[funky music]
♪ ♪
‐ Seeing as we're both products of the TV dinner era,
have you ever fully reclined without spilling something?
‐ Well, yes, I have. ‐ No fricking way.
‐ Yeah. ‐ How did you do that?
‐ Pilates. ‐ Is that a dish?
‐ No, that is your core. ‐ I know what it is.
‐ To recline. ‐ I can't get enough Pilates
and turmeric. ‐ And turmeric?
‐ Turmeric, kale, and quinoa.
By law, you have to eat that here in California.
‐ I guess I'm living against the law.
‐ I saw you eat a rib.
‐ It was pork. ‐ Yeah, baby.
‐ Here we go.
‐ Yeah, baby! [laughs]
Hi, I'm Tim Allen, and if there's one thing I love,
it's people who build things and hanging out with them.
All right, that's two things.
So I invited three incredible makers to compete
from their own shops.
♪ ♪
They'll be creating mind‐blowing builds
from cool stuff that I send them,
all for a cash prize.
‐ I'm coming for you!
‐ I've asked my ride‐or‐die, Richard Karn,
and our resident expert, April Wilkerson,
to have fun with me as these makers design,
build, compete, and, of course, add more power, oh, oh, oh.
What could go wrong?
Oh, whoa, whoa. ‐ Whoa.
‐ Except for maybe that. ‐ Whew!
‐ This is "Assembly Required"
♪ ♪
Feeling good, buddy, feeling good.
‐ I am too. ‐ This is the one.
‐ This is it, and I'm very excited
because we have an excellent trio of makers.
‐ Okay, let's see what we got. ‐ Let's go to the videotape.
‐ My name is Michael Harvey.
I'm a theatrical rigger and a general contractor,
and I live in Beverly Hills, California.
‐ The dude lives in Beverly Hills.
I didn't see that coming.
‐ I have a pretty broad skill set.
My carpentry is what I call slash‐and‐burn style.
Just cut that sucker, burn through the wood,
and make it into something that's useful.
‐ Nice. ‐ I like that.
‐ This forge I actually built
after watching a YouTube video.
I started doing blacksmithing.
If you can imagine things,
who knows what the possibilities are?
‐ Well, I like the fact that there's a guy with an anvil...
‐ Uh‐huh. ‐ And a forge in Beverly Hills.
‐ Okay. ‐ So there's somebody going,
"Dolly, get me another lime rickey.
What's that noise?" Kink, kink, kink!
‐ [laughs] Let's see the next one.
‐ Shawn James Jennings here in Dunmore, Pennsylvania.
I would call my style industrial steampunk
with automotive twist to it.
I also build hot rods.
‐ I like it.
‐ One of my specialties
is fabricating industrial steampunk‐inspired lamps
and custom lighting,
taking repurposed items of the past
that once were forgotten and giving them new life.
It's very rewarding.
‐ The top hat threw me off.
‐ It's steampunk, the punks, you know?
‐ What are you talking about, steam pump?
‐ Punk. ‐ Punk, yeah.
Wow, look at us.
‐ Let's see the next one.
‐ My name is Chris Zeppieri,
and I'm from Sea Cliff, New York.
I started out as a mechanic.
When I was 14 or 15, I moved into construction.
When I'm not at my day job, I'm always in the shop
fabricating, welding, woodworking.
I also make YouTube videos and educational content
for the internet.
Tim and Richard, I want you guys to know
I wanna knock this one out of the park.
I wanna take all the skills that I have
and the stuff I've learned,
and I wanna come out with the win.
‐ All right.
As a teenager he started this,
and he never diverted from that path.
He kept being intrigued by the build,
by the next job or whatever.
‐ Well, all these guys seem to be, uh,
up to this task. ‐ Yeah.
‐ I'm telling you, this is gonna be fun.
‐ I can't wait. Let's go live.
Makers, welcome to "Assembly Required."
Can you hear us?
‐ Yes. ‐ Yup.
‐ Just move your head if you can hear us.
[laughter]
I'm Richard Karn.
‐ I'm Richard's chaperone, just to make sure
he doesn't make any mistakes and bother you guys.
That's what I'm here for.
‐ Yes, it is. ‐ Hey there, Mike.
‐ Well, you got a rigging company.
What's the name of your rigging company?
‐ Saint Elmo's Fire Rigging. ‐ Oh, boy.
‐ You don't really wanna yell that out loud in the theater.
[both laugh]
"Saint Elmo's Fire!" Keeps people on their toe.
‐ Hey, Shawn, how you doing? ‐ Doing good.
‐ I relate to the images you sent us, but I‐‐do you know
where the word steampunk‐‐ what that means?
‐ It started back in the early '80s,
a combo of the steam‐powered era
with a little bit of science fiction mixed in.
Basically, a lot of mechanicalism.
