Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2019 i Popular Mechanics

WE NEVER HAD a dog growing up. We had a cat for a while—my older brother was walking home from sixth grade one day and passed a house where they were giving away kittens. Apparently the owners thought it was okay to give a kitten to an unaccompanied 11-year-old. We kept it hidden for a week before our parents found it. She was adorable and enjoyed puking and scratching people. We wanted a dog, but dogs are more work, and my mother says she knew that even with four kids in the house, she and my father would end up caring for a dog. (She can never prove she was right, and we can never prove she was wrong. But she was probably right.) A few months ago, my wife…

Presidential records have expanded to include emails and even tweets. The Obama Presidential Center recently announced it may not have physical archives at all. Caro has a few thoughts about such things: SMARTPHONES Researchers now snap pictures of documents, to read later. Would he have made the same discoveries reading papers on an iPhone? “Possibly. But I don’t believe it.” CTRL-F An infrequent Googler, Caro allows that control-F (“find”) is “the great help for researchers,” letting them scan massive sets of documents for a specific subject. THE CLOUD Getting government papers requires bureaucratic approval. Online archives could be worse. “What’s worrisome to me is that somebody has to decide what’s digitized,” Caro says.…

AMONG THE GEEKIER of my geeky habits is checking the log of an app I have called Disconnect. It analyzes my data traffic and identifies and blocks tracking systems, recording what it does along the way. Usually after I search for something or use a Google product, under Disconnect’s Recent Trackers, I’ll see “paged.l.doubleclick.net.” DoubleClick is a Google company that helps direct advertisements to the right people. In that same log, there are names like AppsFlyer, Eyeview, and BidSwitch, all companies most of us have probably never heard of but that help run the modern internet economy of knowing lots about your audience’s habits. So many recent tech news stories have shared the same theme: Big Internet Company Creepily Watches Unsuspecting Users. We learned that Google Search and Maps users’…

THE MERCEDES BENZ GLE 450’S AUGMENTED REALITY DIRECTION SYSTEM Like Pokémon Go (remember that?) but more useful. FIAT 500 ABARTH’S BOOST GAUGE It’s huge, the size of a New York bagel. We thought it was a tach. RAVENSBURGER 3D PORSCHE 911R PUZZLE The 108 pieces are numbered. That doesn’t make it easy. THE NISSAN KICKS’ ASYMMETRICAL BOSE STEREO Yeah, it sounds best for the driver. But that’s how you get a nice system in an inexpensive car. MERCEDES-AMG AND CIGARETTE RACING They keep collaborating on boats. This year’s, the 41' AMG Carbon Edition, is the 11th. TESLA MODEL 3 PERFORMANCE’S RALLY SKILLS It’s like it’s possessed by Petter Solberg. All-wheel-drive drifts for days.…

YOU BRING YOUR OWN LUNCH to work? Excellent—tradespeople have been employing lunch boxes for generations, and the virtues of this practice translate to any profession: It’s economical, saves time, and allows you to control what you eat. But in these modern times in which salad has become a meal, salad also remains the most unportable meal. It grows soggy and unappealing with each minute after being placed in the Tupperware. But there is a way. It’s simple mechanics. If you want to put together a good green lunch that travels well and stays crunchy, take everything you’ve ever learned about making a salad and turn it upside down: The lettuce doesn’t go on the bottom, but on top, and the dressing isn’t the last thing you add, it’s the first.…

THERE IS THE WOOD, and there is the bike, and both challenge Shane Kline. Both provide relief, give him focus, require concentration. Both are solitary, in their way—pursuits into which he can disappear. In both, an inanimate object feels animate, and there’s a relationship—he pushes the bike and the road, and they push back. The wood? “I let it tell me what it wants to become,” he says. Both have their season. Like this morning: Dust from a 1,000-pound planer catches the yellow Pennsylvania light inside the Family Tree Traditions woodshop. The smell of stain, the last coat on a stack of butcher blocks, dampens the air. Talk radio stumbles through machines that whir, wail, and hiccup. Ray Kline, 59, Shane’s dad, is powering everything up for the day. Shane?…

