So I recently created a new channel on YouTube and thought I would share my first video with everyone here. The video is a start to finish repair of 14" cast iron pan than my mom sent me a week ago and had the handle brake off during shipping.


http://youtu.be/JS8OLJ07emg


Far too many people today just throw things away if they break or show ware. Its almost a lost art for people to fix tings anymore. This seems to happen for too reasons,
many of the products we buy today are not meant to be repaired but discarded and replaced, and most people no longer retain the skills, tools, or pride in ones self to take on the job of repairing the products that could be restored.

Entire companies American and foreign now base the business strategies on continuously selling you low quality products with the expectation of them breaking and you needing to replace them rather then selling you a quality product once and relying on their reputation to sell you another product of equal quality as they once did. Product "testing" is now used to estimate and tailor the products failure to coincide with a "new and improved" model of the same thing. Marketing no longer appeals to ones sense of pride of owning the bust and depending on it's reputation for a lifetime Rather it attempts to impart fear that you will be left behind if you do not own the most recent version of something that was substandard to beguine with. Iron has been replaced by stamped steel, steel replaced by plastics, wood replaced with cardboard, few things today are built to last. Made in America is no longer guarantees quality or even American labor being used to create the product. A collection of Chinese parts assembled by a German machine and placed into a box by a minimum wadge American worker in not made in America.

The other side to this is many people if not most people have lost their sense of pride in owning something for a long period of time and relying on its continued use. People have been lulled into feeling grateful for a solid year or two worth of modest use , and are excited to replace it with "the new and improved one". Most people do not poses the tools or the know how to make simple repairs to everyday items. They would rather go to a chain store and purchase a new one with he same flaws, the same engineered mistakes than be hassled with the inconvenience of learning to do it themselves.


I dont know where I am going with this it sort of turned into a rant but I assure you it was heartfelt. I stared this post off with the plan of a quick statement of a recent project I completed. I thought many people here would appreciate the video, many of the people in this community seem to be the exception to my above statements. I think we have all been lured for time to time by the inherent desire to have the "new model" but for the most part appreciate the quality products we have and are able to find. The people I have met here openly share their experiences, and mistakes and seem to have a genuine desire to help the people around them. I doubt many of you will take much from this I am probably just restating the same things I hope we are all thinking. Any how enjoy the video and I hopefully will be making more in the feature. maybe this will inspire you to re handle that old axe in the garage or learn how to do somethig new or buy a quality tool for an upcoming job.


Andrew

Andrew,
First off... your video was great quality, narration and camera positioning all very good. I know that's not easy.
Secondly... I know of a lot of fine folk who share your philosophy (self included) and fully appreciate it. My Dad is that way and I was raised that way. Learned how to fix, improvise, fabricate damn near anything. He owns a nice cottage on a lake which was off the grid while I was a young'n so that mentality is still second nature to me.
I consider it to be a true virtue of people who appreciate and practice your philosophy. Artisans and Craftsmen are a dieing breed.
Thridly... Fantastic work on the repair! Looked dang near new when you were done.
Finally.... I'm totally jealous of all your cool tools!

Excelent work Andrew!
You have a great attitude and fantastic workmanship. We try to live the same way here, it's not easy but well worth it.

Very nice!
I might have to give that a try. Ive seen a few cracked cast skillits at garage sales. Now I have a reason to buy one!

I totally agree with your consumerist philosophy. I am frequently explaining to my wife why I am spending several hours making something that would cost "only" $25 at WallyWorld or Harbor Feint.

The throwaway/Im-not-gunna-do-it mindset is very difficult for alot of people to shake. They dont want to take the time to learn how to do things for themselves.

Nice job on the Vid!

Nice job, Andrew!

Dagnabit! Now I have to learn a new hobby...... Karen's gonna kill me!

Caveman

as a welder myself, you did a very good job on this skillet! i have,TIG,MIG,oxy/accet welders and normally i would either braze it or TIG weld cast with preheating and post heating to keep it from cracking.i never hought of MIG welding cast,and you showed me how good of a result it can do! thanks for the tip! One more step for mankind!

also, a fry pan is fairly simple device. other,more critical devices need to check to see how far that crack goes. usually magnafluxing is needed to see but for not-so -critical devices, there is a product that is a 2 part spray (one red and 1 white) that you spray the red on first and then the white over it and if there is still a crack left, itll show the crack line as a red line.pretty neat stuff.

Thank you every one for the compliments, especially Russ it's nice to hear from another welder I am doing well. I have never actually had any training so I am making it up as I go. My dad gave me a Millermatic 130XP 110 volt hobby welder. I have already found I am exceeding it's capacity. It only has a 10% duty cycle which is fine for small work but any long passes are stressing it more than I would like. I have a nice Miller 212 Autoset on my wish list. I also want to learn to Tig weld but again equipment is spendy for that equipment. I think once I have my own shop instead of just a garage I will be able to expand my capabilities and equipment.

Was not happy with that video so I pulled it down. I will do another one shortly