‐ Yeah. Well, good to have you aboard.
‐ Thank you.
‐ Chris, you've got a massive shop.
How did you get that stuff, and where'd you get it?
‐ Just collecting equipment. I love old, vintage machines.
A lot of times, I'm using machines
that are of a similar style
to make parts for a lot of this old stuff.
‐ Yeah. ‐ You're using machines
to build parts for other machines.
‐ That's right. ‐ All right.
Well, that's what we're all about.
That is what this show is gonna show America.
You are some of the best makers in this country,
and we're giving you the chance to prove it
by building some amazing things from scratch.
Now, in this competition, you are competing entirely
from your own workshops.
Everything you need, you will know precisely where it is.
Here's the catch.
Now, only two of you will take on our final challenge.
In the second round,
two of you will attempt to build
a more comfortable,
multifunctional landscaping machine.
♪ ♪
The winner will walk away with a cash prize
and, of course, all the bragging rights.
All right, makers, first up is the Make or Break Challenge.
We have sent you a mystery crate of items
that will test your skills as America's best builders.
You will have 90 minutes to build an item of your choosing
using any or all of the items we have shipped,
plus the resources in your own shop.
‐ We'll be watching every step of the way,
and you'll be able to hear u.
‐ Now, when the time is up,
we'll inspect your work and put it to the test.
Tim and I will talk it over,
and one of you will have to be eliminated.
So Tim, tell them what they're gonna build.
‐ This is really gonna be odd.
You're gonna show us how to build
a shock‐absorbing food tray,
kinda like the ones in the airliner,
except this one actually will absorb shock,
so think of it as, like, an SUV food tray.
By the way, you're gonna be mounting that tray
to a big plush recliner.
‐ [laughs] ‐ Wow.
‐ Remember, later, we'll be testing its durability
and its functionality by dropping a weight on it.
‐ One of your children. [laughter]
‐ You got all that?
Well, guess what? Your shipments have arrived.
Your Make or Break Challenge starts right...
both: Now.
♪ ♪
‐ I like it. They're opening boxes.
‐ It's very nice. What a fabulous chair.
♪ ♪
‐ It may look like a pile of junk,
but we gave these makers everything they need
and a lot of stuff they don't.
They gotta figure out what works best together
and what will work with items
they already have in their shop.
‐ Nice.
‐ It's all about their imagination
because they are building
their shock‐absorbing food tray from scratch.
‐ Man.
‐ They only got 90 minutes to do this.
♪ ♪
‐ Hey, Chris, how you doing?
‐ How's it going with that chair and your little deal?
‐ Right now I'm just trying to figure out
exactly where I wanna be
with my tray. ‐ Good.
‐ My goal here is to make this thing with an arm
so that I can get over that sort of pouf of the chair.
‐ We're going to get pedicures,
so good luck.
Make sure you hydrate. ‐ Always.
[machinery whirring]
‐ What‐‐where‐‐oh.
‐ Hey, Shawn, how you doing there, budd?
Have you gotten your head around
the shock‐absorbing food tray?
‐ Ah, well, I got a lot of options
with all these different components, at least.
So I'm gonna use this bracket to mount to the armrest.
There's some solid wood behind there.
‐ Maybe it'd be helpful if you somehow had a top ha.
‐ Top hat, I left that at home.
If I had time, I'd go back and get it.
‐ Yeah, that certainly would be helpful
'cause you don't often see people
without top hats these days.
Oh, wait a minute, yes, you do.
♪ ♪
Did he just throw something over the fence?
‐ Yeah.
That's Beverly Hills for you. ‐ [laughs]
♪ ♪
‐ That is an adorable table saw.
‐ Yeah. ‐ Serious business here.
‐ Hey, Mike, how you doing there, buddy?
‐ Pretty good.
‐ Is that one of your support beams?
‐ Yeah, this is gonna be the bottom support for the tray.
‐ Nice. ‐ Just making this up as I go.
‐ But where are your suspension components?
‐ That's classified.
‐ [laughs]
‐ That's on a need‐to‐know basis.
‐ That's a need‐to‐know basis.
‐ I love that.
♪ ♪
‐ How do I get this thing to absorb shock?
What‐‐what am I supposed to do with these?
I mean, how fast could I just make my own brackets?
Really fast. Let's go do that.
♪ ♪
This is all basically to avoid
having to use the angle brackets that came with it
'cause I don't think they're really gonna work for me.
‐ Very impressive up here, Chris.
He needed something he didn't have, so he's making it.
That's American ingenuity. That's what this show's abou.
Boom, boom, boom.
♪ ♪
April, please tell me you figured out what's wrong
with my coffeemaker.
Did you fi‐‐ ‐ Oh, you got a flashlight.
‐ Yes, that's what I needed.
‐ This is a regular torque. This is a security torque.
‐ What's the difference?