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) PANELS are clean, noiseless, durable, longlived, and relatively maintenance free. For a rooftop install, west- or south-facing roofs with a pitch of 30 degrees are optimal. Project Sunroof uses Google Earth images to determine your roof size and recommend an installation setup. Don’t live in a hot, sunny place? Not a problem. PV solar production is actually most efficient in colder temps. If you’re building a battery-based system, you’ll need an inverter for converting DC (direct current) to AC (alternating current) for use with standard outlets and appliances. Solar inverters usually incorporate maximum power point tracking (MPPT), which helps you get the most power possible from your PV array. You’ll also need a charge controller to optimize battery performance. For arrays 200W and higher, a MPPT controller…

ONE QUESTION that most off-the-grid homesteaders have to deal with is whether to use direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC) to power their home. If you’re supplying your own power, most sources, such as solar panels, output electricity as DC. You can leave it at that, or add an inverter to convert the power to AC. There are advantages to both. DC IN DC SYSTEMS, current flows in only one direction, and at 12, 24, or 48 volts, instead of the 120 volts you’re used to in a typical home. Solar panels feed a battery bank and the bank supplies the load, whether that load is a small DC refrigerator, lights, or whatever. Generally speaking, all DC appliances, light fixtures, and bulbs are specialty products, so they’ll be more…

I didn’t go out into the woods for a noble cause. I went out of desperation. I always had an underlying hunger for a good life, but drugs, prison, my associates, and other distractions always prevented me from reaching it. I was 50 years old and I was not good. In 2003, I got rid of everything. I was so desperate I even shaved my head. I packed up a backpack with gear, maps, food, and books. I was by no means a survivalist, but I knew how to begin. My dad was an outdoorsman, and when I was young, he’d taught me how to take care of myself in the woods. I first headed to Coconino forest in northern Arizona. The longest you can stay there, however, is 14…

1946 Bob Vila is born to Cuban immigrants in Miami. His father reportedly built the family’s house. 1951 Frequent family visits to Havana leave Vila, at age five, determined to become an architect. 1968 Vila graduates from the University of Florida with a degree in journalism. 1971 He serves two years in Panama in the Peace Corps, establishing power and water for squatters. 1973 Vila enrolls at the Boston Architectural Center. After, he starts a home-remodeling business 1977 Producers at WGBH read about Vila and his wife’s home renovation and contact him. 1979 This Old House premieres. 1980 This Old House is picked up by PBS. It premieres nationally on April 16. 1980 Vila’s first book, This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House. 1983 This Old House…

p. 7 Instagrams: Salty Times, Laguna Tools; p. 14 cockpit: Daniel Shea; Cessna, Piper: Getty Images; p. 15 Cessna: Getty; Airplane!: Everett Collection; p. 18 Kevin Sweeney/Studio D; p. 20 Everett; p. 21 Godzilla: King of the Monsters: Warner Bros.; Godzilla: Everett; rectenna: Xianjing Zhou/MIT; p. 23 map: Getty; Bok Bar: Sam Oberter; p. 28 door: Jesper Klausen/Science Photo Library; peeling paint: Alamy Stock Photo; p. 30 brewer: Jack Affleck; p. 34 Getty; pp. 40–41 Jaguar: David Shepherd; Ram: FCA US LLC; Lexus: James Lipman; p. 43 Buick: Talisman Photo; Porsche: Yang-Yi; Tesla rally: Josh Bogardus; p. 46 Marianne Purdie; p. 52 phone charger, Santana and Miles: Getty; p. 53 sawdust: Getty; p. 56 food styling: Michelle Gatton/Hello Artists; prop styling: JJ Chan/Halley Resources; p. 58 Duluth: Stuart Tyson; Newman and…

