Tag: repair

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Fixing a Watch Band (Again!)

Remember when I fixed my watch band? Well, it didn’t last. The replacement (from my old Fitbit) lasted a few weeks, but it also broke, so I went back to using rubber bands, until…

I thought to myself, just 3D print one! And I thought about doing it with TPU. But then I got lazy and just made one with PLA. I figured I would give that a try first, and… it does work!

I think I was convinced it needed to be soft and flexible but the PLA one has been under daily testing for over a week now and it might be just fine. The tricky part is I needed to make it just a little bit larger that the piece of metal it needs to slide over to get onto the band. But I didn’t want to make it too much larger. The size is a little annoying because I wish it were smaller, but without the flex of rubber or silicone or whatever, that isn’t happening. (And TPU probably wouldn’t have much stretch anyway.)

Just in case you need to do this too see the Watch Band Holder files in my OpenSCAD repository. Cheers!

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Fork Fixed (Replaced)

I got my bike fixed! If you missed it, back in July the front suspension fork on my bike just… separated. The bottom half fell off. It looked pretty corroded in there. I kept riding it for a while as I debated what to do about it. Oh, and since I hang my bike in the garage from the front wheel I started adding a bungee cord so the whole bike would not slide off from the front wheel!

Dana said “Why don’t you get a new bike? You ride all the time and could probably use something better.” And I really didn’t want to replace it, but I thought about getting a cheap “backup bike” in case it broke more. I thought about going to The Bike Farmer’s place but for reasons, I did not

But! The fine folks at Allis Bike got me fixed up. It was very affordable, and they did great work. They even saved the old fork for me just in case. They also replaced the chain as they noticed it was stretched a bit. Now, when I got the bike back I took a ride and somehow the chain started being all crazy so I contacted them and they said “Bring it in!” So I did…

They noticed the chain got twisted. How? I don’t know. But I do know they fixed it, and said “All good, no charge!” and I rode away. Awesome!

Also, the shop has a flyer I made up on the wall, and it’s been there for like… 35 years!?! If that’s not enough to trust a local bike shop then I don’t know what is. Good crew over there at Allis Bike.

The longer version of the flyer story is that I know one of the guys there, and have for a long time. When I was rebuilding a bike I found in a dumpster near a frat house in Madison I needed a new front rim, tube, and tire. Pete got me all set up I have this idea in my mind I handed him $30 cash for it. I cannot confirm this price but it was 35 years ago, and Pete was a pal. Each of us was the “Other Pete” to each other. So yeah. Solid!

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Fixing a Watch Band

Back in 2023 I got an OtterBox All Day Band for Apple Watch and after two years it broke. Not the whole thing, just the little gray part that holds the excess strap. Bummer!

It’s not great to wear a watch like this since the excess strap just… hangs loose. So I was going to order another one but the colors I was okay with were out of stock. So I decided to try to fix it, and then decided if I could fix it I would not order a new one. I’m trying to buy less and just sort of consume less. Fix things, don’t throw them away, and all that.

So I have a bunch of these tiny rubber bands, maybe two dozen of them. It’s the kind of thing I save because you never know when you’ll need it.

Hey, it works! It’s a tight fit, and getting the strap into it wasn’t easy, but it’s a thing I do one or maybe twice per day, so I could live with it.

It looks okay! The only issue is that the rubber bands only last a few weeks or so and then wear out and break. This was annoying, but got me through another two months using the watch band.

Then one day I found my old Fitbit in a drawer. The screen pretty much stopped working years ago, which is why I ended up getting an Apple Watch. Anyway, I slid off the little band thing and got it to slide onto my watch band!

I did have to snip the little nub on the inside, as it was a bit too large to fit the holes in the OtterBox watch band. This was easy to do with a micro cutter.

Hopefully I can get a few more years out of this watch band. I like everything about it except for the fact that the little piece broke. And hey, if you do stop using an old watch band consider saving it for parts!

Update: It broke. I found a new solution.

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Sewing to Repair

I learned to hand sew and how to use a sewing machine in school. I think it was 7th grade in a Home Ec class. The term “Home Ec” is short for Home Economics. Here’s the Wikipedia definition:

Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences (often shortened to FCS or FACS), is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as textiles and apparel. Although historically mostly taught in secondary school or high school, dedicated home economics courses are much less common today.

The new term appears to be “Family and Consumer Sciences”, I say “new” because 500 years ago when I was in school it was just called Home Ec. We had a sewing class in middle school and I think I remember a cooking class in high school. Since my kids are adults I honestly don’t know what is happening in schools today, but I’m writing today to talk about sewing.

As I mentioned recently I repaired my old boots, and it felt really good to fix them rather than get a new pair. I was able to save money and opt-out of another consumer transaction. So when my gloves got a small tear in one of the fingertips I said “I should sew that up!” and I did… eventually. I’m not sure why it took me so long to do it, since it was a repair that took less than 10 minutes.

But as much as I call myself a maker and someone dedicated to DIY I really do feel I need to be better about this stuff. About repairing things in a timely manner.

I took a poll asking people the following question: Are you able to repair a small rip in a piece of clothing by hand sewing it?

Nice results! I probably fit into the “Yes – But it would not look very good” category and I’m okay with that. To be honest though I’m glad most people do know how to sew. It’s s great skill to have, even if you use it just for repairs and not for actually making new things.

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Another Flat…

So according to my previous post I last had a flat tire in October 2024 (and August 2024). For the one in August I took it into the LBS to get fixed, but in October I changed it myself because damn I should DIY that stuff, right?

I probably got a puncture on the January Scrappy Hour Ride as my tire was pretty low at the end of the ride. Anyway, Matt was kind enough to give me a set of tires (nice tires!) so I pulled off my own worn out tire and put on a new tube and tire.

I actually had no idea the direction of rotation could matter, and I didn’t, notice the little rotation arrow until after I wrapped up the repair! Luckily I got it right.

Oh, I did end up throwing together a simple PVC bike stand. It’s not great (yet) but it’s better than nothing. It definitely helps when changing the rear tire.

(Note: I also got a flat tire with my car last month but I’m not counting that one.)

So hey, we are back in business and as soon as it warms up a bit, or I feel like suiting up again, I’ll hit the road and try it out.