‐ See the center point, how it's hollowed out?
‐ Oh. ‐ It's [bleep].
Hey, get this. You're gonna love it.
It's to keep people from tampering with items.
So you put these screws and a couple
of crush shims where... ‐ Tim!
‐ You don't want kids, like, taking apart‐‐
‐ Tim! ‐ Yeah?
‐ Bring April over here.
‐ We're busy! ‐ We're talking Torx.
‐ We need your expert advice over here.
‐ We were busy. ‐ I know, I know.
You've got her trying to fix one of your coffee machines.
‐ No, I was just learning about different Torx,
security torque‐‐what was it?
‐ Security torque. ‐ Question I'm having here
is what it's gonna be like when you got a load on it.
‐ There's actually an equation. It's called Hooke's Law.
The relationship between how much load
and then how much is displaced is linear.
‐ It all starts with math.
It's a language that doesn't mess around.
This is really peculiar.
What we've asked them to do is how you'd be bouncing.
It almost seems like it has to be floating for this
to operate at all 'cause you're talking abot
keeping a plate of whatever you eat.
Kale? What do you eat?
‐ I'm looking for, like, a 38‐ounce hatchet steak.
‐ [laughing] What the hell is that?
‐ I'm gonna go back to tinkering on the coffee pot.
‐ Okay, all right. Thank you, April.
35 minutes left.
Let's take a look at Chris here.
♪ ♪
‐ This‐‐
‐ Hey, wait a second.
‐ Put this on there, and I put two bolts here.
This whole thing has to kinda move.
‐ He's got the shock absorber. May have an issue.
‐ I'm trying to get this, like, knuckle to move up and down.
This is not good. It's very bad.
‐ What Chris is doing is too firm.
‐ Not good. I cannot‐‐I got nothing.
‐ Wow. Wow. Wow.
‐ I don't think I have time to redo it.
‐ Houston, we have a problem.
‐ Oh, yeah, we are totally screwed.
[drill whirring]
‐ So it sort of works.
Design?
Yeah, not terrible.
Does it work? Eh, not so much.
‐ Looks like you had a little setback.
Why don't you spring yourself into action?
‐ [groans]
♪ ♪
‐ Shawn, how's it going?
‐ Uh, the weight and the shocks
just aren't mounted firmly enough.
That just ain't gonna cut it.
‐ Well, you're gonna be starting over
with less than 30 minutes.
‐ Are you going to be able to finish?
‐ I'm not used to working under this kind
of time strains and pressure,
but it's definitely challenging.
‐ Good. ‐ Good, that's what we wanted.
‐ That's what this is about, Shawn.
‐ Well, good job with that.
‐ But I wanna see what you come up with, so get to work, man.
‐ It's crunch time.
♪ ♪
‐ I need to seriously kick it up a notch
and really move on this baby.
Come on, ugh.
And as soon as I say that, I strip the screw out.
‐ Hey, Mike, how you doing there, buddy?
‐ I'm putting together the suspension system
so that when it gets tested, it will spring back gently
and not send stuff flying everywhere.
‐ Nice. ‐ How the heck does that go?
Who built this?
Ha‐ha!
‐ All right, guys, you got 20 minutes.
Don't hurry, but hurry.
‐ 20 minutes, okay.
♪ ♪
‐ I gotta crank it, man.
This is the last vestige here.
I hope that's gonna work.
♪ ♪
‐ Mike is looking good.
He has some bounce in that tray.
Look at that. He's thinking about the test.
♪ ♪
All right, guys, it's two minutes left.
‐ Brutal. [laughs]
‐ Two minutes left?
If we have a 4‐inch screw,
I think I could get something in there.
‐ Gotta keep moving.
♪ ♪
‐ I'm worried about Shawn.
♪ ♪
He's behind.
‐ That design's not up to my standards there,
but I don't think I got time to redo it.
‐ Hey, Shawn, go, baby, go!
‐ The bolt's hitting the track underneath.
‐ This always gets me nervous. I didn't wanna be nervous.
That's the last thing I wanna do is be fricking nervous.
‐ But that's part of the... ‐ I'm nervous.
‐ Fun of the competition.
‐ So I got‐‐ I got enough time to, uh‐‐
ah, [bleep].
♪ ♪
‐ Three, two, one.
‐ All right, you guys gotta drop your hammers.
It's all done. ‐ Okay, step away.
Step away from the chairs.
‐ I am thrashed.
That was a screaming‐fast 90 minutes.
‐ [groans]
‐ So we are now going to test your shock‐absorbing trays.
Here's the test.
You have a weight that's the same as the TV dinners
Tim and I grew up with.
Drop it on your tray,
and we'll see how it holds up to the shock.
A laser will measure how much it compresses.
The bigger the number, the better.
That means your shock‐absorbing tray's doing
what it's supposed to do.
