A compressor is always useful

DIY compressor unit from ZIL‑130 for home workshop

The compressor unit may not be as essential in a home workshop or a car enthusiast’s garage as an electric drill or a vise. However, when such a unit is available, it greatly simplifies some labor‑intensive operations (such as inflating tires) and can significantly improve the quality of work (for example, when spray‑painting parts). Wherever Read more…

Wire shelf

Glass shelf for a mirror: wire frame mounting without drilling

The glass shelf goes very well with the mirror. But fixing glass to glass is not that easy. That is why the shelf is usually fastened in various ways under the mirror to the wall. However, the design is no longer the same. In addition, the wall has to be damaged, which is especially undesirable Read more…

Garden house with one and a half floors

Small 3×3 m garden house with loft and radiator screen

«I find much that is useful, and sometimes simply essential, in your magazine—or rather, in our magazine. Responding to the call to be not only readers but also active contributors, I would like to share my modest experience: building a small garden house and a decorative heating radiator screen». Gardeners and summer residents often complain Read more…

Custom-made vise

Mini Vise for Precision Part Machining: Design and Build Guide

No matter how good a tool or even a machine a home craftsman has, drilling a hole accurately or machining a workpiece properly while holding it with pliers, let alone in one’s hands, is frankly impossible. That is why any home workshop, even a beginner’s, includes a vise. True, this useful device is not always Read more…

Compressor from a refrigerator

DIY Mini Compressor from Refrigerator: Complete Build Guide

For high-quality and fast painting with airbrushes and spray guns, for many other jobs in a home workshop, a desktop mini-compressor that can be assembled from a refrigerator compressor unit is suitable. Moreover, it is not at all necessary to use a new unit: one with clogged pump valves will do just fine. The main Read more…

“Piccolo” electric guitar

5-String Piccolo Electric Guitar: DIY Build Guide & Wiring

The widely used electric guitar inherited its tuning from its predecessor—the six-string Spanish guitar. The highest note that can be played on the instrument is usually E of the 3rd octave (for comparison: on the violin this note is E of the 4th octave, and on the piano—C of the 5th octave). On most electric Read more…

Biogas: heats and cooks

Biogas Production: DIY Installation Guide & Tips

WHAT IS BIOGAS? Recently, more and more attention has been drawn to unconventional — from a technical point of view — energy sources: solar radiation, sea tides and waves, and much more. Some of them — such as wind — found wide application in the past, and today are experiencing a renaissance. One of the Read more…

Shower cabin

DIY brick shower cabin in a warm boiler room

For water procedures there are quite a few different devices. In Russia, the traditional ones are the banya, the bathtub, and the shower. People say that the banya heals, the bathtub relaxes, and the shower invigorates. In addition, a shower is the quickest way to wash, not requiring any special preparations. In my view it Read more…

Folding utility block

Folding Utility Block Extension: Design and Construction

You can find all kinds of utility buildings on garden and dacha plots. Most often it is a tiny shed at the far end of the site or a large utility block combined with a summer kitchen. The disadvantage of such structures is the significant consumption of sawn timber. And most importantly, they take away Read more…

Sealant? Make it yourself

Mendeleev's Putty: DIY Sealant for Aquariums & Cars

In household practice, a sealing paste known as “Mendeleev’s putty” has long been used: it is commonly used to seal the joints of the frame and glass walls of aquariums. This sealant is plastic at temperatures above approximately +45°C and does not crack after hardening. And although it is diluted by many organic solvents, it Read more…