Restoration of Electrical and Mechanical Household Items

Mistral001

I have recently restored a few electrical and mechanical household items such as lamps and fans. I have found it very fulfilling as well as saving money. Often the items I have restored are very well made unlike similar items you can buy today and it is great to see them being given a new lease of life.


I am even thinking of buying a sand blaster to take my restoration to the next level and make it into a serious hobby.


I was wondering if others here do restoration of this type and have any suggestions of what is needed. I am not necessarily talking about antiques but just well made household items which have still got some life in them before being thrown in the dump.

-taff

I don't restore things, but I won't throw anything out unless I have a go at mending it first if it breaks.
Although watching a lot of Money For Nothing has widened the possibilities of some junk I have...not necessarilt making things to sell, just making things for the house, like lamps etc.

bit_by_bit

Not doing restorations as yet but have just been given a vintage bench drill (complete with dodgy wiring) to hae a go at. Can't waiit.

Working_Mum

Have you seen the programme on BBC called The Repair Shop - it is beautifully uplifting and the skill of the artisans on there is phenomenal.

I feel there is a bit of movement towards "make do and mend" recently and I certainly don't replace anything until I absolutely have to!

Mistral001

bit_by_bit wrote: »

Not doing restorations as yet but have just been given a vintage bench drill (complete with dodgy wiring) to hae a go at. Can't waiit.

Here is one that has been restored perfectly. I only hope for getting the thing working, making sure it is safe and looks OKish. The guy in the video has taking it to a whole different level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfnkspmKXHU

-taff

I enjoyed watching that. I have a broken cordless drill to work on....

tacpot12

Household items are not very profitable for restoration unless they have a bit of style about them. It needn't be much, but has to have something. Tools are much more profitable. Builders, joiners and even electricians seem to be reluctant to open up a broken tool, and wait for the parts to repair it to arrive.

I fix a lot of stuff for personal use, but have never sold anything that I have repaired. I think you would need to "competent" to restore any thing electrical and sell it. Practically, this means you will need a Portable Appliance Tester and know how to use it, or find a local electrician who has a tester and will check anything you repair for a small fee. I think I would take out liability insurance as well if selling anything electrical - a local insurance broker should be able to sort out a policy for less than £100. Potentially this could be paid for with just two or three repairs.

Mistral001

-taff wrote: »

I enjoyed watching that. I have a broken cordless drill to work on....

Yes these videos are enjoyable.

I certainly see part the enjoyment of this hobby would be the challenge of restoring each item. I have not been taking a before and after picture of the things I have been restoring. To me that is a bit show-offy. Just knowing that I have done it is satisfaction in itself.

Farway

Mistral001 wrote: »

Yes these videos are enjoyable.

I certainly see part the enjoyment of this hobby would be the challenge of restoring each item. I have not been taking a before and after picture of the things I have been restoring. To me that is a bit show-offy. Just knowing that I have done it is satisfaction in itself.

The hobby part comes across well in Youtube videos about restoring Matchbox models, not my hobby but possibly profitable as well?

I think builders' etc reluctance to repair is, for them, basic cost benefit analysis, can earn more working to buy new than "waste" time repairing, doing without / waiting
I know when I was working it was more cost effective for me to work overtime to pay for say car repairs than use my "spare" time to carry them out myself

Mistral001

tacpot12 wrote: »

Household items are not very profitable for restoration unless they have a bit of style about them. It needn't be much, but has to have something. Tools are much more profitable. Builders, joiners and even electricians seem to be reluctant to open up a broken tool, and wait for the parts to repair it to arrive.

I fix a lot of stuff for personal use, but have never sold anything that I have repaired. I think you would need to "competent" to restore any thing electrical and sell it. Practically, this means you will need a Portable Appliance Tester and know how to use it, or find a local electrician who has a tester and will check anything you repair for a small fee. I think I would take out liability insurance as well if selling anything electrical - a local insurance broker should be able to sort out a policy for less than £100. Potentially this could be paid for with just two or three repairs.

These are all good points but this thread is really about restoration as a hobby in itself. I think I mentioned that in my original post. Maybe I should have mentioned it in the title as there have been several replies where the assumption has been made that I meant restoration as a business or for some sort of commercial gain.


I have fixed some things which would probably make me money if I sold them, but just knowing that I rescued say an old lamp from being thrown out and restored it to its former glory is payment enough for me.

I have a tumble drier and spin drier which are perfectly sound electrically and mechanically but look like junk as they both are covered in rust spots as a result of being in an outbuilding. They are still used occasionally so those are going to be my next restoration projects. To replace them would cost maybe £300 but are worth nothing on the secondhand market, even if they were restored.