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Sunday, October 7, 2012

Popular Mechanics 110 Best DIY Tips Ever



To pump up transistor sound, this tip suggests you put the radio over the mouth of a fruit jar with the speaker down. I just saw on a blog somewhere the same idea, renewed--place your ipod in a glass bowl to get better sound. We think we have thought up ideas already thought. That's just the way of the world, I suppose. The transistor makes me nostalgic. I wonder if I could place my cell phone in a glass bowl with the speaker on and make it louder. It might make the sound funny. This is an experiment to do with Charlie. I will report later.

So, here goes.

This post only needs one link because it is so long. Some these tips are from the early years of the 20th Century. Even if they are no longer relevant, their mechanism still have applications today. I found this list posted on The Homestead Revival. Okay, now I have to finish reading. This has a print button so this can be easily saved in hard copy.

Is this the handiest group of ideas ever? I can already think of applications. So far, I have not found anything that says to go buy anything.

One idea from 1916: To protect a child's fingers from a swing chain, slip a garden hole over the chain. Now, you can buy chain with a plastic tube over the chain.

Your turn
Is there a specific tip that inspires you? Which tip can you use to solve a problem you have or anticipate?

3 comments:

  1. Huh! Neat ideas. When I read the hint about using a metal guide to the door lock I had to smile. Who would need that? Late night partiers? :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sue,
    I thought that would be a help to drunk people, too. However, I did not have a side door light for years. I could have used the guide even without partying. LOL

    ReplyDelete

Okay, hoping the annoyances have gone away.