‐ All right, Chris, can you hear us?
‐ Yup, I got you.
‐ Let's figure out if anything
works out of your laboratory.
‐ Okay. ‐ All right, Chris.
show us what you got.
[metallic clank]
Okay, that's half an inch. Not great, Chris.
‐ Whoa.
♪ ♪
‐ I would now have a TV dinner, a chocolate shake,
and a bowl of cereal on my lap, okay?
All right, let's go to Mike.
Drop that little table saw you have on there.
No, no, no, not that, but‐‐
‐ No, no, your neighbor's wife. Drop her on there.
‐ Dropping.
‐ Okay, that's an inch and a half on our scale,
three times more shock absorption than Chris.
♪ ♪
Very good. Okay, Shawn.
Show us what you got.
♪ ♪
Hey, it doesn't look like you're set up for the test.
What's going on there?
‐ Well, I needed a little more time to get it
to where I needed it to be, but, uh, it's there.
It's just not operational.
‐ Shawn, obviously you didn't get a chance
to finish your build, so it can't be tested.
‐ And because of that, Shawn, we gotta say goodbye to you,
and I'm telling you, it's not an easy thing to say
'cause I really admire your skill set, buddy.
‐ That's how it goes sometimes.
‐ Yeah, yeah, that's how it goes.
Darn it.
‐ Thanks for the opportunity, though.
‐ You bet, man. ‐ You're welcome.
♪ ♪
‐ Hey, look, Chris, I feel like
you got a pass on your tray table.
We'll never know because Shawn didn't finish.
You're moving on, buddy.
[both laugh]
‐ Mike, Chris, congratulations on making it
to the second and final round, the Run with It Challenge.
‐ We're gonna talk about lawnmowers,
a machine near and dear to my heart.
It hasn't changed very much,
and it still does one thing very well.
It cuts your grass, and that's where you two come in.
‐ Inside your crates are materials needed to build
a custom multifunctional landscaping machine.
It will have to be able to tackle grass,
weeds, bushes, and hedges,
and there's one big addition. What do they have, Tim?
‐ I tossed in a riding lawnmower.
I actually didn't toss it in. It would be kind of heavy,
and if I actually tossed a riding lawnmower,
I would pull my groin,
and nobody wants to see that. ‐ Nobody.
‐ With the mower, redesign it, build it up.
Just make a machine
that can whack weeds and trim hedges and bushes.
‐ You're also going to have to incorporate
your recliner and food tray
so people like Tim can work and eat in total comfort.
Show us you're the superior maker.
‐ When you complete your builds after five days,
they'll be shipped back to me and Richard,
where they'll be tested on three criteria...
‐ Quality, design, and functionality.
‐ We'll be watching you guys every step of the way.
Good luck, builders.
To keep the makers on their toes,
I asked April to add a little challenge.
Hey, April, what do the makers have to fix this time?
‐ The carburetor float.
‐ You actually took apart a carburetor
and messed with the float?
‐ Who doesn't like messing with the carburetor?
‐ Exactly. ‐ Jeez.
‐ Why not?
‐ There is something emotionally wrong with yo.
‐ So it regulates the fuel,
and they just need to break down with it.
‐ And if they can't start it, there's only...
‐ That's just mean. ‐ Three or four things
that you have to look at. ‐ Exactly.
The filter, the pump, the spark plug.
Eventually they're gonna make their way to the float.
‐ The float is over the top. That is mean.
You just jammed it somehow, didn't you?
‐ I just lifted it up too much. ‐ Right.
‐ So they're just gonna have to reset it.
I could have made it worse. That's all I'll say.
‐ [laughs] Thank you, April.
‐ Ah.
I can't wait to see how creative these makers get.
‐ Holy cow. Look at the size of this thing.
‐ They're going to have to think about how
everything is going to work together if they want to win.
‐ Oh, boy.
♪ ♪
‐ That is a lawnmower. Holy smoke.
‐ All right, people, for round two
we've given them even more cool stuff.
♪ ♪
‐ We got a nice trimmer... ‐ Weed whacker.
‐ Velcro and gaff tape make the world go round.
‐ And the makers can use anything they have
in their own shops.
‐ IFixit.
This is really cool.
This looks like a little magnetic project board.
♪ ♪
Day one.
‐ But we can't make it too easy for these guys,
so I had April create a secret repair
by sabotaging their motor's carburetor.
If they can't unstick that float,
the mower ain't gonna start.
‐ Wow. Come on.
[grunting]
♪ ♪
‐ What the‐‐huh.
‐ What's he gonna do?
‐ The chair just wasn't quite wide enough,
so I had to make it a little wider.
I'm gonna take the guts out of it.
Pssh! Sayonara.
I'm gonna rebuild the cushion and stuff it back in.
I believe it's gonna work.
