I know it’s weird but that little bit of promo swag had been on my keychain across 4 cars and now my keys are weirdly light. It makes me kind of sad.
Edit: I knew y’all would understand. I’m going to try the epoxy idea on my next day off. Your responses have turned a crummy day into a great one.
Almost twenty years ago, I bought a wallet designed to look like an NES controller. I bought it for $15 from GameStop. Astoundingly, it lasted … I think seventeen years. It was still usable but disintegrating pretty fast.
I had that wallet approximately half my life and got lots and lots of compliments on it. It was sentimental. I was sad to see it go - so much so that when I replaced it I bought a wallet display (something I didn’t know existed before) and have it on my mantle to this day.
Obtain:
- A micro drill bit. Cheap off AliExpress. A bit more elsewhere.
- A trip to ACE hardware (or hobby craft shop). Get:
- A thin metal dowel, as thick as the medium thick micro-drill bit. You don’t need more than 1-2". Or you can get a couple of thin, stainless steel nails and hack off the ends to size. For this, you’ll need good shears or a little saw. Extra credit for using a Dremel.
- A good, metal-friendly glue or a dual-mix epoxy. I’d ask for advice.
Setup:
- Drill a tiny hole at the center of each side of the loop. Maybe 1/8" or 2-3mm. Standard drill. Protip: the micro-drill bits also fit a Dremel.
- Drill a slightly deeper hole on the body side (assuming it’s solid).
- Dry run: test cut a length of metal dowel, enough to join loop and body. Cut to length until both loop and body meet and are flush. The hole shouldn’t be too tight. Enough space for glue that comes later.
- The dowel adds structure and distributes stress pressure. Reason they use rebars in cement structures.
Assembly:
- Drizzle a drop of glue into each hole and a little on the dowel. A little more onto surfaces where the broken parts connect.
- Assemble body, dowels stuck into drilled holes on both sides, and loop.
- Wipe excess glue.
- Wrap some tape vertically to hold it tight. Doesn’t matter what kind. It’s just there to hold things into place.
- Leave overnight to set.
- Grab a beverage and stress-scream into a couch cushion. You are master of the physical universe.
Post-coitus:
- Unwrap tape, admire handiwork, then put back on keychain.
- Tell EVERYONE.
- Post back here with pictures. You’ve earned it.
Since this is on a keychain, it will be constantly getting pulled. Just gluing it in, or even welding may apply sudden strains and have it snap off at the compromised joints.
This way, it will outlive you and your grandchildren.
Man, that’s so much work. I’d just be sad instead.
Sometimes repairing a thing is its own joy
Joke aside, I do appreciate the craft and effort in the response.
But … Think of the coitus?!
This is the best comment ever.
This is a really great way to repair it, keeping in mind for future things that might break lol
I guess it could be welded back
Hi, woman engineer here, so if I’m not allowed to post please delete.
That won’t take a weld, but the tab could be drilled and then a steel pin (preferably knurled) put in and braised/soldered in place … or even just epoxied. Then it would be stronger than new :-)
Why would you not be allowed to post?
She’s not dull.
Because this is the “Dull Men’s Club”, and I’m accustomed to being shut down in men’s spaces.
I’m bestowing an honorary man pass to you and any other women reading that want to participate in conversations that men are trying to gatekeep. It is valid in perpetuity and any objections to it renders the complainants own man pass invalid.
Thank you for making me laugh :-D
There was an attempt at a gender-neutral community name (“dullsters” club) but this one has been more successful. I’ve only seen very open attitudes in here though. I don’t believe it’s intended to be a men’s space.
Good to know :-)
I think we’re too dull to be misogynistical.
Fantastic :-)
My philosophy is that on the internet, everybody’s a quantum superposition of men and women. You can be whichever you want at any time as far as it matters to me. If you want to be one of the guys here, you’re welcome to be in my opinion.
Expertise is expertise and should be welcomed no matter what one’s gender might be.
I’m not really into the idea of being “one of the guys”, but thank you … when I see something that can be fixed, I want to fix it.
Not everyone feels the same way as you, unfortunately
Understood, you can be whoever you want to be and call yourself whatever you want is my point. All I’m saying is I don’t put much stock in the idea that gender really matters here. Hopefully I didn’t come across as intending to say anything offensive.
Not at all :-)
It takes a real man to be a dull woman in a dull men’s club. Or something like that
Is this the part where I crank my hog?
