Our session today (21 March) was our busiest ever, with record donations and cafe takings, so thanks to all concerned. Our eight repairers dealt with dozens of items.
The sewing team repaired a pair of shorts, shortened trousers for two customers, shortened the sleeves on a cashmere sweater, adapted a dog coat and replaced the elastic straps on a car cover.
Our mechanical and electrical team were kept busy too, cleaning and sharpening numerous secateurs, shears and loppers. They repaired two electric clocks, removed rust from a tin opener, and repaired:
You can now ask us to send you a reminder the day before our sessions by providing either a mobile phone number (for a text message) or your email address.
We don’t ask for your name, and you can have a reminder either for just the next sesssion, or all until further notice (if you want to cancel, just reply to the reminder to say so):
This brand new mini waffle maker failed its appliance safey test because its plug is unfused. It’s a Chinese import bought on Amazon. Be wary buying electrical goods online… This is not an isolated case.
Our insurance does not cover knife sharpening at the moment because insurance companies are generally refusing to provide cover thanks to fears of knife crime. However, we can sharpen shears, secateurs, mower blades, scissors and the like, and expect to be able to do so until there is a rash of mower-blade attacks.
Internals of a novelty illuminated Christmas decoration
18 April
16 May (closing early)
20 June
18 July
15 August
19 September
17 October
21 November
You will find us at the Memorial Hall Market Square Newent GL18 1PS
Doors open to the public at 10:00 and we ask for items to be picked up by 12:45 so that we can clear the hall by 13:00. Thanks for your cooperation in this.
This commemorative plaque came in one Saturday with its paint scuffed and looking in a very sorry state. Could we restore it in time for the forthcoming birthday of ‘Gyp’, one of the two people it commemorated?
This was a job to take home because it was going to take a lot of time and care. Fortunately it went smoothly: the lettering was lightly engraved into the surface so after a coat of matching paint I was able to pick out the engraved letters with a sharp blade.
The stories behind the plaque were immensely sad and the job was of great personal importance to the person who brought it in, so I was pleased to be able to do it and complete it on time.
Our customer said this lawnmower didn’t work. After checking it out, it worked fine; possible some dirt in the commutator was dislodged when we took the motor cover off. They also wanted the blades sharpened, but the bolt holding them on was unfortunately seized completely solid so we couldn’t help.
One of the finials on a curtain pole (a) had lost its grub screw which kept it in place. Tried an M5 metric bolt (wrong thread pitch) and a Meccano bolt (too small) then rooting around in my box of random hardware I noticed that the threads on the stud of an old drawer pull (b) looked about right and indeed they were (c). So I sawed a slot in the end of the stud (d) and then cut a short length off the end (e). Note the end is held in the vice because I didn’t want to lose it. There we have it (f) the basic grub screw. Deburr the cut end of the thread (g), pop the new screw in place (h) and finally widen the slot with a file (i) to accommodate the screwdriver head. Simples…
This plastic knuckle joint on a fancy folding armchair had split open. Glued back together and reinforced with a brass strip screwed into place. I feel the supervet would have been pleased.
Note: unfortunately most indoor furniture is outside the scope of what we can do: it usually takes too long and needs a proper workshop
This brand new mini waffle maker failed its appliance safey test because its plug is unfused. It’s a Chinese import bought on Amazon. Be wary buying electrical goods online… This is not an isolated case.
Our customer said this lawnmower didn’t work. After checking it out, it worked fine; possible some dirt in the commutator was dislodged when we took the motor cover off. They also wanted the blades sharpened, but the bolt holding them on was unfortunately seized completely solid so we couldn’t help.