‐ Check out Chris.
‐ It's very important to me to have these moments right now
because if I work on this thing for five days
and then it doesn't work, it was all a waste of time.
‐ These guys could not be more different.
♪ ♪
‐ Nothing.
It's gotta be something that's stopping me from starting this.
‐ That would be April sabotaging your carburetor.
‐ I'm immediately getting into this diagnostic mode
as to what it could be.
Is it spark plug? Is it compression? Is it fuel?
So I've gotta get through that list and figure it out.
Here's the carburetor.
Here's the float, so‐‐oh, see?
This float, this float is so stiff.
‐ It's got a Texas wedge. ‐ It's a K‐pod.
‐ Now I have to figure out‐‐oh, shoot.
Oh, okay.
‐ Look at that. ‐ There it is.
‐ See how nice and easy it moves now?
This is looking good.
[engine grinding]
‐ That's very cool. He figured that out.
‐ He identified the problem, and so he figured it out.
♪ ♪
‐ All right, now our seat is mounted.
‐ Look how quick he got the chair on there.
‐ And he didn't have to take it apart.
‐ I'm super excited to get this thing
back out in the driveway and give it a test drive.
[laughing]
♪ ♪
‐ Now he's doing donuts.
‐ All right, so far, so good.
‐ Now, that looks comfortable. ‐ Yeah, it actually does.
‐ Just wrap that in some yellow Naugahyde.
‐ Oh, man, the seat is so ugly.
‐ I wanna straddle the line between yard machine
and, like, total demolition device
that you could use to, like, conquer a small city.
♪ ♪
‐ He's going for the propane. That's unexpected.
‐ We did not give him that.
♪ ♪
‐ Now, if we imagine ourselves on our lounger...
‐ What kind of a guy adds a flamethrower to a lawnmower?
‐ Why not? ‐ Why not?
‐ Why wouldn't you?
‐ And we wanna take care of some weeds...
♪ ♪
I think that'll do.
‐ Why didn't you just go with an RPG,
or maybe a bazooka?
♪ ♪
‐ [laughing]
‐ Here we go. Yeah, baby.
‐ Slash and burn. Slash and burn.
‐ What was your favorite TV dinner?
‐ I gotta go with the turkey.
I think the turkey was the most inviting, you know,
and it had stuffing. It had potatoes.
It over‐carbed you, but it was‐‐it was very comforting.
‐ I'm sorry, I fell asleep in the middle of that.
Loin of pork, by far the best one, smashed potatoes,
some sort of a apple, you know, sugary thing.
‐ Now, do you say "smashed potatoes" or "mashed potatoes"?
‐ Depends on if I drink bourbon.
[slurring] We're gonna have smashed potatoes.
‐ Let's see how our makers are getting along.
♪ ♪
‐ Today's task is gonna be integrating
the hedge trimmer and the weed whacker.
How I'm gonna attach them to the front of the mower
and how I'm gonna control them.
♪ ♪
What I'm gonna be building here
is kind of a telescoping tube with a crossbar on it.
We're gonna be able to bolt both of the tools right to it,
move it up and down, side to side,
and we'll be able to adjust the way that
these things interact with the ground and the hedge.
I love it.
Come on, baby. What more can you ask for?
‐ There you go.
♪ ♪
‐ Okay, so it's day three.
Right now, I'm gonna try to assemble the HOTAS
so I can control the weed eater and the trimmer,
except it's gonna be up here in front on the mower.
♪ ♪
‐ Looks like Owen Wilson's brother.
‐ It is. ‐ Interesting design.
The challenge is going to be how well
all these elements work together.
‐ What the‐‐huh.
Does Mike think he's building a ship?
What's the deal with the rigging?
‐ I think that's for the spinnaker, you know?
In case you get a nice windy day.
‐ No, he's got a weed whacker.
‐ Crank this baby, and it'll raise it up.
‐ Oh, that's cool.
‐ I can't tell if it's better or just different
from what Chris has going on.
[machinery buzzing]
♪ ♪
‐ It works. It works.
‐ [laughs] Oh, yeah. ‐ Oh, yeah.
♪ ♪
‐ [laughs] ‐ There we go.
‐ That seems functional,
but how well is that going to work
when you're driving and steering?
‐ I would be done, except for I want to do an engine tet
and make sure that that engine starts.
[both laugh]
‐ Looks like Mike is about to discover
April's little booby trap.
♪ ♪
‐ Nothing.
‐ Oh, no. ‐ Chris had it going on.
He figured out the float right away.
[chuckles]
And someone's watching you with that look on your face.
‐ Yeah.
‐ Why won't it start?
‐ Oh, god, the manual's coming out.
You know, that's a man's last resort.
‐ Yeah.
‐ It's eating up a lot of his time.
‐ I don't know.
‐ Looks like Mike is getting tripped up by our sabotage.
