Shop Class for Everyone: Practical Life Skills in 83 Projects : Plumbing · Wood & Metalwork · Electrical · Mechanical · Domestic Repair

Did you remember your goggles? There used to be a time when pretty much every high school offered Shop class, where students learned to use a circular saw or rewire a busted lamp- all while discovering the satisfaction of being self-reliant and doing it yourself. Shop Class for Everyone now offers anyone who might have missed this vital class a crash course in these practical life skills. Packed with illustrated step by step instructions, plus relevant charts, lists, and handy graphics, here’s how to plaster a wall, build a bookcase from scratch, unclog a drain, and change a flat tire (on your car or bike). It’s all made clear in plain, nontechnical language for any level of DIYer, and it comes with a guarantee: No matter how simple the task, doing it with your own two hands provides a feeling of accomplishment that no app or device will ever give you. Cover Title Page Dedication Copyright Page Acknowledgments Contents Introduction Domestic Repair #1 How to Hang a Picture #2 How to Hang a Shelf #3 How to Install a Closet Rod #4 How to Patch a Hole in Drywall #5 How to Mix Plaster #6 How to Plaster a Wall #7 How to Repair Cracked Plaster #8 How to Prepare a Surface for Painting #9 How to Paint a Room #10 How to Paint a Faux Finish #11 How to Polish Furniture #12 How to Strip Paint #13 How to Prepare a Wood Surface for Painting #14 How to Refinish Furniture #15 How to Caulk a Bathtub #16 How to Replace a Cracked Tile #17 How to Patch Linoleum #18 How to Replace a Damaged Section of Carpet #19 How to Refinish a Wood Floor #20 How to Refinish a Deck #21 How to Catch Mice #22 How to Repair or Replace a Screen #23 How to Weather-Strip Windows and Doors #24 How to Caulk a Window #25 How to Replace a Windowpane #26 How to Unblock a Gutter #27 How to Repair a Cracked Gutter #28 How to Prevent Ice Dams #29 How to Remove an Ice Dam from the Roof #30 How to Repair a Crack in a Concrete Driveway #31 How to Patch Cracked Asphalt Woodworking & Metalworking #32 How to Measure Hardwood Boards #33 How to Sand Wood #34 How to Build a Birdhouse #35 How to Build a Picture Frame #36 How to Build a Doghouse #37 How to Build a Shaker Stool #38 How to Build a Chessboard #39 How to Make a Butcher Block #40 How to Stain Wood #41 How to Build a Bookcase #42 How to Build a Storage Chest #43 How to Build a Table #44 How to Make a Spoon Ring #45 How to Make Earrings #46 How to Make a Decorative Metal Plate #47 How to Make Wind Chimes Plumbing #48 How to Stop a Drip #49 How to Unclog a Drain #50 How to Fix a Burst Pipe #51 How to Patch a Pipe #52 How to Stop Your Pipes from Freezing #53 How to Install a Sump Pump #54 How to Fix a Leaky Washing Machine #55 How to Replace a Sink Faucet #56 How to Replace a Drain Basket #57 How to Replace a Toilet #58 How to Troubleshoot a Showerhead Electrical #59 How to Slash Your Electricity Bill #60 How to Make a DC Circuit #61 How to Install a Dimmer #62 How to Install a Light Fixture #63 How to Rewire a Lamp Mechanical #64 How to Wash a Car #65 How to Detail the Interior of a Car #66 How to Bang Out a Dent #67 How to Fill a Ding or Scratch with Putty #68 How to Repaint Your Repair #69 How to Change a Windshield Wiper Blade #70 How to Fix a Chipped Windshield #71 How to Change a Flat Tire #72 How to Rotate Tires #73 How to Check and Top Off Fluids #74 How to Change Oil #75 How to Locate an Oil Leak #76 How to Jump a Battery #77 How to Sharpen a Lawn Mower Blade #78 How to Maintain a Motorcycle #79 How to Fix a Flat Tire on a Bicycle #80 How to Adjust Bicycle Brakes #81 How to Maintain a Bicycle Chain #82 How to Tighten a Single-Speed Chain #83 How to Align Bicycle Gears Index Conversion Tables "Discover the sublime pleasure and endless rewards of being self-sufficient. In two smartly designed and straightforward encyclopedias of DIY, Home Ec for Everyone and Shop Class for Everyone (previously published together as The Useful Book), here's everything you need to know to fix it, cook it, make it, clean it, build it, and sew it yourself. Each title features dozens of essential skills, practical how-to's, and projects, each explained and illustrated with step-by-step instructions, plus relevant charts, sidebars, lists, and handy toolboxes. Home Ec covers what used to be called the domestic arts, including everything from chopping an onion to hemming a pair of pants to folding a fitted sheet to writing a great thank-you note. Shop Class empowers each of us to become a skilled handyperson, a confident master of one's domain who can hang a picture, paint a room, build a birdhouse, install a lamp, or fix a flat tire. We may live in the information age, but there's no app that will unclog a drain--only life skills"-- Provided by publisher