Potatoes are often called the second bread, emphasizing the extraordinary importance of this crop. Yet in terms of labor intensity, especially on individual plots, it is far from last on the list. All the more so if all the work is done here the old-fashioned way, without any means of mechanization. A device I designed Read more…
On small cabin boats and yachts, every square decimeter of space counts. Finding a dedicated place for a galley is a problem. So to cook meals you have to moor to shore each time, and the crew has to settle right on the grass and ants. On top of that, you have to carry dishes Read more…
I rode the Kharkiv Bicycle Factory’s “Tourist” bicycle for 30 years. It was, perhaps, one of the best Soviet bicycles — not only for active recreation (which it was actually designed for), but also for everyday trips. Now it hangs on the shed wall as a retro exhibit. Instead, I bought a new, modern two-wheel Read more…
Undoubtedly, a home sports complex is necessary for any family, especially a young one. But what if you live in a small one-room apartment or, like my family, in a dormitory room? Under such conditions, when you cannot even install a basic pull-up bar in a doorway, talking about a full gym is simply unrealistic. Read more…
When making furniture at home, the main problem always arises for the amateur craftsman: how to join the individual parts, what fastening to choose so that it is simple but reliable. Everything is used: from simple nails and screws to mortise-and-tenon and complex glued joints, bolt fastenings, metal parts, and shaped profiles — depending on Read more…
Thousands of motorboats and launches built by amateurs to designs from the MK design bureau ply the waters of rivers, lakes, and even seas across our vast homeland. These include the widely popular Moskichka, Volzhanka, Strelka, Rusalka, Taifun, and Ruslan. An experienced specialist will recognize them at once by their characteristic profile and attitude on Read more…
Homemade table tennis tables in a yard are usually made stationary: crude ones, from boards or even from concrete slabs — such structures can be called a table only conditionally. And they are not protected from precipitation, constantly remaining in the open air. Imported folding tables have now appeared on sale; they “break” in the Read more…
One cannot help but admire the swift glide of a windsurfer catching the wind across the water, or the no less dizzying descent down a cresting ocean wave on another board resembling a wide ski. Both of these sports craft, under a fairly thin outer shell, have a fairly soft foam filling, so damaging such Read more…
It is hard for an outsider to understand anglers who sit all day, as if hypnotized, with a fishing rod, never taking their eyes off the float. Of course, patience eventually runs out even for the most devoted, especially if the fish does not often reward them with bites. That is why many experiment, trying Read more…
I have been a long-time reader of the magazine “Modelist-Konstruktor” and subscribed to it for many years in a row. Then, due to financial difficulties, I had to give it up. But since last year I have started subscribing again. I am glad that, as before, I find a lot of useful material in the Read more…