‐ "I don't think I'm gonna have to tear the engine apart.
No!"
[both laugh]
‐ Uh, I didn't test the engine right off the bat.
It's just not good.
♪ ♪
What's up there?
♪ ♪
I hope I'm doing this right.
Yeah, so the carburetor float is whacked out of adjustmen.
It was stuck. ‐ [laughs]
‐ Well, it seems to be working now.
That doggone carburetor.
Oh, please, baby, please, baby. Come on, come on.
[engine grinding] Oh, yeah!
[both chuckle] ‐ Ah.
‐ Oh, my God. Whoo‐hoo!
[laughs] Whoo‐hoo!
What a relief.
You, you.
‐ Looks like he just married off his first daughter.
Come on, you just got a mower started.
Calm down. [engine rumbles]
‐ 20 horsepower, baby!
‐ What kind of mower did you have when you were a kid?
‐ Well, I had a push mower. ‐ So did I.
‐ It was real simple and made of wood.
‐ Wood. ‐ Wood.
‐ It had a wood‐‐a wood handle. I know that‐‐gosh, I‐‐
what was that brand name on that?
‐ I don't think mine had a brand name.
It was probably handed down for‐‐
‐ We were very wealthy.
We had a brand‐‐I think it was an Hermès.
‐ An Hermès, yeah? ‐ It was $36,000.
‐ '30s deco style?
‐ Of course it was. Made out of mahogany,
hand‐rubbed by an individual‐‐ took him a year to hand‐rub i.
‐ Hand‐rubbed mahogany.
‐ It was about 300 pounds, Richard.
♪ ♪
‐ I've got a bunch of ideas on how I can cosmetically
alter this thing to make it look really cool,
but first things first,
I gotta add a couple more accessories.
Hey, Google, what gauge wire do I need to run a 10‐amp circuit?
‐ For a maximum of 10 amps,
you'll need a wire gauge of 16.
‐ I'll probably up the size of the wire just in case
I run a little bit more power.
‐ Always add more power, yeah, baby.
♪ ♪
‐ Hmm.
I'm gonna have to do a whole bunch of custom
fabricating work to get this thing to fit.
♪ ♪
Not great, not a great smell.
♪ ♪
‐ We asked for a multifunction lawn machine,
and Chris is delivering.
♪ ♪
‐ Love it.
All right, we got a winch.
‐ He's a little ahead of himself‐‐I like it.
‐ He's giving us a lot of tools,
but how are they going to all function?
‐ I'm feeling that the clock is ticking extra fast.
I have really got to kick it up a notch.
Hey, Google, show me some accent colors for brown.
‐ Here's a summary from the website architecturelab.net.
If you're looking to get a much more modern
and sleek look that is incredibly
relaxing and trendy, then consider
pairing brown with blue.
♪ ♪
‐ So this is what gardeners use as a ground cloth to put down
so it keeps the weeds out.
So I'm gonna use this as my sun shade.
‐ What the‐‐
‐ Oh, he's putting‐‐ he's putting on a tarp.
He's putting shade.
‐ What? ‐ I guess.
‐ All right, there we go.
‐ What kind of sun shade is that?
What is that?
‐ I mean, if you're out in the elements all day long,
you need a little shade.
Don't throw shade at his shade.
‐ How about a hat?
‐ Oh, yeah, this is like a covered wagon.
‐ While the makers are makin,
here's a quick hack from April.
What's your hack today?
‐ You ever reach for a limb
that you can't reach? ‐ Yes.
‐ Well, a tip is to gra‐‐
‐ But usually I can reach that far.
‐ What about this far?
‐ Okay, okay, there you go. There you go. There you go.
‐ So what you can do is just grab some PVC
to extend it,
and then you can grab a piece of tape and tape it on.
You said you wanted some off the top?
‐ Easy. ‐ Just a little off the top.
‐ Hey, also, this gives you good leverage, so even
if you don't need the height for‐‐
‐ It gives you leverage. Thanks for the tip, April.
We have to go see what Chris and Mike
are doing on their last day.
‐ Thank you again. ‐ You're welcome.
‐ Ah, boy. [sighs]
♪ ♪
‐ My last day.
The clock's ticking.
I'm getting down to the wire.
So this whole time I'm working on the mower,
I'm adding components.
In the back of my mind I'm thinking
I still have to get back to my
shock‐absorbing food tray,
which is an integral part of the build.
I have to totally rework that thing,
make it better than it was when we worked on it last.
So this is a piece of 1/8x3.
We're going to make some very simple brackets
that are going to help us on our tray.
♪ ♪
We're looking good.
‐ Well, you know, we've seen a lot of competitors
feeling good at this point,
and then they slack off, only to find out
that the‐‐something else needs to be done,
and they panic, you know? ‐ I get it. I get it.
