and allows for a range of more than 80 kilometres. Model-dependent, the MATE will cost you between R8 000 and R10 000. The project is currently in its funding stage on Indiegogo, and delivery is expected late this year.…

JUNE 1907 “The Truth About Burning Ashes” According to a popular rumour, you could mix a compound with ashes to make a fuel with more energy than anthracite coal. Uh, no. JUNE 1961 “Facts and Myths About When to Change Oil” Stop trusting your dipstick. MAY 2001 “When UFOs Land” Most scientists tell you there’s no evidence of UFOs. Turns out that’s not true. JANUARY 2005 “Who’s Spying on You?” An exploration of the fragile state of personal privacy with the rise of GPS, sensor, and data aggregation. MARCH 2005 “9/11: Debunking the Myths” We consulted more than 70 professionals in aviation, engineering, and the military to disprove 16 common 9/11 conspiracy theories. We still get crazy emails.…

1. Crosscut supports for the seat back and seat. Bore holes for bolts and screws as shown. Spread glue at connection points between the supports, then bolt together to form the frame. Apply stain. 2. Crosscut seat slats, arms, arm supports, front rail and bottom support. Apply stain on all surfaces. 3. Fasten seat slats, arm supports, arms and bottom support as shown. 4. Mount the ceiling supports on rafters or floor joists above your swing. Depending on the amount of weight you want your swing to support, you can use lag screws and swing swivels screwed vertically into the joists. But for optimal safety, we recommend through-bolting to 50 x 150 blocking. Over time, a lag screw can loosen. A through-bolted connection never will. 5. Install swing hangers and…

1. Choose an image for your puzzle. Keep in mind that images without major variations in colour or texture are harder to solve. Print the image on an 8 x 10 sheet of photo paper using your home printer. (For printing larger or high-resolution puzzles, you're better off going to an office-supply store.) 2. Using a light layer of spray adhesive, paste the image to a same-size piece of 2 centimetre chipboard – a dense, recycle-friendly cardboard. Let the adhesive dry, then seal the image to the chipboard with protective photo-safe coating such as Krylon’s Preserve It spray. 3. Let the lacquer set for a few hours. In the meantime, create the puzzle template. On another piece of 8 x 10 paper draw a grid of 2,5 cm x 2,5…

JOHN MONTELEONE’S instruments are like hen’s teeth out in the wild. This will be the first carved-top lap steel guitar that I know of. The difference between a flat-topped and a carved-topped guitar is the effort that goes into making the carved top. A good guitar top should be in the vicinity of 3 millimetres thick. With a flat top, you plane the wood flat. A carved top starts with the same block of wood, but the contour is meticulously shaped with chisels and sandpaper. The top should be made of cedar or spruce. Spruce is a magical wood. It’s a soft, sponge-like wood. It breathes. Maple and rosewood are more rigid, so they’re better for the body. They make a great resonance chamber, but for the top, they can’t…

1. MAKE THE MARINADE Combine the following in a bowl and mix until fully dissolved. • ½ cup molasses • ½ cup maple syrup • 1 ½ cup soya sauce • 1 tbsp Liquid Smoke • ¼ cup Worcestershire • 2 tbsp fine-ground black pepper • 1 tbsp garlic powder • 1 tbsp onion powder 2. SLICE THE MEAT Put 1 800 g (yields 600 grams) of flank steak in the freezer for an hour. This makes it easier to cut. Slice each steak across the grain in half-centimetre strips, holding the blade at a 45-degree angle. 3. MARINATE THE MEAT Fully submerge the meat in the marinade in a container. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours. 4. DRY THE MEAT Turn the oven to its lowest…

Water flowing out now matched water flowing in – an important point, or the centre basin would end up dry and the pump dead. AS LONGER DAYS and rising temperatures warmed the lake behind our house this spring and the lake’s fish, frogs and reptiles gathered in the nearest cove, three of my boys began scouring the shallows for prey, using dip nets and minnow traps to capture all manner of life. Soon they had an assortment of creatures in aquariums in one of their bedrooms and a proposal for their parents to consider: can we build large outdoor tanks to keep bait alive and ready for fishing season? The lake’s largemouth bass and pickerel, they said, would be more likely to strike fish from their own habitat – bait…

It’s not the same as running around the block YOU MAY FIND yourself climbing hills or descending along rivers, all while dancing around obstacles. Lean in a little when going uphill so you use the largest muscles in your body – your glutes. Going downhill, don’t lean back and ride your heels. That’s a good way to overload your thighs and end up sore or injured. When you run through your neighbourhood, you probably don’t look too far past your feet. On a trail, your inclination may be to stare directly down, but your feet know what to do. Dodging those obstacles is pretty instinctive. You actually want to look about five metres ahead, so you can see approaching challenges with time to react to them. Running injuries don’t usually…

PROJECT NOTES OUR FIRST RUN at this project was a little too complex. We tried to tap into the home’s existing doorbell wiring – a cumbersome job that involved fishing wires through conduit. It wasn’t fun. But this version is perfect. A metal container houses a 9-volt battery and wiring. This base serves as the platform for a pushbutton switch that we wired to a nearby low-voltage buzzer. The results are surprising. And loud. When you tire of the noise, and you will, you can reduce the buzzer’s harshness by covering it with a piece of tape. Instructions • kid only • parent only • parent and kid • 1. Use a drill and 12-mm twist drill bit to make a hole in the lid of the container. Position the…