New Stuff

[Parts]

Things today are built so poorly.. I have gotten stuff right out of the box broken I understand keeping the cost down and all but none of it is made to be fixed.  We are supposed to be thinking of a more sustainable economy but what do we do we keep turning out this shit.. I don't even want to to think of the pollution and working conditions in China.  So much plastic and shitty metal parts made by the lowest bidder.  Today I fixed a power washer with a cracked high pressure pipe you can't get replacement  parts either so I salvaged one off another broken washer.  Too much throw away shit from china

[earthboundmisfit]

It's a lot cheaper to replace some things than fix them. I wonder if the disparity between wages has something to do with it. If you need to pay a technician $50 an hour to fix something, and you can replace it for $100, then why fix it?


That's why I like old stuff. It was built to last.

[Parts]

I fix it because I enjoy it,  I buy old stuff when I can.  Got a bunch of Proto tools the other day

[earthboundmisfit]

I've heard of those, are they nice? I've got a mix of tools. MAC, Snap-On, some cheap stuff.


I have a pair of vice grips that has a nice textured black finish. I wish they would finish wrenches like that. The chrome looks nice, but it's so damn slippery when you get oil and grease on them.

[Callaway]

I think they make things to break on purpose, becaause it's a little cheaper to make them that way and if they made things to last, people wouldn't buy new ones.

I think they made American cars that way for years and called it "planned obsolescence".  That's why we have two Japanese cars now.

[Parts]

I've heard of those, are they nice? I've got a mix of tools. MAC, Snap-On, some cheap stuff.


I have a pair of vice grips that has a nice textured black finish. I wish they would finish wrenches like that. The chrome looks nice, but it's so damn slippery when you get oil and grease on them.

Proto is nice its the professional grade Stanley made in the USA  Blackhawk is another brand to look for they sell them at Grainger

['andersom']

I think they make things to break on purpose, becaause it's a little cheaper to make them that way and if they made things to last, people wouldn't buy new ones.

I think they made American cars that way for years and called it "planned obsolescence".  That's why we have two Japanese cars now.

True, I heard of a shoe factory going down, because the quality of their shoes was too good.

['andersom']

I get really pissed when the kids get a present that breaks down before it leaves the wrapping.
And I also wonder on how hard it must be to work in a factory for hardly any pay, to make absolute shit.
No pay, and no job satisfaction.

- "What did you do today?"
- "I made crappy things, that will not last for 10 minutes after they are sold."
- "Wow, you must be so proud!"

[Osensitive1]

Plastics created the throw-away mentality of modern society and they have the double whammy of being toxic to the environment, both creating them and when they decompose. Maybe that's a tripple whammy then.

[Parts]

Plastics have their place in manufacturing but are overused as to there inexpensiveness.  Many degrade with exposure to uv light

[Icequeen]

Even the stuff that can be easily fixed is normally tossed instead. People don't want to take the time. I guess in big business you have to ask yourself whether you make a quality item that might cost $20 or $30 more than your competitions thow-away and sell less of them, or make it cheaper and sell more and not have the cost of having customer service deal with replacement parts. Most are picking the later option.

They win, and when most people see the cheap cost they think they win also, but in the end they lose big time.

Still alot of "throw-away" items out there that are fixable, sometimes you can pick something up curbside that needs a part and find it on another one in a week or two with something else broken and cannibalize.

I have a set of Proto torque wrenches and some sockets that have served me well, good quality. I normally snatch up Craftsman, Proto, Snap-on, and S&K when I find them cheap.

['andersom']

The high end modern bicycles, after a while, you just need a new one, because the parts that need replacing can't be reached without breaking the bicycle down.

I am cycling on a bike from the fifties. It's a repairman's dream to work on it. Because everything can be fixed and adjusted. And it is sturdy as can be too.

[Queen Victoria]

My Mom was a 3rd generation Capricorn.  And all 3 generations lived together.  The Capricorn's motto is, "Eat it up.  Wear it out.  Make it do or do without."  My grandmother also went through the Great Depression as a widow with my Mom.  DH doesn't understand why I mend clothes or shop at thrift and bent and dent stores, hang clothes out to dry, etc.  Part of that is my childhood, part of it is being a young adult in the hippie generation and part is not wanting to go back to work.

[Parts]

My Mom was a 3rd generation Capricorn.  And all 3 generations lived together.  The Capricorn's motto is, "Eat it up.  Wear it out.  Make it do or do without."  My grandmother also went through the Great Depression as a widow with my Mom.  DH doesn't understand why I mend clothes or shop at thrift and bent and dent stores, hang clothes out to dry, etc.  Part of that is my childhood, part of it is being a young adult in the hippie generation and part is not wanting to go back to work.

Except for the Capricorn pat I grew up the same way fuck when I lived ith my mom in florida we didn;t even have a car and just a 13 inch black and white tv  with rabbit ears

["couldbecousin"]

My Mom was a 3rd generation Capricorn.  And all 3 generations lived together.  The Capricorn's motto is, "Eat it up.  Wear it out.  Make it do or do without."  My grandmother also went through the Great Depression as a widow with my Mom.  DH doesn't understand why I mend clothes or shop at thrift and bent and dent stores, hang clothes out to dry, etc.  Part of that is my childhood, part of it is being a young adult in the hippie generation and part is not wanting to go back to work.

  for thrift...I need to learn that, I'm a waster myself.