Vehicle microclimate

Oka Car Winter Preheater: DIY Coolant System, Schematic & Build

Many motorists, especially owners of domestic cars, have experienced all the “joys” of winter operation of their beloved “steeds” firsthand. A particular “pleasure” is bringing the heart—the “fiery engine”—back to life after a frosty night. I own a giant of Russian automaking—the Oka—so all my thoughts and efforts went into developing a system that would Read more…

Motorized mono-ski

DIY Motorized Monoskier: Build Plywood Hull and Steering

Last spring I built myself water skis. But I rarely got to ski on them, since the tow was provided by… a motorcycle with a sidecar. Building a dedicated boat would have meant considerable expense, powerful engines, and above all—time. So I thought: why not design one large ski, fit it with an engine and Read more…

Paper… “firewood”

DIY fuel briquettes from paper: press plan and technology

Nowadays the amount of paper waste has increased sharply, mainly due to “disposable” printed matter: besides newspapers and magazines, mailboxes are filled with countless promotional leaflets, various election campaign materials and the like—all free of charge. It would be a shame not to put such gifts to use. The “Master” club figured this out long Read more…

Detachable concrete mixer

DIY concrete mixer with reverse drive: design

The concrete mixer is designed to produce concrete mix or cement-sand mortar. Its volumetric output is 15 ten‑liter buckets of mix in the ratio: 1.5 buckets of cement + 4.5 buckets of sand + 9 buckets of crushed stone (water not included) per batch, with a cycle time of 15 minutes (5 minutes each for Read more…

With forced air

Schematic diagram of the under-hood fan power supply

With the help of articles in the magazine «Modelist-Konstruktor», I built myself a universal power tiller based on a Minsk motorcycle. It turned out to be a good, hard-working mechanical helper. Its basis, of course, is the standard motorcycle frame, shortened (as recommended by the magazine) and fitted with the power unit and a two-stage Read more…

Autogyro control

Autogyro Control System: Complete Design and Manufacturing Guide

During 1970, our magazine published a series of articles by a group of autogyro designers about the features of building these rotary-wing aircraft, about how to build autogyro models, how to fly gyrogliders towed by a boat or car. At the request of numerous readers, we tell in this issue about the autogyro control system Read more…

Vitamin jack

Homemade Fruit Juice Press with Car Jack: DIY Guide

In our middle latitudes, there are years when fruit trees stand as if in construction scaffolding: they are not visible due to a palisade of supports saving branches overloaded with fruit. Gardeners know how difficult it is to grow a good harvest, but no less a problem is to preserve it, to make maximum use Read more…

Ultrasound against rodents

Ultrasound: Nature, Tech & DIY "Antigryzun" Rodent Repeller

Among elastic oscillations of air, ultrasound (from Latin ultra — beyond, more, above), inaudible to the human ear and with a lower frequency limit conventionally taken as 20 kHz, has long attracted special interest. Insects, bats, and even cetaceans make successful use of this natural gift: some for communication, others for hunting, others for locating Read more…

Plowing… with a shovel

Shovel-Plow DIY: Soil Tillage Tool That Eases Back Strain

I made this soil-working tool to lighten the hard work, since digging the ground with an ordinary shovel—constantly bending and straightening—had become harder and harder over the years. The device itself is a modest invention (an author’s certificate was obtained for it), but it is useful: now my back does not hurt even after long Read more…