THE PODCAST OUR MOST LAW-ABIDING INTERVIEW EVER We talk to the team behind a new book that chronicles the DEA’s efforts to take down a notorious cybercriminal. Paul LeRoux smuggled drugs, contracted killers, and was one of the world’s biggest arms dealers. We talked to two DEA agents on his case and the journalist who documented how he was brought to justice. Jacqueline Detwiler, host and senior writer: Elaine, how did you find this story? Elaine Shannon, author: I was in Afghanistan tracking the heroin trade and heard about this guy, a renegade tech mogul who was “disrupting” organized crime—in the Silicon Valley sense. I knew I had to chase the story, and along the way I found these gentlemen. Jacqui: When you’re hunting somebody like this, how movie-like does…

Chef Westchester, NY It’s a known fact that smoking food can make you feel like a prehistoric superhero—and it doesn’t have to be intimidating. It’s easier than you’d think, but you can’t take shortcuts—you must earn the flavor of perfectly smoked food. All you need is some good meat, a little patience, and a lot of love. Over the years, I’ve smoked everything from pork belly and sausages to fish, beets, tomatoes, and cabbage. I recommend brining or curing your meat a day in advance and smoking as low and slow as time allows, so your finished dish is perfectly seasoned and juicy. That flavor-packed combo of sweet, sour, and smoky pairs perfectly with whiskey—American whiskey to be precise. Bourbon is made when corn, rye, wheat, and malted barley are…

THE MAKER MARK KUHN CEO AND FOUNDER HIS COMPANY OAT FOUNDRY I GREW UP with two brothers, and our parents gave us the latitude to be tinkerers—to make anything we wanted. My mom did the craft pages for Highlights magazine, and her home office was like an A.C. Moore—filled with pipe cleaners, pompoms, and glue sticks. My dad has a self-reliant entrepreneurial spirit, and together they instilled “you can build it” courage in us. I was also an Eagle Scout, where there was always Apollo 13–style innovation—making cardboard and aluminum baking ovens, creating rope and log suspension bridges, figuring out how to lower a canoe down a 150-foot ravine. We built with what we had. Establishing Oat Foundry was an extension of that problem-solving experience. We graduated in June 2013,…

MEET US ON SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 2019 AT THE NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY TRAIL CONFERENCE HEADQUARTERS 600 RAMAPO VALLEY ROAD, MAHWAH, NJ JUST 35 MILES FROM NYC From trail building to invasive species removal to a litter clean-up, we’ll be making a difference in Ramapo Valley County Reservation. Attendees of all ages can join us for stewardship projects and guided hikes led by a team of experts from the Trail Conference. Between activities, grab a bite to eat from a food truck, participate in an outdoor gear raffle, take advantage of the Trail Conference’s annual sale on maps and books, and explore popular outdoor retailers showing their trail love with demos and awesome swag. TO ATTEND AND GET MORE INFORMATION VISIT NYNJTC.ORG/EVENTS…

THERE ARE A LOT OF COOL MACHINES hitting the road this year. We’ve got a Shelby GT500 that promises to give the Ford GT a case of engine envy. There’s a new Toyota Supra. Cadillac’s building a twin-turbo V-8. Ram’s got 1,000 lb-ft of torque. Awesome, all of it. But when we look a little further ahead, the potential for wildly different forms of transportation feels like it’s tantalizingly close. And yeah, we know—you might have believed that in 1998, too, and been totally wrong. But this time, we think we’re right. And not about autonomous blob pods puttering apathetic ride-sharers from WeWork to SadVille. We’re talking electric dune buggies. Pickup trucks that do zero-to-60 in three seconds. Porsches that charge as fast as Porsches do everything else. And these…

IT STARTED INNOCENTLY enough. (They always do.) A small heap. Trimmings from the hedges. Leaves. Weeds. Some branches that blew down in the last storm. You tossed the Christmas tree on there. It was convenient. And you’ve earned this, right? Look at my big yard! I have a brush pile! But now it’s a mountain that seems to grow on its own. It’s unsightly. Brush piles can harbor ticks, rodents, fleas, and snakes. They can cause wildfires—the woody vegetation provides the fuel and the open, airy assemblage speeds and spreads the flames. The worst part? A brush pile alerts the world that you’re a procrastinator, you don’t care what your neighbors think, and you don’t like getting your hands dirty. Since none of these things is true, it’s time to…

