Tales from the repair guy

[kmealy]

12 minutes ago, Gunny said:

I don't know about the screws but definitely more staples.

Yeah, we can do more staples.  If they don't go through both pieces, you can have a reclining middle seat back.

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by kmealy

[Gunny]

You laugh but we had a customer bring us a lazy boy to weld some springs together. Rather large guy. He man handled it off the back of his truck and dropped to ground. Thing fell apart.

 

Not that we would have attempted repair anyway.  Now why bring it us? Have no idea. I am a mechanic not a phycologist.

[kmealy]

3 minutes ago, Gunny said:

You laugh but we had a customer bring us a lazy boy to weld some springs together. Rather large guy. He man handled it off the back of his truck and dropped to ground. Thing fell apart.

 

Not that we would have attempted repair anyway.  Now why bring it us? Have no idea. I am a mechanic not a phycologist.

Yeah, I once had a guy that must have gone over 400 lb.  His recliner mechanism had some rivets sheared.   A couple of months earlier I had a woman customer that couldn't have weighed 100 lb and did not have enough strength to close up the footrest.   How do you design for something like that?

They guy lived just around the corner from my son-in-law's family bakery (3rd generation).   I asked if he knew of it.  "Oh, yeah."  

[kmealy]

We can staple upholstery, too.   They'll never notice.  At least #14 and #22 won't.

 

[kmealy]

One of many visits to the "Crazy Cat Lady,"   she was a single, 20-something, with I don't know how many cats (and a few dogs) in a townhouse (would hate to have been her neighbor).   She always wanted an end of day appointment, that was fine with me because I drove home with the window down and took a shower as soon as I got home.  It stunk like crazy there.   One time she said, "I don't know what it was with that cat, he's never peed on the sofa before."    RIIIIIGHT.

[Gunny]

I have a customer that the inside of the car smells like a dumpster.  We hate working on it.  Will not test drive it.  It needed a fan motor recently which required crawling around passenger side of the floorboard.  NOPE!  Boss told her get it cleaned and then we will do it.  She paid to have ONLY that floorboard cleaned.  

 

You just shake your head sometimes.  Afraid to know what her place looks and smells like.  

[kmealy]

Haven't found the photos yet, but I got a moving claim once.   Listed items included:  ceramic bunny #1, ceramic bunny #2, ceramic bunny#3, fabric cat #1, fabric cat #2, and so on for two pages.   When I got there, the owner told me that it was closing in on 9 months since the move and they had to file the claim during the window of claims.  He opened the garage door and there were two bays of boxes that were still packed up.  Still packed after 9 months!?  I let go of a sigh.   He said he'd pulled out all the damaged items.   I photographed them for the claims form.  Then he took me inside to see the rest.  The Mrs. had her butt in a chair and never moved except to reach her iced tea.   The inside of the house was also cluttered with all sorts of stuff everywhere.   How much crap do you need sitting around???   Luckily, there was nothing that could be repaired so I didn't have to go back and clear anything away before I could work on it.

[kmealy]

Notice where the myriad staples are in relation to the actual joint?

 

[kmealy]

And some very fine Chinese plywood used for bed slats

[kmealy]

And some more fine Chinese plywood, where maybe all the voids/joints lined up within an inch (Front kick panel on a sofa that couldn't take a kick).

 

 

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

So it's actually a "don't kick" panel???

[Gunny]

I fixed neighbors fence where someone had kicked in the 1x6 pickets. Added horizontal 2x8 spaced 12 in apart then added 2 extra post. Next idiot tried to kick fence.

Broke his leg, oops.

[kmealy]

1 hour ago, Gunny said:

I fixed neighbors fence where someone had kicked in the 1x6 pickets. Added horizontal 2x8 spaced 12 in apart then added 2 extra post. Next idiot tried to kick fence.

Broke his leg, oops.

I've heard of people reinforcing their mailbox posts with concrete to foil "mailbox sluggers"  I was always tempted to put on a bottle of brake fluid or something.  I finally put mine within a couple feet of the utility pole.

[Gunny]

6 minutes ago, kmealy said:

I've heard of people reinforcing their mailbox posts with concrete to foil "mailbox sluggers"  I was always tempted to put on a bottle of brake fluid or something.  I finally put mine within a couple feet of the utility pole.

My has interior 1/2 armor plate. Looks innocent. Till you take a whack and lose that arm. 

 

And it is legal!! At least here.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Gunny

[Larry Buskirk]

19 minutes ago, Gunny said:

My has interior 1/2 armor plate. Looks innocent. Till you take a whack and lose that arm. 

 

And it is legal!! At least here.

...I like that! 

[HandyDan]

I made a few mail boxes using 1/4" plate.  One ended up with a mark on it from a baseball bat but it never got a second.  Must have bounced back and hit rear passenger window too.  He said little sparklies were lying about.

[FlGatorwood]

Thank you for the idea on the mailbox posts.  I need to build one this summer where a bunch of kids love to tear up the property of others.  I have some rebar and will mix some concrete.  I'll build the form and pour up the mix, then frame over it with wood so see how they like that.  There may be a few dented cars.  

[Larry Buskirk]

7 minutes ago, FlGatorwood said:

Thank you for the idea on the mailbox posts.  I need to build one this summer where a bunch of kids love to tear up the property of others.  I have some rebar and will mix some concrete.  I'll build the form and pour up the mix, then frame over it with wood so see how they like that.  There may be a few dented cars.  

A 6" pipe filled with concrete works pretty good too!   DAMHIKT 

The plow driver steers clear now.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Larry Buskirk

[kmealy]

I don't know why this didn't hold the seat frame in place, it was glued and stapled.

 

[Gunny]

17 minutes ago, kmealy said:

I don't know why this didn't hold the seat frame in place, it was glued and stapled.

 

I dunno. Seems like it needed something. Maybe more staples.