Gunner Quinn
My dad lived through the Great Depression on a farm in the western plains of Minnesota. When there was a breakdown of the machinery there was no thought of ordering a replacement from the Sears & Roebuck catalog as they needed it “right now” and not in 4-to-8 months. Their only options were; go to town to the hardware store, or the blacksmith shop, or fix it themselves. I was born and grew up in the city after they sold the farm, but he never abandoned his frugal handyman ways, which I inherited. Although I did not think it was unusual that he would spend an afternoon pulling nails from old boards to save them, it did get my attention.
Many Saturday afternoons my dad spent underneath the old Hudson or Chevy wrapping tin cans around the muffler with baling wire. Repair, restore, and buy used. It worked for my dad and it works for me.
“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, couldn’t put Humpty together again.“
Indeed it is quite impossible to put together something that has been broken into pieces; it can also be near impossible to put something together that you have taken apart. This is written as a guide on how to disassemble typical homestead belongings for the purpose of repairing them which requires reassembly. Why is this an important topic? It is because some of the things you need to repair might not be affordable or even replaceable in a world of tariffs, supply chain disruptions, inflation and “black swan” events. I predict that more and more people will turn to repairing instead of replacing ordinary household items. Those that are adept in repairing discarded items will have some previously unknown respect and competition, and most likely some inquiries.
And because so few people would consider repairing their household belongings, or don’t know how, it is a skill that would be very valuable in your community to share (lend advice, not your tools). Information on how to organize a fix-it clinic can be found online; there are also fix-it guides for specific items. The advice here is not for repairing specific items, but techniques for taking them apart to repair them. My routine procedure is to research the project via manuals, online videos, forums and schematic illustrations. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t.
The reasons for taking an item apart would be to:
1. Repair and restore it to its original good working order.
2. Re-purpose some or all of the parts.
3. Recycle some or all of it.
4. Junk it out.
Taking an item apart to repair it is the most demanding of all because you will need to put it back together again. You don’t want a repair & restore operation to turn into a demolition by not being able to put it back together again in good working order, but often a repair job will take another or several courses; repurposing, recycling or junking.
A “know-it-all” attitude when you don’t know it at all is perhaps a real good reason why fix-it projects either fail or cause damage to oneself, the object you’re working on, or more. Along those lines, I suggest anything that has stored energy in the form of pressurized gas (air conditioner, dehumidifier, refrigerator compressors), springs (garage door torsion springs, automobile struts) or electrical capacitors (TVs, PCs, microwave ovens) that could be released unexpectedly should be turned over to a professional or recycled. A note rfom the EPA website: “Refrigerant: Household refrigerators and freezers manufactured before 1995 typically contain (CFC) refrigerant. Many window air-conditioning units and dehumidifiers contain (HCFC) refrigerant.”
It is easier to fix your attitude than it is to fix a botched repair job. If you are honest enough with yourself to recognize that a project is beyond your capabilities, turn it over to a professional. If you don’t know how to work on it, don’t. Sometimes you don’t find that out before you’ve gotten into it; in which case you need to be able to back out of it before you go past the point of no return.
Manuals are helpful but are not the ultimate authority. All the various models of a product will usually be in one manual so you will need to know your model number. Experienced auto mechanics know that manuals do not keep up with continuous changes throughout a model year and depend more on updates and conversations with other experienced mechanics. Sometimes a schematic of parts will include all models. I’ve always been able to find an online video or schematic illustration of any object online and have learned to be able to discern between what is reliable and what is not by cross-checking the advice.
I have a variety of toolboxes for the various projects I get involved in; woodworking/carpentry, electrical, plumbing, auto maintenance, firearm upkeep, and so on. The toolbox that I most often use for doing repair work on household items would include screwdrivers in Phillips, Torx, Robertson, and slotted configurations. Allen, Metric, S.A.E. sockets and wrenches. Pliers, pipe wrenches, and Crescent wrenches. Mallets and hammers, utility knives, pry bars, chisels, heat guns, Dremel Tool, a multi-meter, and so on.
The most common advice and my experience is that the secret to putting things back together in working order is to know how they were taken apart. Some techniques that I use are taking photos, taking notes. and drawing sketches. I have a camera on a tripod or on hand to take photos throughout every phase of disassembly, a sheet of paper or a large piece of cardboard to place parts and add notes and sketches in a sequential pattern depicting how it came apart. Sometimes empty egg cartons come in handy to place individual components. Do not depend upon your memory, it is the most unreliable method of all. If you find yourself thinking “I’ll remember where this piece went”, you won’t. You’ll be in trouble when putting it back together if you are thinking: “maybe it went here”.
Spending a relaxed Saturday afternoon tinkering on a repair job while watching sports on television isn’t reality. Most likely fix-it’s take place in hurried, unexpected situations when there is no time to go about it in a methodical and organized fashion at the worst time in the worst place in the worst conditions. If in a situation where there are no other means of recording the steps taken in disassembly and there is no one else to assist, verbalize each step and go backwards and forwards repeating out loud what you are doing. Keep everything in the open and organized. If you have it all back together and you find a washer that should’ve been included, take it apart until you find out where it goes.
A lot of people have a “throwaway” mindset that will junk an item and go out and buy a replacement when all that was necessary was a simple repair job that could’ve been avoided by routine maintenance; like a riding lawn mower I heard about that was junked that only needed a new belt. Beware of thinking it is a good idea to fix up somebody’s throwaway, there might be a good reason why it is a throwaway. Motor-driven yard equipment can have a rough, short life, due to the rough nature of yard work, bargain equipment, and neglect. I once asked several people in the neighborhood if they changed the oil on their lawn mower or ever sharpened the blades, and none of them did.
One lesson that I’ve learned over and over is that buying quality is buying a bargain, but buying a bargain can be expensive. If you buy quality, the less you will need to spend time and money doing repairs. When we looked to replace our old clothes washer we were advised by an honest salesman (they do exist) to keep it as it will still outlast the newer ones that are designed to be short-lived and the warranties were worthless. That was 15 years ago and we still have the old washer and it is doing fine.
(To be concluded tomorrow, in Part 2.)
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