How to Repair a Plastic Trug

By Stitching it With Cable Ties… This winter I learned that plastic buckets break real easy when it’s cold outside. I managed to break not one, but two of my favorite plastic trugs by being less than gentle with the firewood loading this winter time. But since they don’t need to hold water (I use them for garden waste and for hauling firewood) I repaired them by drilling lots of holes along the cracks and stitching them up with cable ties. Here’s how… Simple and quick repair using cheap materials. …

Never buy bearings from your machine manufacturer…

…Because they don’t make em! Shocking huh? But making bearings is so specialized that machine manufacturers outsource their bearings from one of the handful of bearing manufacturers worldwide. This means the bearings in your machine are most likely a standard size and finding replacements is a cinch. Plus you’ll only pay for the actual bearing, no ‘middle man’ mark up whatsoever, result! Here’s how to find out what bearings you need without going to the machines manufacturer It’s really simple, all you need is a magnifying glass to read the tiny …

Simple failures = simple fixes!

My lawnmower stopped driving last week… We had completely redesigned our garden over the summer using over 12 tons of soil to give us much more grass (easier to maintain than weeds!) so imagine my dismay this week when my rather heavy lawnmower stopped driving….. The engine ran fine and it still cut the grass, if I pushed it! Ok, lets get the mower on the bench and have a look. First things first, take off the spark plug lead and tuck it out of the way. Why you ask? …

How to fix a hole in an exhaust silencer or muffler.

Using a tin can, some exhaust repair paste and rivets. Our sixteen year old classic Saab 900 blew a small hole in its exhaust, which turned in to a large hole after I poked around! The metal surrounding the hole was surprisingly solid after I scraped away the flaky rusty bits. So I thought I’d have a go at repairing it rather than replacing the whole exhaust section (very expensive). First I jacked up the car and placed an axle stand underneath a strong part of the body. Talking about safety, …

How to Replace a Broken Crystal on a Rolex Watch

I am not a pro watch repairer so obviously repairing my broken crystal makes no sense at all and I really should pay the money and get it done by professionals……..Still here? Well then I guess you may as well read on 🙂 (you can click on any image to see a close up). A broken crystal, the story so far… Getting ready for bed one night saw me fumble with my watch and……..bang! Face down onto hard, hard ceramic tiles. The result was not pretty. The watch glass or …

lath and plaster ceilings removal

How to Repair Lath and Plaster Ceilings (10 different ways)

Uh oh….. you’ve got a period lath and plaster ceiling that needs some ‘love’ hmm? I’ve been working with lath and plaster for more than 30 years so read on and learn what you can do to get years more life out of your plasterwork and what to do if it’s beyond economic repair. (p.s. if you want to remove your lath and plaster ceiling, you can head over to the “How to Take Down Lath and Plaster Ceilings” page instead). Most people agree that traditional lath and plaster ceilings …