Author Archives: andyc823

Toolbank Relaunch Report

A big Thankyou to everyone who came along to our extra Repair Cafe at Abbeyfield Park House to celebrate the re-launch of the Toolbank there, which is operated by our friends at Green City Action. An excellent day was hadRead the Rest »

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Pictures from Heeley

We had another great Repair Cafe at Heeley City Farm yesterday. Lots of different items were brought along by their owners to be fixed, including a beautiful antique Singer sewing machine, an old wall clock, modern clockwork Radio, a mirror,Read the Rest »

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Repair Cafe at Abbeyfield Park House

Our friends over at Green City Action, based in Abbeyfield Park House in Burngreave, are holding a special event on Saturday 23rd March to celebrate the relaunch of their Toolbank project after a major re-vamp. As well as the ToolbankRead the Rest »

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Oil lamp repair

One of the more unusual items to come into a Repair Cafe recently was this vintage oil lamp, which had been picked up by myself from an auction as part of a job lot of oil lamp spares. The problemRead the Rest »

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Yesterday’s Repair Cafe

We had another great Repair Cafe at Strip the Willow yesterday. Although we didn’t see quite as many items brought in for fixing as usual, there was still a good mix of things for repair. It was also the firstRead the Rest »

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Coconut radio

We just finished the Repair Cafe at Strip the Willow. Thanks to everyone who came along today. One very unusual item that came in was the coconut radio pictured above. It stopped working and the owner was hoping we couldRead the Rest »

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Vintage video

Anyone who was around in the 1980s will most likely remember the video format war between VHS and Betamax. But did you know there were other formats around too? One of these lost formats was U-matic, which has a specialRead the Rest »

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Fixing wood finishes

One type of repair we sometimes get asked about is how to restore wooden furniture. Parts might be loose or broken, but most often the problem is some sind of mark in the finish, such as a scratch or aRead the Rest »

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Clock repairs

Inspired by the clock repairs on TV’s ‘The Repair Shop’ just recently, today I decided to finally take a look at a clock taht’s been sitting on the side in my kitchen for quite a while now. I bought itRead the Rest »

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Fixing the unfixable: Restoring broken plastic

Once a piece of plastic is smashed that’s it, right? Well… Actually… Wrong! Andy recently restored this telephone, which arrived in the condition seen in the first photo. He takes up the story of the restoration below: The damage toRead the Rest »

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