Tick Tock Tick Tock

Now that it is winter, and we are not RVing, I have to find something interesting to write about.   Maybe I will post some past trips we have taken to take up some space in winter posts on my blog?

But for now I will talk about a favorite-fix it product, called JB Weld....  This stuff can be used to fix many metal things in an RV, so I thought I would demonstrate how I used it for repairing something metal.

How often do we ever fix a watch?  You don't see old watch repair places or clockmakers anymore.  Even jewelers just ship things out to be repaired, taking weeks if not months to get it back.  When a watch dies, people toss it and buy another $30 Timex made in China...   We live in such a throw-away society instead of fixing things.


I have a favorite watch.  It's a cheapie, only about $20 from Avon, that I bought many, many years ago.

The little grandbabies always are fascinated by my watch when I hold them....   and they pull on it and examine it, and watch it snap back onto my wrist, as it's made of beads with stretchy bands of elastic.   The sparkling gemstones have faded over the years, but they still are amazed by "Grandma's watch"  and once they learn to talk, this is said in a breathless tone....  "Gamma's waaasshhhh"  It's almost said reverently and with fascination in their voices.  I have nooo idea why!  But they all do it!

I have replaced the elastic bands quite a few times, and it's a wonderful watch.  The watch still works, but the beads are made of a soft metal and some have worn away on the inside to where the hole is split open and the elastic will not hold in the bead....

I have not been able to find the same type of metal beads to replace them, soooooooo   out comes the JB Weld to fix each split bead!   JB Weld it a 2 part bonding epoxy agent with steel in it,  that makes a new metallic type repair on broken metal items.   Found in many hardware stores----

Now, I have seven or eight beads needing repair... but how to get the weld stuff to only go on the edge, but still leave a hole big enough for the elastic cord to get through?   hmmmmmm?   I decided to leave short pieces of the rubbery elastic in the hole to retain the shape of the hole while the JB weld is applied ... once it's dry, I can pull the pieces of elastic out and (hopefully) have the right hole shape retained!  

I mixed up equal parts of the two tubes of JB Weld with a popsicle stick....

I carefully dabbed the JB Weld onto the edge of each bead needing repair, 

and I also "beefed up" some of the other spots that hadn't quite broken through yet, but due to.  

And HERE are some of the repaired beads!   Good as new! 

I let the beads dry overnight to be sure they were well-cured.  Then I pulled out all the little pieces of old elastic and restrung them back up with new elastic cord.  A tweezer was needed to pull it through on a few beads because the holes were a bit snug.

And now my favorite watch is repaired, 

and able to fascinate the grandkiddos again!