Our land is rich in natural gifts. Among them, a special place belongs to precious, semi-precious, and ornamental stones. It is no wonder that working ornamental stone attracts many craftsmen and enthusiastic amateurs. And to do this successfully, desire and talent alone are not enough — you need special tools and at least a minimum Read more…
How much trouble tire demounting and mounting on passenger-car wheels causes for beginners (and not only them)! Bent rims, torn tire beads, tubes bitten by a tire iron, and even injured fingers are frequent companions of this work. That is why many car owners prefer to go to a service station and entrust it to Read more…
An apparatus for gas cutting and welding of various materials, including refractory metals, would hardly be unwanted in any household. Especially a compact one that is completely safe to handle. But where can you get such a device? And for many people buying one is simply out of reach. Yet among supporters of small-scale mechanization Read more…
Historians claim that the sail appeared on land about four millennia ago! Fantasy? No — there is documentary evidence for it. In 1953, an Italian archaeological expedition excavating the temple of Ptolemy near the town of Medinet Madi discovered the remains of an ancient land sailer. It was designed and built under the direction of Read more…
PEDALS PLUS A LEVER They say inventing the bicycle is a thankless task. And yet… And yet… This machine, refined in design over many decades, never ceases to excite inventors’ minds. Recall that “bicycle” from Greek means “fast feet.” But why only the feet? There are also the arms. Can’t their strength be used for Read more…
A windmill toy is a simple and, one might say, ancient device. But being a dynamic toy, it can bring noticeable animation to the calm landscape of a country plot or garden, especially while they are being developed, when tall trees and shrubs have not yet grown, attracting the attention of not only children but Read more…
Old master carpenters have one very convenient universal tool that is worth reminding home woodworkers about. This fixture is called a weima (a wooden clamping jig). It is an indispensable helper when you need to glue frames, make a panel from boards, or assemble so-called case furniture from panels using glue. The weima itself is Read more…
On September 18, 1943, Guards Junior Lieutenants Vladimir Bakulin and Anatoly Pakov took off in two MiG-3s from Murmashi airfield near Murmansk with the mission of photographing the Nazi air base at Luostari. The aircraft quickly reached the target, and the pilots began photographing. But within a few minutes, at an altitude of 5,000 m, Read more…
Despite the widespread use of electric refrigerators, a structure such as a cellar has not given up its positions. Especially in rural and suburban areas, where in these compact, carefully arranged storerooms with good waterproofing and properly chosen ventilation people still know how to maintain the required temperature and humidity regime and favorable conditions for Read more…
It is simply impossible to introduce students frontally to the rules of calculation and programming on a microcalculator if there is no enlarged demonstration analogue of it. Our magazine has already described a similar teaching aid intended for use in an ordinary school classroom (see “M-K” No. 4, 1986). Continuing this topic today, we acquaint Read more…
