Popular Mechanics - USA (2019-05)

SONGS

TO CLEAN

THE

GARAGE

Easy ways

↓ to do hard things

SHOP

NOTES

PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE

FRO

M^

—TH

E—

ARC

HIVE

S

(^1947

!)

52 May 2019 _ PopularMechanics.com

ILL

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NS

BY

JA

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DEPTH GAUGE
ON GARDEN TROWEL

▶ Up your efficiency when
planting this year’s garden
by filing depth markers into
the side of your trowel. Hold
the trowel upright and measure
along a plumb line to make your
marks. (You can’t simply mea-
sure along the edge of the blade
because near the end of the
blade the curve will affect the
vertical spacing of the marks.)
Make indicators every inch; six
inches should be sufficient for
most things you might grow.

Better Car

Charging

How to

Cut Onions

After chopping off the pointy end

and peeling off the outer layer,

here’s how to cut an onion for what-

ever you’re fixing for the neighbors

this summer: burgers (rings), salads

(slices), or tacos (dice).

▶ IF YOU WANT unpainted balusters, or balusters of a dif-
ferent color than the rest of the trim on a railing, the rise of
stairs can make it difficult to tape off a sharp line. Here’s a
solution, courtesy of reader Brian Flynn of Overland Park,
Kansas: Cut a length of masking or painter’s tape roughly
as long as the circumference of the baluster. Wrap it around
the baluster, adhesive side out, then slide it to the top or bot-
tom. The tape should be thin enough to slide into the gap
where the baluster enters the handrail or bottom rail, and
because its smooth side is against the surface, it’ll be easy
to slide out when painting is complete.

The Best

Wa y t o P a i n t

Trıcky

Railings

DICE

Combine the slice and ring tech-

niques: Cut in half through the roots,

then—keeping the roots on this

time, to hold everything together—

make parallel north–south cuts.

Finish by cutting parallel to the

equator, like you did for rings. The

onion comes apart as dice.

SLICES

Cut the onion in half through

the roots (perpendicular to the

equator). Taking each half in turn,

place the flat side down, cut off

the roots, then make a series of

parallel north–south cuts.

RINGS
Imagining the roots as the north pole
of an onion globe, make a series of
READER TIP cuts parallel to the equator.

“All the Stars”

Kendrick Lamar &

SZA

“Bofou Safou”

Amadou & Mariam

“Some Birds”

Jeff Tweedy

“Them

Changes”

Carlos Santana &

Buddy Miles

▶ You’re not imagin ing

things: Turn-by-

turn navigation drained

your phone’s battery,

even though it was

plugged in. The USB

ports in most cars (for

connecting to the vehi-

cle’s entertainment

system) put out about

half an amp of power,

which is terrible for

charging a modern

phone. If you find your-

self in this situation

often, invest in a $10

charger that goes into

the cigarette lighter,

usually rated at 2.4

amps, which will

charge much faster.