AROOOOO! You can be a dull man! You can be one of the boys! You can be one of the girlies! You can be whomever you want if you feel comfortable being that way and no one is being negatively affected!
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!
Heh, thank you!
Ah who cares, I think it’s more about the theme, not the gender.
Didn’t know when I replied, but I do now ;-)
It’s perfectly fine as long as you’re dull. However I also created !dullsters@dullsters.net as a second channel.
Then I will bow out, since I’m pretty sure I’m not dull enough :-P
Mods bring the pitchforks!
JB Weld?
I used soma that stuff for the first time the other day. Specifically the steelstik. It dries black. I was in shambles. Strong AF though.
Hey looks like it is copper substrate, it could be soldered together!
I’m team solder
Are you a solder of fortune?
If it’s metal, solder is my first choice!
Bummer, perhaps it can be repaired? By the way, be very careful about sharing photos of keys, it is often quite easy to produce a duplicate key from a photo.
I did think of that. The key visible in the photo is a dummy key that goes to a lock that I’ve misplaced.
Checkmate, key stealers!
The lock stealers beat them to the punch!
This rather relies on an attacker also knowing where any of your locks are located, and any of them being heavy duty enough that it wouldn’t simply be more expedient to show up with a crowbar. I’d be much more concerned if I were showing off keys to the premises of a well known commercial enterprise and also let people know it.
The issue with a crowbar is if people see you, it’s kinda sus. Bring a key and no one thinks twice. You can do it in broad daylight.
However, put a reflective vest on, carry a clipboard in your other hand and you can do whatever you want with that crowbar!
That or posting your house keys on Facebook or something, where most of the people seeing it live near you. We on Lemmy generally don’t even know who the other person is, so it’d be a ton of effort to use this information.
I’d be much more concerned if I were showing off keys to the premises of a well known commercial enterprise and also let people know it.
Gee, I really hope nobody does that.
*nudge nudge*
Its significantly easier to pick almost any lock
Possibly, but walking up with a pre-made key (or a few if you aren’t 100% sure) is way more inconspicuous than breaking out yourracoon dick pick and trying to get lucky.
Edit: I had a random ebay seller able to make a key for my motorcycle just from a picture. And it worked the first time, so it can’t be that hard.
I have snap decoder on my phone and insta code live.
First is an easy picture to bitting app and the second is used by locksmiths to get precise key cuts, combo lock codes and such.
Most keys are trivial to decide with a decent photo.
🤨
Will they duplicate the keychain for op?
Act like a proper car guy and slap some JB Weld on the bastard
If it’s good enough for the engine block it’s good enough for the keyring.
My first thought! Solderings good too if they can, but JB all day otherwise
This is currently my plan JB weld and some clamps
Absolutely don’t just expoxy it, follow fubarx’s tutorial below. Expoxy won’t bind sheared metal to metal strong enough to stand up to pocket/keychain abuse. You don’t have to go as fancy, but you need non brittle metal to re-connect those shear lines or it’ll fall apart the first time you look at it funny.
A clamp and some E600 epoxy will make that good as new. Don’t give up hope yet, OP.
My thought too. No point welding something so simple. Epoxy and it’ll be solid another 16 years.
I totally get it.
I would find a jeweler or metal worker and get it fixed. It might be expensive but apparently it would be worth it to you.
Edit:
Story time- I had a multitool my dad purchased for me before he died. I lost it one day and I was totally bummed. I mean I cried for like a whole day. Over a tool. Anyway I saw one on eBay once by random chance and bought it. When it arrived, it felt like the old one and I realized the object itself wasn’t special, it was what I memories and feelings it reminded me of when I held it. The new one did the same thing, at least close enough. So if repairing is not an option, replacing it might fill the hole.
I found one for you.
clearly a bad omen for Xbox :)
Oh no! Maybe the Xbox division shutting down weakened the metal!
I mean…can you kintsugi it?
I don’t have access to gold, but J-b weld will give it some character as well.
Drill, tap, machine screws with loc-tite?
Now that’s fixing that key fob well.
If the epoxy method doesn’t work out, perhaps try turning this event into an activity.
Learn some basic CAD, redesign the swag, but this time with something not Forza, but related to who you are now, and have it machined at PCBWay or similar.
You can reattach that with resin. It looks like thats what its made out of and its coated in somethibg metallic.
I think it’s powder sintered by the looks of it.
It definitely has a non-metallic core going through it. I can’t really tell what is it though. It could also be only the handle is like that but I kinda doubt the bulk of the keychain isn’t some sort of epoxy resin as well.