♪ ♪
‐ So my original design
had kind of a straight‐up‐and‐down spring.
Now I have moved to this sort of pivot arm,
which is gonna give way better suspension,
a little more traction, and it's gonna make‐‐
it's gonna make my food tray just a lot better,
and this was sort of the last hurdle that I could se,
and now it's just a matter of tying
this whole thing back together.
♪ ♪
Ooh, it's actually...
Hmm.
‐ Ooh.
♪ ♪
It's a little heavy, this thing.
♪ ♪
‐ That looks worse than it did in round one.
‐ Uh‐oh.
Oh, you dummy.
And I just welded this damn thing together.
‐ Looks like he had a little setback.
♪ ♪
‐ Ah, all right, got one of them out.
You know, the spring tension just doesn't
seem strong enough.
It's just not gonna do it.
Oh, now it's worse?
‐ Now it's worse?
[both laugh]
‐ Oh, it sucks.
I gotta take this whole thing apart.
I have about two hours left in the build,
and I absolutely need this thing to be working perfect.
It is the cornerstone of my whole build.
I just screwed that whole thing up.
[bleep].
I gotta switch the spring from both of them.
‐ Chris has really made a problem for himself.
‐ I'm sorry I'm laughing at somebody else's miseries,
but it is [bleep] funny.
‐ Oh, it sucks.
I gotta take this whole thing apart.
And the spring tension just doesn't seem strong enough.
It's just‐‐it's not gonna do it.
I haven't gotten this thing 100% figured out.
I might not even be able to finish it.
Trying to recoup my losses here.
I'm gonna use much shorter springs.
‐ Getting the spring calibrated,
that's not an easy thing to do.
‐ Got to question how smart it was to tackle something
so complicated on his last day.
‐ [groans] Okay, folks.
Welcome back to food tray central.
Well, it's definitely better.
‐ There you go. There you have it.
‐ Just wasted an hour working
on my shock‐absorbing food tray.
I gotta pick up the pace.
I gotta make sure I don't lose any more time.
This place is a disaster,
and I don't know where anything is anymore.
‐ My last day, day five.
I'm gonna pour some molten metal into this thin.
This is an old‐fashioned mold‐making technique.
I took the logo, and I stuck it down onto this clay,
and I'm gonna cut it out.
This won't take very long at all.
‐ So he's got a metal that melts
at low temperature, like tin or aluminum.
‐ These little nuggets are pretty quick‐melting.
‐ When that's liquid, he's going to pour it
into his mold to make the license.
♪ ♪
‐ [groans]
♪ ♪
‐ [groans] Ah, son of a gun!
[both laugh]
But I wasn't gonna give up.
Americans still have that can‐do spirit.
♪ ♪
‐ I've got 15 minutes left,
but I wanna add something else to this mower,
and I grab these two LED lights.
I'm gonna try to get them mounted onto the mower.
‐ Details might help Chris.
♪ ♪
‐ That button is for the lights.
The lights are gone.
Where the [bleep] did I put them down?
I'm losing my mind.
‐ You have to give it to these builders, Tim.
They are using every second they have
to pack these mowers with features for us.
‐ I can continue to find the wrong socket.
[yells]
Unbelievable.
‐ Five, four, three, two, one.
‐ Do the lights work? Ah!
This thing came out awesome.
I love it, and I can't wait
for Tim and Richard to get their hands on it.
Oh. Oh, man.
That was a lot of work.
‐ I'm telling you what... [laughs]
It's been one heck of a week, man.
Oh, wow.
That's what I'm talking about.
‐ [laughs] Look at this.
Oh, my gosh. Wow.
♪ ♪
‐ Chris gave us a take‐no‐prisoners yard machine
complete with a propane torch to incinerate pesky weeds
and a winch to rip out stumps
or tow your neighbor's car that blocked the drivewa.
His redesigned shock‐absorbing tray sports a fan,
and he can control his weed whacker and hedge trimmer
from the comfort of his fully‐functioning recliner.
It's got all the bells and whistles,
but does it really deliver yard domination?
♪ ♪
Mike concentrated on luxury and style
with his landscaping machine and gave us a series
of cables and pulleys to adjust his tools
that would be at home on any yacht.
He included a sun shade
and widened his recliner for comfort.
To keep you out of the yard work danger zone,
he integrated a jet‐fighter‐ inspired control system
for operating his weed whacker and hedge trimmer,
and because every luxury vehicle
needs a personalized set of tags,
Mike hand‐sculpted and cast in steel
an "Assembly Required" license plate.
Kinda sucking up, but, eh, great custom touch.
‐ Careful, Tim. ‐ What?
‐ I don't want you cutting‐‐ ‐ Oh, God!
‐ Oh, ow, ow.
‐ Why didn't somebody say something?
