I have been wanting to go to a Repair Cafe for ages, and finally made it to the University College London (UCL) one, run by their Institute of Making. 

If you live in London I highly recommend signing up to their mailing list to find out when the next one will be. Top tip, get there early!

What is a repair cafe?

Usually a regular event organised by a group of volunteers, or community based organisation. Sometimes with funding from a local waste authority, council or University.

Volunteers have expertise in fixing things, and the tools to facilitate. Users bring their items, and are shown how to repair the item. The key idea is to empower people to be able to fix things independently going forward, where practical. Some items may need machinery / equipment not available in the home environment. The range of items fixed will depend on the individual event.

The kinds of things that can be taken include; textiles, ceramics, jewellery, tools, bikes and electronics.

The purpose is to reduce waste and save people money. Repairing items in our capitalist throw away society is an act of rebellion. An act I am very keen on!

What I took with me

  • Edging shears that were no longer springing open as they should.
  • Two pairs of broken secateurs (belonging to me and my building garden).
  • Blunt blade from a mini chopper food processor.

All needed sharpening!

What I learnt

How to sharpen things was the huge take away. I had thought this would be complicated, or difficult. Giles, the friendly and very knowledgable volunteer, showed me how to use a sharpening file and a diamond file. I then sharpened items myself. Making a note of what I needed to get to be able to do this myself at home, or the allotment. Both files can be purchased from a local hardware shop or Ebay.

Secondly I discovered what I needed to obtain to fix secateurs that the central spring has broken on.

These ones need a volute spring 5cm. This can be bought from a local hardware shop, or Ebay.

This one is a little more complex as it needs a slightly different spring, this can be bought from the manufacturers website.

 

Giles very kindly took them all apart to make it easier to sharpen, they were very blunt! Plus put graphite grease on them to enable ease of movement.

How to find your local repair cafe?

What is the cost?

Most repair cafes are free to use, but they often appreciate donations from those who can afford to do so. But the set up depends how they are funded. Donations would help cover things like; running costs, materials, refreshments, space hire, advertising.

What would you like to learn how to repair?