Talked to a retired repair guy at the swap meet in Fresno last weekend

He said he used to fix old Polaroid SX-70s by hand, making tiny springs from guitar strings when parts were gone. I always thought that was a lost art, but he made it sound like just good problem solving. Makes me wonder if we rely too much on ordering new parts now. How many of you still make your own bits when you have to?

3 comments

3 Comments

burns.patricia1mo ago

My version of making parts is just taping things together and hoping for the best lol. It's a skill, I swear.

williams.betty1mo ago

Honestly, that's just how we used to fix everything before the internet (and it worked).

faithbarnes1mo ago

But did things actually get fixed or did we just get used to them being broken? A lot of old fixes were just temporary bandaids that failed later. Calling that "working" feels like a stretch.