Part 2 of this story is that not only did this give me the chance to learn enough luthiery such that I can now set up my own instruments without expensive mistakes, but it also meant I could help the secondary school my children had attended who found themselves with no budget and a room full of broken instruments - between myself and the head of music we got over 15 guitars back into service.
Thank you for the compliment Andy, but I don't think your skills are anything to be ashamed of either (and you can play them, a skill I definitely don't have ). Congratulations on the school support.
Every now and then, I have an urge to repair something instead of replacing it .... most of the time, it ends up costing me more, but you do get the sense of achievement and I do get to buy some new tools
For UK members who haven't discovered it yet, I've been thoroughly enjoying "The Repair Shop" http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08l581p the rest of this series is on this week at 6:30 each evening, and then some of the first series will be on over the weekend, also all this series are available on BBC iPlayer.
Never quite goes into the detail I'd like on how they do the repairs, but then it is early evening TV, and definitely makes me think "I'd love to be doing that"!
In sometimes grumpy times it's definitely feel good TV through mending things.
I would like to see a re-edited version of The Repair Shop, perhaps later in the evening, with the entire ½ hour programme devoted to one item. That way they could show all the work that actually goes into repairing some of the more complex items.
Wonderful idea - a sort of cross between the programme as it is now and James May's "The Reassembler". I do suspect that some of the steps are not shown as the craftspeople want to keep their "trade secrets" - but I'm sure it's mostly what the producers think viewer's concentration spans will stand!
Neither my wife nor I can bear to see nice things being thrown away which might be able to be brought back to life - this is why we have about 10 sheds between us
I think the skill sets shown in this programme that I'd really like to have are restoring woodwork (particulalry recreating the original finish) and reparing clocks. I still feel guilty about dismantling my brother's Meccano clockwork motor when I was about 10 which exploded into many lost pieces as the spring went boing...
To be honest Andy I have not seen the ‘repair shop’ as yet, however it would be great with hints of what products to avoid especially with all the different types of equipment available. Everyone thought the USB port sockets were a great design but there were some unsafe ones produced, not only that but the transformers at the rear of the sockets are on all the time with nothing plugged in! What is the longevity of this? More consumer friendly programmes are needed as everyone needs to learn on a daily basis. Repairing things is great, the question I would be asking is why did they break in the first place?
Just to explain one point, "The Repair Shop" (which is now repeating its first series) focuses on items more like 100 years old rather than 1 year old. Gears and ratchets rather than USB ports
As to why modern technical items break, I think it is worth remembering that we do demand that technology is available at a very low price. I've always worked in the delivery of high reliability products, and it's easier to do now than it's ever been (thanks to continuously improving modeling tools). but it's still very expensive. An interesting subtext of "The Repair Shop" is that when "technical" items (e.g. mechanical toys, clocks, music making/reproduction equipment) are brought in, it tends to become clear that in their time they would have been the pride and joy of the family owning them. If in my house, as an example, we spent as much on a single record player as we have on all the various radios, TVs, CD players, DVD players etc etc etc we have then it could probably be very reliable - which is exactly the situation a family would have been in in, say, the 1930s.
That's prompted me to do a back-of-the-envelope calculation: I have a 1927 HMV model 109 gramophone (which does still work!), this cost £10 10s (£10.50) in 1927 which was about 8% of the average annual wage of £133. Taking the same percentage of an approximate average wage today of £25k gives an equivalent cost of about £2000 - which is probably about right if you were to produce them in volume with the same level of quality today. Of course it's really difficult to make realistic comparisons of value due to the huge changes that took place in the twentieth century, but it gives a feel.
However, despite the above I do tend to feel that we (the engineering and manufacturing profession) are much better at this than we were, say, in the 1970s and 1980s when many industries had not yet grasped that cost engineering did not necessarily mean poor engineering. I vividly remember giving up on my Mk III Escort and buying a Corolla instead - they both cost the same but were a world apart in reliability (and, indeed, serviceability).
Where I completely agree with you is regarding PCs. Whilst by spending a bit more I can get a more reliable (say) washing machine or electric drill, however much I spend on a PC it will always not quite work
Absolutely great reply and I entirely agree with everything you are saying. I love all the old ways of manufacturing and the equipment used, I have been harping on for long enough now about the lack of usage of our waterways etc, I am sure that by using this we could power all the street lights in the country all year and could even store the electricity close to the source as well. I know that we need new Technology don’t get me wrong, but it seems that unfortunately we have now got a situation where if it isn’t easy people do not want to do it and would rather earn a living pressing buttons. Let’s get back to the glass milk bottles and seeing the tops rise an inch in winter I say! I still have some of my father’s personalised knives made in Sheffield, much better than any you can buy today.
). Congratulations on the school support. 
