Innehållsförteckning för March/April 2023 från Popular Mechanics

WE’VE SPENT A LOT OF time testing track saws over the past few months, finding the best one for this year’s Tool Awards. One key thing we’ve learned in using them for various projects is that the track should always be placed on the “keep” side of the cut. That is, you place the track on the piece that you want to keep, not on the side that becomes waste (sometimes also the side that becomes the next cut piece). This way, the kerf left by the saw does not reduce the width of the piece you are trying to make (the “kerf” is material removed by the saw blade). If you inadvertently put the track on the wrong side of the cut line, your finished workpiece will be too narrow…

BUILDING SOMETHING FROM SCRAP IS A challenge because it reverses the normal order. In most cases, you build using the best part of the materials, not the discards. But I like a challenge, so I vowed to find useful stuff to make out of remnant lumber, like the Step Stool on p. 54. Another project that we loved recently was this DIY bench. All it took were six cuts on a miter saw and a handful of screws to produce this sturdy little bench; it weighs exactly 42 pounds. Sit on it, or put some flowerpots on it. It’s good either way. To see all the steps for this bench, head to popularmechanics.com/diybench.…

FIGHTER JETS → A-10 Thunderbolt: $22,531→ F-16 Fighting Falcon: $26,927→ F/A-18E/F Super Hornet: $30,404→ F-22 Raptor: $85,325→ F-35 Joint Strike Fighter: $41,986 BOMBERS → B-52H Stratofortress: $88,354→ B-2 Spirit: $150,741→ B-1B Lancer: $173,014 HELICOPTERS → AH-64 Apache: $5,171→ UH-60 Black Hawk: $3,116→ MH-60R Seahawk: $14,555→ AH-1Z Viper: $20,642 OTHER AIRCRAFT → E-3 Sentry: $66,126→ RC-135: $95,339→ E-4B: $372,496 2022 U.S. Government Accountability Office report on military aircraft operating costs…

FROM THE MOMENT TYRONE TIMMS pulled up outside his father’s Arizona home on Veterans Day 2019, he knew something was wrong. John Gause, a Vietnam War veteran, hadn’t picked up the phone. The blinds were drawn. Mailers littered the porch. When Timms cracked the door, the scent was overpowering. A body was lying in the hallway—his father’s, now unrecognizable due to decomposition. Gause’s remains were turned over to the Maricopa Medical Examiner for autopsy. The results indicated he died of natural causes, roughly four days before Timms found him. Their investigation complete, the medical examiner released Gause’s body to a local funeral home. In a tiny planning room at Thompson Funeral Chapel, Timms and his family asked for the seemingly impossible: Could they have an open-casket service? That’s how Timms met…

IN “TREASURE HUNTERS MAY HAVE Found Jesse James’s Lost Gold” (p. 32), David Howard recounts the symbols, technology, and history that led two men to believe they’ve located a treasure vault buried by the infamous outlaw. But James was no American Robin Hood, as T.J. Stiles, author of Jesse James: Last Rebel of the Civil War, explained to Howard. HOWARD: HOW DID JESSE JAMES BECOME A FOLK HERO? / Stiles: For the first 10 years after the Civil War, James promoted himself as a victim of radical Republican vindictiveness and as a Confederate avenger. That resonated in his bitterly divided home state of Missouri, even though he committed most of his crimes simply for the money. His insistence on a political identity set him apart from other post–Civil War outlaws, and…

→ IN 1980, THE U.S. ARMY introduced its next-generation tank: the M1 Abrams. With its 105-millimeter main gun, gas turbine engine, and revolutionary armor, the Abrams had a decisive edge over the tanks of the Soviet Union. More than four decades later, it’s still going strong. That’s because the M1 Abrams is a no-compromise tank, with world-class firepower, mobility, and armored protection. To get an idea of what life with an Abrams tank is like, Popular Mechanics spoke with U.S. Army Master Sgt. Nicholas S. Tillman, Machete Troop, 3rd Squadron, 16th Cavalry Regiment, 316th Cavalry Brigade. He has more than a dozen years of experience and is currently an Abrams master gunner senior instructor. Here are a few of our most pressing questions on what makes the tank so badass.…

