Fire from… water

DIY water torch electrolyzer for soldering metal

Anyone who reads the description of the electrolyzer I developed will be convinced that a few liters of water are enough to obtain a high-temperature flame (200° C). The high flame temperature makes it possible to solder ferrous and non-ferrous metals with practically any refractory solders, or with the metal itself (welding). The high concentration Read more…

Motorcycle essentials

Motorcycle upgrades: carburetor, tank and luggage box

At first glance, these are just trifles that mean nothing. In fact, much in our lives (if not everything) is decided by them — though in different ways, depending on what kind of trifles they are. Some, for example, may affect no more than a person’s mood, while others can even change the fate of Read more…

The Beginning of the Confrontation

The protected cruiser Vindictive, which hunted German ships in August 1914 and later gained fame during the raids on Zeebrugge and Ostend in the spring of 1918 (early 20th-century photograph).

By August 1914 the British Empire was bound by alliance treaties to France and Russia, yet after those countries entered the war against Germany it remained neutral for several more days. His Majesty’s Government needed a “worthy” pretext for declaring war, and it did not take long to find one. The Germans violated the neutrality Read more…

Folding barbecue grill

Foldable mini barbecue: DIY plans and assembly guide

More and more people enjoy spending their weekends in nature or at their country houses. The evidence is the sadly scorched patches of ground left by campfires where tourists or dacha owners baked potatoes or grilled shish kebab. Not everyone uses the barbecues now sold in stores, because they are heavy, bulky, and relatively expensive. Read more…

Three-tier sauna heater

DIY sauna stove heater: three-block welded steel design

Having decided to build a sauna on my country plot, I read a fair amount of relevant literature. Not everything in the proposed stove designs appealed to me. I wanted to simplify the construction, make it more practical from a manufacturing standpoint, and at the same time improve its operational qualities. As a result, I Read more…

They Called It “Valentine”

Valentine tank in the USSR: Lend-Lease combat use

The British Valentine infantry tank was one of several tank types supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease during the Great Patriotic War. In terms of the number of foreign combat vehicles, as well as its popularity with Soviet tank crews, it ranks second only to the American Sherman. By the end of the war, the Read more…

Technopark of the Soviet Era

The GMV-2 all-terrain vehicle with a body from... an Il-28U trainer bomber

Building homemade cars is a unique phenomenon. Apart from the USSR, nowhere else did this movement become widespread. People of the most varied professions took up amateur car design: doctors, artists, musicians, workers and engineers. It is known that the space conqueror A.A. Serebrov had a homemade car, and cosmonaut V.A. Aksyonov took part as Read more…

Orange Blossom

Nakajima Kikka before its first flight

Work on jet engines was already under way in Japan before the start of World War II, although at first it was mainly exploratory in nature. Active interest in jet technology arose when Captain N. T. Tanegashima became head of the engine department at the Naval Aviation Arsenal in Yokosuka (an organization similar in status Read more…

Fruit guillotine

Homemade guillotine secateur for slicing apples

Tasty, fragrant apples and pears. And they are not lacking in vitamins. But keeping these fruits until the next harvest is a problem — and sometimes a serious one. Drying, pickling and jam-making, and other methods of preserving come to the rescue. Moreover, according to gourmets, the value of products prepared for storage increases noticeably Read more…

Fire and rescue boat

DIY 1:33 scale fire-rescue boat model build guide

Vessels of this class can be found in all major ports of virtually every country in the world. These are rescue craft built to assist those in distress, fight fires, patch hull damage, pump water out of flooded compartments, refloat grounded ships, and tow them. They differ in displacement, speed, and technical capabilities. A large Read more…