The most bizarre thing I ever slapped onto a job was a rusty old lawn mower engine I scavenged from a derelict playground. I wired it to a plywood board, added a makeshift gear shifter, and called it a “hand‑powered circular saw.” It didn’t actually cut faster than a proper saw, but the whirring engine made the whole room feel like a sci‑fi workshop. The only real time saved was the three hours I spent convincing my neighbor that my “futuristic tool” was safe. The rest of the time I was just tinkering with the gear ratios until the blade spun at a smooth, almost hypnotic 500 RPM. In the end, it was a great conversation starter and a few extra seconds of wood‑cutting, but mostly it made the job look cooler.