BLOTTING MATERIAL Spill something on the shop floor? Throw down some sawdust and let it sit for a few minutes, then scoop or sweep up the pile. Let’s say the spill was something gross, like your dog taking a leak. Scoop up the soggy first coat of sawdust, then apply a fresh scattering of it. Sprinkle a generous helping of liquid disinfectant like Lysol over the pile and let it set for a few minutes. The sawdust forms a poultice with the cleaner. Scoop it up, let the remaining dust dry, then sweep. You’d never know. Pro tip: Pine sawdust is particularly absorptive. HAND CLEANER Table-saw sawdust makes an excellent heavy-duty hand cleaner when mixed with Gojo, dish detergent, Bon Ami, or other gentle cleaners. My favorite blend consists of…

DESPITE THE JOKES and frequent questions about how I go to the bathroom, I like coveralls. They’re the one garment I have that I know will get trashed—so I don’t mind when they do. Coveralls provide great protection when I’m crawling through attics, or when I throw them on in the shop instead of changing into work clothes. In the spring and fall, I wear mine in place of long johns. They keep me warm in the cool mornings, but by afternoon I can change out of them and be comfortably cool in my jeans and T-shirt. A few years ago working with a licensed electrician, I spent each day boring holes in floor joists and wall studs. Wood chips, dust, splinters, and dirt rained down on me. No problem.…

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THIS MONTH GRILLING There are at least six errors in the way these people are using a grill. Identify as many as you can and email them to us at editor@popularmechanics.com with the subject line “Grill Safety.” We’ll run the answers in the July/August issue. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE LAST ONE? ANSWERS TO MARCH’S LADDER SAFETY ANSWERS: • No shoes • One climber at a time • Ladder is too short • Broken rung • Ladder not on even ground • Never climb past the third-to-last rung • Climber leaning too far. Our favorite observation came from Al Farrow of McGregor, Texas: “I wonder what the top man is doing with a hammer on an apparently tile roof?”…

THE TRAIN RIDE was as uneventful as the dozens of others the man had taken from Washington, D.C., to New York City. He watched the scenery change as he headed north past Baltimore, along the Delaware River to Philadelphia, through Newark, then into the long dark tunnel on the final approach to New York’s Pennsylvania Station. Throughout the trip, the device in his pocket—the size of a portable hard drive, all black, with a single button on the center of one side and a blinking blue LED light above it—remained silent. After getting off the train, the man moved with the large midday crowd toward the entrance to the subway. On the uptown platform, standing near a dark-haired woman in her late 40s, he felt his pocket vibrate insistently. He…

Is there any way to repair a hollow-core raised-panel door? Jim S., Bismarck, North Dakota Bad news: You can buy replacement door skins for smooth slab doors but not for a door like yours. You could repair the hole, I suppose, if it’s in the center of one of the raised panels. In that case, glue some thin plywood over it and do the same to the surrounding panels. My advice, however, is to go ahead and replace it. It’s a simple project, and inexpensive. The replacement door will cost you about $40. Use the existing door as a template to locate the knob and hinge positions on the replacement door. From there, you’ll need a hole saw to make the knob cutout and a chisel to cut the hinge…

ALL-STAR DAD CONTEST CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! Do you know a Dad who is a real “All Star” to his children, his family and his community? If so, nominate him today as the National Father’s Day Committee searches for America’s #1 “All-Star” Dad. Every Dad is special. But does your Dad or another Dad you know demonstrate such important attributes as dedication, love, unselfishness, support, and community service on a regular basis? If so, he could be the Father’s Day Committee “All-Star” Dad for 2019. GO TO ALLSTARDAD.ORG TODAY AND SUBMIT YOUR ESSAY…

