fixing

Hi! I’m Jacob, it looks like I’m going to be taking over as mod for this community. It looks like the original intent was to celebrate/talk about repairing stuff/the right to repair stuff, and perhaps the intersection of tech and solarpunk ideals and how to mix them. I’m a big believer in using what we have, including technology, to try to build a better, more environmentally just world (never been one to let the perfect be the enemy of the good). I like fixing things and making them last long past any planned obsolescence or sane expectation of the lifespan of a product.

I thought by way of introduction, I’d share an old project. When my grandfather died, I inherited many of his tools. This drill press belonged to my great grandfather. If I’ve got my understanding of the characteristics right, (three-prong feed lever, this specific chuck) it dates to 1951.

My great grandfather had a… casual relationship with electricity.

Everything still worked great but the wiring worried me. The original cord was non-polarized, not grounded, and the white (red?) wire's insulation had crumbled away basically anywhere I could see it. Great-Grampa had added in a light switch, by slicing back the insulation and cutting one wire, which worked but was unsafe. (Shocks aside, imagine trying to grab that in an emergency, when a piece has gotten away from you and is spinning, or when you’ve got an article of clothing caught in the works).

Luckily the motor's internal wires' insulation looked just fine. The motor has the old fabric-insulated wires, which, ironically, seem to have held up much better than the rubber stuff. I'm glad I didn't have to do anything with the motor internals, a couple rebuild videos have shown me they're a fun mix of overbuilt and delicate from age.

My goal was to overbuild everything, so I rated everything for the motor's power needs and added a grounding wire, weatherproof box, and a tool-grade switch intended for various Powertec power tools.

I had to modify the switch box to fit the new switch, and painted it to match the drill press. I like this because I can slap it into the off position without looking at it.

I love this machine. It’s big, bulky, and weighs a ton, but it’s on its fourth generation of users and I don’t doubt it’ll continue. I love the simplicity of it, the exposed and easily-replaceable belts and motor. I love how easy it is to maintain and fix.

About a year after I finished working on this, I read the book Ecotopia. The book is from the 1970s but it had a section dedicated to the Right to Repair in a society where most tools and appliances are designed with a similar ethos. From “Ecotopian Television and its Wares”:

“Objects that are available in stores seem rather old fashioned. I have seen few Ecotopian-made appliances that would not look pretty primitive on American TV. One excuse I’ve heard is that they are designed for easy repair by users. At any rate they lack the streamlining we’re used to – parts stick out at odd angles, bolts and other fasteners are plainly visible, and sometimes parts are even made of wood. I have, however, observed that Ecotopians do repair their own things. In fact there are no repair shops on the streets. A curious corollary is that guarantees don’t seem to exist at all. People take it for granted that manufactured items will be sturdy, durable, and self-fixable – which of course means they are also relatively unsophisticated compared to ours. This state of affairs has not been achieved easily; I have heard many funny stories about ridiculous designs produced in the early days, lawsuits against their manufacturers, and other tribulations. One law now in effect requires that pilot models of new devices must be given to a public panel of ten ordinary people (‘consumers’ is not a term used in polite conversation here). Only if they all find they can fix likely breakdowns with ordinary tools is manufacture permitted.”

While reading the vintage machinery forums, I came across a more succinct quote: 'These old tools don't break, they're just missing parts.'

I think that's a really nice way of looking at it.