♪ ♪
‐ All of a sudden I feel I'm 80 years old.
‐ Heh?
‐ Give me some pudding. ‐ [laughs]
Watch out.
♪ ♪
‐ There‐‐here's a camera right here.
What‐‐what's going on there? What's the camera for?
‐ That's‐‐we're on a television show.
‐ We asked Mike and Chris to build a comfortable,
multifunctional landscaping machine.
‐ Yes, yes, we did. So this is our fault.
‐ How are we gonna test these beauties?
‐ I'll tell you how we're gonna test them,
is we're gonna drive these bad boys.
[funky rock music]
♪ ♪
[Tim laughing] ‐ We're gonna test
how well these tools were integrated into the mowe.
They should be easy to control,
and they should not get in the way.
♪ ♪
‐ [retches]
[laughing]
‐ They should work like they came from the factory
ready to trim hedges
and go through grass like a hungry cow,
so we've set up some grass and hedges to trim.
‐ When?
♪ ♪
Hedge trimmer's working like a charm, controls great.
♪ ♪
Let's test the weed whacker.
♪ ♪
Great position and controls.
I'm getting maximum grass.
♪ ♪
[truck horn blares]
‐ Bravo, Tim, bravo.
‐ Thank you. Now you take a shot.
♪ ♪
‐ Right out of the gate, I'm having problems
with the weed whacker controls.
♪ ♪
It's hard to steer and operate the HOTAS control.
♪ ♪
I'm coming for you! Here I come!
♪ ♪
The controls interfere with the steering.
Not getting clean cuts.
♪ ♪
Oh, my God, was that fun.
♪ ♪
It's time to deliberate.
‐ Design, what do you think?
‐ Mike and Chris incorporated
their original builds with the tables.
‐ Yeah.
‐ With Mike's, there's a lot of pulley stuff going on here.
‐ Design, I think I'm going with Mike.
He's made it so you can set and forget the position
of the tools, and visually, it's monochromatic.
He did a little bit of style work.
‐ They're both gorgeous. ‐ Oh, God.
You wouldn't have come up with another word, gorgeous.
‐ Design for‐‐
both: Mike. ‐ Next one up.
‐ Kay, we've got ingenuity. They're both very ingenious.
‐ Yes, they are. ‐ Chris gave you a fan.
Mike gave me shade.
‐ Chris gave me a flamethrower. Mike just put flames on it.
‐ And Chris gave you a winch. ‐ A winch.
‐ I think that is the winner. ‐ I think so too.
I think we have to go with this.
It really satisfied the challenge
of being multifunctional,
and don't forget the redesigned tray table.
Ingenuity, Chris.
‐ Yeah. Next? ‐ Functionality.
‐ Based on how you drove, I don't know what all that‐‐
‐ I was having trouble driving
because the trigger on the HOTAS was difficult to use.
‐ I don't know, I kinda like the fact that both of yours
are on different sides.
That seemed like a bad idea, but now it seems
like a good idea. ‐ What does?
‐ Because if I had to do this,
weed whack, and there was stuff in the way, and vice versa,
I wouldn't be able to do it.
♪ ♪
We're down to functionality. ‐ All right.
‐ We have bad news to tell somebody.
I'm gonna run in‐‐
‐ Well, we had a lot of fun.
April, come on over.
‐ Hey, guys. ‐ Hey, how's it going?
‐ Good.
‐ Hey there, Mike, Chris. ‐ Good to see you guys.
‐ It's Richard, Tim, and April. You remember us.
‐ Try to pretend you recognize us.
‐ First things first, you both did incredible work.
‐ It was a blast watching you guys do it,
but Richard's got some news that one of you's gonna like.
‐ The maker with the winning comfort mower is...
♪ ♪
Chris. Chris, congratulations.
You're the winner! How you feeling about that?
‐ Thank you guys so much.
I'm very excited. ‐ Awesome. You're welcome, man.
Thank you very much, guys.
‐ And you get $5,000.
‐ Excellent. That's amazing.
‐ Courtesy of iFixit.
They're also gonna be sending you both
the ultimate fixer kit.
‐ Mike, I gotta tell you,
it was a lot of fun watching you work.
It really was, but at the end of the day we felt
like Chris's build was a little more functional
and had a tiny bit more ingenuity.
‐ Mike, your hands on the throttle and stick controls
were a clever idea, but they didn't seem to work.
Made the mower really hard to drive.
‐ I didn't win, but I'm proud of my mower.
Competing for Tim and Richard was fantastic.
It's a dream come true.
‐ There was so much good about both of your machines.
‐ And it was great to have you aboard.
Congratulations on the win.
‐ Thank you very much for being a part of this.
‐ Honestly, I'm so happy
with the way the whole build came out.
I got a big smile on my face.
I put a lot of my skills
and a lot of passion into this project.
I'm super proud of it.