IRON BRAKE rotors blacken your wheels with filthy dust. Carbon brakes are expensive. Now, there’s an in-between option: Porsche Surface Coated Brakes, which use iron rotors coated in a 0.1-mm layer of tungsten carbide. You get 30 percent more wear, 90 percent less dust, and shorter stopping distances. Oh, and if brakes could brag about how little dust they throw, this is how they’d do it: Cars with PSCB rotors get white-painted calipers.…

▸ IF YOU WANT unpainted balusters, or balusters of a different color than the rest of the trim on a railing, the rise of stairs can make it difficult to tape off a sharp line. Here’s a solution, courtesy of reader Brian Flynn of Overland Park, Kansas: Cut a length of masking or painter’s tape roughly as long as the circumference of the baluster. Wrap it around the baluster, adhesive side out, then slide it to the top or bottom. The tape should be thin enough to slide into the gap where the baluster enters the handrail or bottom rail, and because its smooth side is against the surface, it’ll be easy to slide out when painting is complete. DEPTH GAUGE ON GARDEN TROWEL ▸ Up your efficiency when planting…

A / Arrow GT300 WEIGHT: 1 lb LENGTH: 11 inches WATTS: 300 LIKES: All that wattage translates into serious glue-melting power. You can gob it on or apply a thin line. The gun accomplishes this control with a small machine screw that limits the travel of the trigger. It was the only gun in the test with a lighted on/off switch. DISLIKES: None. $50 B / DeWalt DWHTGR50 WEIGHT: 0.8 lb LENGTH: 7 ¾ inches WATTS: 70 LIKES: A little gem of a gun. It’s light, handles easily, and heats rapidly, and its trigger control is superb, allowing you to leave narrow, perfectly shaped beads. DISLIKES: There is no indicator light to tell you that it’s on—or to confirm that you remembered to turn it off. $20 C / Stanley…

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, motivated by the primal appeal of wood-fueled fire (and a little by my peculiar compulsion for chopping firewood), my wife and I replaced the gas range in our Vermont farmhouse with a wood-burning cookstove. Every day since, I rise before dawn, lay a bed of newspaper and dry scrap wood, and kindle the day’s fire. This is a necessity, considering that the stove heats our home and our water, but it has also become a comforting ritual. As the fire takes, I tamp grounds into my little stovetop espresso maker, which sits on the cast-iron cooktop in the exact spot I’ve found to heat up the fastest. If it’s winter, I open the door to the firebox—in violation of every fire-safety code known to humankind—and warm myself…

WHEN BOB VILA moves uptown—through the rain and morning foot traffic, into the cold November breeze—he does not stop talking. This is Manhattan, at 10:40 in the morning. The sidewalks on the Upper East Side, near Vila’s home, are jammed with Christmas shoppers. Vila’s voice carries into a morning tumult of cellphones and overcoats, shopping bags and umbrellas. He’s discussing the problem of restoring Ernest Hemingway’s house outside Havana, which now stands as the Hemingway Museum at Finca Vigía. He’s been serving as a consultant on the project for over a decade. And he is nothing if not a narrator. Because it’s Vila—or perhaps because of Vila—it’s a story we are familiar with, told in the particular fits and starts of the teardown, assembly, and construction of an old house.…

WORLDMASTER STEEL WATCH - THE SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE FOR ONLY $99 Honed from premium grade 316L solid stainless steel. With a complicated precision quartz movement; chronograph, and date sub dials. Our unique 5 year unlimited movement warranty is our guarantee to you of the quality and reliability of our amazing timepieces. Worldmaster Steel only $99 + S&P Offer Code: PM94WM 1 800 733 8463 timepiecesusa.com/pm94wm EAT SERIOUS. HAVE FUN. Westchester, NY Known for his boundary-pushing style and creative dishes, David DiBari is Chef and Owner of The Cookery and The Parlor in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. Both restaurants have earned an “Excellent” rating from The New York Times with DiBari praised for his “smartly executed, neo-nostalgic Italian menu.” DiBari also owns DoughNation Pizza, a mobile, wood-fired pizza oven that travels to…