Featured Story

DIY Rally 2009 Submission Form

Calling all inventors! Have you built a one-of-a-kind project in your backyard or garage? Popular Mechanics is accepting entries for its 2009 DIY Rally. Projects can be anything from a handcrafted treehouse to a personal robot to an electric go-kart (but you must have already built it!). The best reader projects will be featured in a magazine story this summer. Submit yours by April 1, 2009 on the form below.

Previous Workshop Stories

New Year's Resolutions for the DIYer We at PMpropose an alternative to the same old resolutions--a path to self-indulgence through a few good home-improvement projects. You've got what it takes to follow-through. All you need is a little push in the right direction. (Published in the January 2009 issue)
5 Time-Saving Bike Mods To Help you with Chores All it takes is salvaged parts, leg muscles and a willingness to reinvent the wheel. PM has gathered a few of our favorite contraptions, both outlandish and ingenious.
10 DIY Gifts for Friends and Family You're the type of person who likes getting his hands dirty fixing, servicing, and building. Why wouldn't you do the same with holiday gifts? Here are 10 DIY gifts that you can make for a dad, brother or the rest of your friends and family.
Master Basic Welding Skills: A Step-By-Step Guide Welding is a delicate art, but once you learn it, ordinary steel becomes a blank canvas for invention. These steps will help you with any welding project. (Published in the January 2009 issue)
10 Treehouse Engineering Feats for Weekend Lounging It's not easy to build a substantive house around a tree (or trees). Some of the world's best treehouse designers opened up to PM about how they do their jobs—and shared pictures of their favorite designs.
5 Great Paper Airplanes (with Downloadable Plans!) The hundreds of folded aircraft at The New Millennium Paper Airplane Contest showed that you don't need an engineering degree to have fun with planes. Here are several planes that appeared at the event, plus downloadable, printable designs and instructions for a world-record winning paper airplane.
10 Best Old-Is-New Gadgets from 2008 Steampunk Convention Had science-fiction pioneer Jules Verne time-traveled to Silicon Valley this weekend, he would have felt right at home. Over 500 Steampunk fanatics converged in Sunnyvale for the 2008 California Steampunk Convention.
Pumpkin Throwdown at Punkin Chunkin 2008 (with Video!) Last week, we wrote about the changing mechanics of Punkin Chunkin. But there's describing what it's like to hurl pumpkins 4000 feet with an air cannon, and then there's watching it happen.
3 Great DIY Halloween Costumes to Inspire Geeks Everywhere Not content to trek down to the mall for a pre-made costume, these three builders devised and constructed their own elaborate outfits. We tracked down the creators and asked them how they pulled it off. Halloween lovers, start your screwdrivers!
The 5 Best Bicycle Mods from Brooklyn's 2008 Bike Kill Bike Kill, an annual event where steampunk fans, hipsters and bicycle gangs converge to show off (and joust with) their best bicycle mods, took place in Brooklyn.
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Digital Hollywood

Geeked-Out Movies '09

The holiday movie season has come and gone without so much as a certified blockbuster. Thank goodness for 2009!

PLUS: The Top 10 F/X Scenes of 2008

myBuild: Sign Up for PM’s DIY Community!
Got a DIY project or need some inspiration to get started on one? Upload your project with photos and even video, then show off against other PM readers to win prizes!

This Is My Job

FBI Diver
When a crime scene is underwater, this diving detective relies on an arsenal of high-tech gadgets to find evidence in waters where there is zero visibility.

Current Issue

Out Now: Snoop Tech

For January, PM explores how gadgets are leaving our personal info vulnerable to hackers. With features on hi-def epics, full-size pickups, welding and more!

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Natural Lawn Care

Natural lawn care used to be a novelty. Now it includes effective techniques for any gardener's arsenal of tricks.