Our sessions in 2026 will be on these Saturdays:
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.
By Vilnis Vesma
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.
By Martin Roper
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.
By Vilnis Vesma
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…
By Vilnis Vesma
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
RIMLESS GLASSES: this was a real challenge. One arm had broken off at the root (1) and there was no chance of fixing the break. First job (2) tape over the lens to protect it and dig out the old fixings (two barbed metal prongs pushed into plastic sleeves through holes in the lens). Next (3) drill sideways into the lens and (4) glue the wire end of the broken side-arm into the new hole.
By Vilnis Vesma
CHANNELING KIRSTEN FROM “THE REPAIR SHOP”… I have become a total fan of epoxy putty. To deal with this hole in the side of a ceramic planter I used a steel-filled putty which bonds well to concrete and glass etc. Hard enough to sand down in 20 minutes, painted with a coat of B.I.N. primer (dry in 15 minutes), pattern loosely touched in with watercolours and sealed with a coat of metal lacquer to give it a glossy finish.
You can still see the join (as they say) but OK for a little over an hour’s work.
By Martin Roper
TIP: There are two types of cross-head screws. It’s important to use the correct screwdriver to prevent damage to the screw and possibly round it off. Note that the Posidrive has extra flutes on the screwdriver while the Phillips is plain