Eclectic Products – Eugene, Oregon
Decades ago this penniless vagabond was huffing it across country. One last adventure awaited just over yonder ridge. His footfalls across the asphalt were joined by a third sound, the scrape / flwapp cadence of a detached boot sole. He’d been advised to Goop-It, but the unfamiliar brought fear and confusion. Goop?
In time a weekend adventurer joined the fire ring. This camper had a pouch with everything one needs on the road. We could suture the sole, duct tape it, or Goop it. The Circle decided. Goop it was. The boot was carefully packed with flat stones. Goop was squirted liberally between the sole and the insole and the affected area clamped together with more rock. Some Goop squeezed out the edges like jelly from a donut but it was left as-is.
In the morning, our Weekend MacGyver was gone. My boot, sitting by the smoldering fire ring, was unclamped, emptied of stone and scorpion, examined, yanked, poked, fitted, and pronounced good for another 10,000 miles.
Such bipedal adventures are now left to others but the experience stuck. Goop is a quality adhesive. No doubt the toluene and solvent naphtha play a part; avoid confined spaces.
When a local college banquet bar triple bowl sink drip began to dampen spirits and socks, close examination revealed a mess of replacement issues. The largest? Budget and urgency. The sink was used only as a beer cooler, melting ice the only use of its drain. Instead of a Full Monty, stripping it down to bare metal and a full repipe with new components, we gave it the ‘ol college try à la MacGyver.
Buff the metal with ScotchBrite, a judicious application of Plumber’s Goop, and wait 24 hours. Amazing results! All three sinks filled to the brim with water, all unplugged simultaneously, and the strainers and drains lose nary a drop. It looks like this assembly will withstand another decade of light use.
Now, it ain’t pretty. But replacing 1″ brass strainers on a copper drain, all the parts seized together, very tight access, the sink itself destined for the rubbish heap or recycler? Replacement is definitely not cost-effective in this situation. There is a time and place for “temporary repairs”. Through no fault of our own we often see ‘temporary repairs’ last over a decade. 🙂
American Toolbox 