BUY SOME P-TEX Those little scrapes slow you down. Light a P-Tex candle (1), drip the melting material into the scratches (2), let it cool, and carefully plane off the excess with a sharp scraper (3).

Some of us are just do-it-yourselfers, people who take some sense of pride or gratification in changing our car's motor oil, making bicycle repairs or doing our own carpentry work. The same can be ...