SCIENTISTS SAY THEY’VE DISCOVERED a “large scale structure” in a largely unseen part of the Milky Way galaxy, according to a preprint paper published to the arXiv server late last year. (It’s been submitted to the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, but it has not yet been peer-reviewed.) To be clear, the structure here is not any kind of human-made object; rather, it’s a newfound galaxy cluster that’s been hiding out behind the Milky Way. Given how hard it is to observe other objects through the Milky Way, it’s exciting that researchers were able to find this galaxy cluster at all. Looking Through the Galaxy → The problem with looking “through” the Milky Way galaxy to what lies beyond is that you’re dealing with an obscurity created by the Milky Way itself,…

LAST NOVEMBER, SCIENTISTS AT LAWRENCE LIVERMORE National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) achieved a “scientific energy breakeven” in nuclear fusion, known as “ignition.” This means the reaction generated more energy than it took to power it. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, NIF scientists produced 3.15 megajoules out compared to the 2.05 MJ of energy put in; about 3 megajoules can power a one-kilowatt microwave for about an hour. “This sets fusion energy up as a possible energy source for the future,” says Mickey Wade, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Fusion Energy division. Unaffiliated with NIF, Wade works closely with the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a nuclear fusion tokamak. “Now we have to figure out how to take that up to another scale in terms of large amounts…

TOOLS AND MATERIALS □ Miter saw□ Benchtop table saw□ Jigsaw and blades□ Compass□ Pocket screw guide and screws□ Cordless drill□ Primer-sealer□ 220-grit sandpaper□ Tack cloth□ Paint□ Satin polyurethane WHAT YOU’LL NEED We built this little stool using just a few common tools and some scrap wood. For accurate crosscuts, we recommend using a miter saw. For the notch, a table saw is the better choice. However, if you cut carefully, you can make both types of cuts with a circular saw, particularly if you guide it along a straightedge clamped to the workpiece. We used 1 x 12-inch pine (actual ¾ x 11¼-inch) and old stair treads to build the stool. If you opt not to use stair treads, you can swap in red-oak lumber, but you’ll have to use…

PRODUCT: Felco 2 | ACQUIRED: 1997 | FUNCTION: Bypass Pruner ONE DAY SEVERAL decades ago, I was delivering freshly sawed plant stakes to nurseries in Pennsylvania near where I lived. I noticed one thing about the workers there: Almost everyone sported what looked like the same Felco pruner in a worn leather holster on their hip. Seeing so many pros devoted to a product left an impression. So, years later when I went to buy a pruner for my own purposes, I bought the Felco 2 (sometimes called the F-2). And it’s served me extremely well. If there’s one thing I appreciate even more than its durability, it’s the tool’s high-carbon steel blade, which takes an incredibly sharp edge. A sharp pruner yields a clean-cut surface that speeds plant healing.…

MONICA TORRES FIRST came across my radar when I was reporting on the 2021 National Funeral Director Association’s annual convention. Torres was there presenting continuing education classes on the art and science of embalming—skills she estimates she’s used on more than 1,500 bodies in the pandemic alone. As you’ll see on p.44, there’s a lot about Torres that stands out in a crowd, including her signature style, commitment to technical innovation, and social media savvy. When Popular Mechanics asked me to write a story about deathcare, I knew exactly who to call. In August, I flew to Phoenix, and spent the next few days trailing Monica as she met with old clients, explained her techniques, and plotted her next career move. The experience taught me that deathcare is interdisciplinary, drawing from…

DON’T ROUTINELY WEAR A hard hat. It’s unnecessary for most of my work. (However, I wear a forestry helmet with face protection when felling trees.) But let this be a lesson to you: On a volunteer construction project a few years ago, a beam came loose, and although another volunteer caught it, the falling lumber gave me a powerful konk on the head. While you may think a hard hat is only for pros, keep in mind you’re probably more likely to find yourself in harm’s way out of inexperience. So, buy a hard hat and wear it when there’s a risk of falling objects or other hazards (such as nails poking through roof sheathing). If you’re in the market for one, we liked the WaveCel T2+ Pro for our Tool…

Mold Armor E-Z House Wash | $16 A friend, whose house exterior was remarkably clean, put me onto Mold Armor several years ago. It’s become my go-to product for removing mold and mildew, and the surface stays cleaner a lot longer. The primary ingredients are bleach, surfactants (surface-active agents that reduce water tension), and cleaner. But it also contains Microban, proprietary antimicrobial chemicals that kill bacteria and fungi, leaving residue that makes the surface less hospitable for their return. To use it, hook your garden hose to the connector on the bottle and apply the Mold Armor. Let it sit 10 minutes, then rinse it off. For really dirty areas, use a garden sprayer to apply it full-strength, then rinse. If the surface is truly awful, apply it with the…