P OP ULA R WISDOM
What we’re up to beyond these pages
8 May 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com
WALL:RANDYHARRIS;^GUTHEINZ:^ BLAIRBOGINTHE EVERY-
WHERE CHAIR
How to Make a
Reclaimed-Wood Wall
Or how I did it, anyway.FIRST YOU NEED some reclaimed
wood. Mine came from friends and
neighbors who heard about my proj-
ect. One, PM contributor Richard
Romanski, lives and works in an
1876 church—he had saved some
of the pews, and gave me a pile of
beautiful mahogany slats that had
supported Methodists’ butts for
generations. He and his wife, Susan,
also had saved some clapboards
from the old parish hall, and he
put those on the pile. Another con-
tributor, Andy Northshield, knew
of an old house being torn down,
and showed up with a pickup full
of tongue-in-groove boards with a
century of patina. Everything was
of equal thickness, half-inch.The process was more art than
science. I worked from f loor to
ceiling, one wall at a time. First I
insulated and Sheetrocked all walls.
The wood I was adding was primar-
ily decorative, though it provided
some insulation. I cut lengths such
that the pattern would be random,
with no seams aligning. And then I
just pieced it together.
I squirted some adhesive on the
back of each board, banged it into
place with a mallet, then tacked it
in w ith the nail g un, g rabbing a st ud
whenever possible. If I was left with
an odd height to fill, I simply ripped
a board to fit perfectly.
My wife says she likes it.
In 1998, Tim and Donna —Ryan D’Agostino
Swenson’s son Jeff was par-
alyzed in a car accident. Soon
after, Tim decided to design
an outdoor wheelchair for
him. In 2009, that hobby
turned into a full-fledged
manufacturing operation
in Marshall, Minnesota, that
has since expanded to a
25-employee operation
that’s built more than 3,
all-terrain chairs. Action
Trackchairs are electric, with
a ten-mile range—or more,
if you hook up an optional
1,000-watt generator—and
some models have a power
tilting seat to compensate
for steep slopes. The chairs,
which inspired the one illus-
trated on the cover, can tow
up to 150 pounds, meaning
that hunters can get their
game back to camp. A Track-
chair can handle many water
crossings. There are even
two types of tracks: one that
gives a smoother ride, and
one that’s better for mud or
wet snow. Either way, you’re
gonna go places that wheels
can’t reach. —Ezra Dyer
TOOLS I USED:
Sheetrock
Senco Fusion F-
finish nailer with
1½-inch nails
Liquid Nails Heavy
Duty construction
adhesive
Estwing
rubber mallet
Metabo HPT
Jobsite table saw
DeWalt 20-Volt
cordless miter
saw
Milwaukee
18-Volt Jobsite
work radio