There are times when I get rather frustrated with the "throwaway" nature of our modern world.
Because we have a good bit of tree pruning to do this spring, I decided that it was time to get a new blade for my long telescoping pruning saw that we use to cut dead things and water shoots out of considerably tall trees... without having to balance precariously on a tall ladder.
I really like my tree pruner. I can reach branches that are 20 feet (6m) above the ground.
I bought it when I was living in Texas, circa 1992, so I could keep the Live Oak trees around my house fairly neat and tidy. I also created my own basket-like contraption for it that I used to pick pecans in the fall.
It has basically been a great device and I've used it everywhere I've lived ever since.
Anyway, I went online and ordered the replacement sawblade, making sure that I was getting the right kind for the right model tree pruner.
Thanks to the magic of modern Amazon delivery, a couple of days later I had a brand new razor sharp saw blade!
But Not So Fast!
I went to install it on the saw this morning, and discovered that it didn't "exactly" fit.
That is, it certainly appeared to be the right sawblade but the two holes for the bolts that mount it to the telescoping saw handle were not exactly in the right place (off by a couple of millimeters) and one hole was supposed to be larger than the other... except on the new blade they were exactly the same smaller size.
So I took the packaging and went back and double checked the seller's information and double checked the manufacturer website and yes that is indeed the correct replacement blade.
Except it doesn't fit.
So what I eventually determined was that even though it is the same make and model number, the design has "wandered" ever so slightly over the past 30 years, as a result of which the replacement saw blades have also wandered ever so slightly in their design.
I suppose from the manufacturer's perspective it's no big deal... they would simply assume by that now I've gotten 30 years of use out of my tree pruner, so it would be high time that just throw it away and buy a new one... so why don't I?
Well, because it's a perfectly usable and serviceable tree pruner!
This is one of the things I don't like about our world. Products wander ever so slightly in their design, and then all of a sudden you can't use them anymore because the spare parts now only fit the design that has already wandered.
I wasn't about to be defeated by a saw blade, however.
Thankfully, I have a number of very delicate and small grinding tools that are used for putting holes in my painted stones to use for jewelry... so I spent about 30 minutes of my life with diamond coated grinding bits reshaping one whole to be oval and slightly larger so that it would accommodate the larger bolt on the original model and allow me to fix the blade even though the whole location was off by about 1 1/2 millimeters.
Yes, of course the problem was solved!
The annoying thing is that these were 30 minutes of my life I will never have back. So what's the big deal about 30 minutes? After all it's just 30 minutes, right?
What's "wrong" with just 30 minutes is that this sort of thing happens all the time and there is definitely something wrong with 30 minute time eaters happening all-the-time, to do things like modify spare parts to keep original equipment working.
And yes, I'm perfectly well aware that the entire intention is that I should throw away the old one and just get a new one and stop bellyaching.
However, I just don't like wasting resources.
Thanks for reading and have a great remainder of your weekend!
How about YOU? Ever encounter situations where perfectly good items have to be REPLACED, rather than REPAIRED? Ever encounter spare parts that no longer fit the product? How do you feel about such incidents? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20220122 22:16 PST
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