Sugru Again. But it's great stuff!

I've had this Crock Pot for ages. And the knob broke off right after I got it. I haven't used it as much as I probably would have because it was so difficult and painful to turn it on and to adjust the temperature. And with the cold weather here again, something had to be done. Just think of all those great stews I've missed out on!

But no more. Behold the before...

The before. Crock Pot sadly sans knob.

Creating a new knob with Sugru was incredibly easy. I just followed the directions, which means I washed my hands, cut the package open, kneaded the Sugru and rolled it out a bit with my fingers. I actually did this knob in a couple of stages, building up the Sugru and forming it into a pointer to point to the correct setting, but you could create this knob in many different ways.

The after...

Crock Pot newly re-knobbed.

The knob works perfectly, points correctly to the settings and seems very durable. More durable than the original knob, that's for sure. I've already made a delicious Irish stew so far. Chicken soup is next. Yum!

You can have a look at the Sugru web site to get many, many more ideas about what can be done with it.

https://sugru.com

My First Sugru Hack

After all of the interesting things I had read about Sugru Hacking Putty, I was very excited to have some of my very own. Because if there's one thing I love to do, it's fix things. I am a salvage-crazy fool. And I like the idea of being able to make improvements to stuff, too.

What is Sugru, you say?

The short answer is that it's a silicone-based, air-curing rubber. But it's unique properties make it super useful. It sticks to almost any surface, stays flexible when it cures, can withstand high and low temperatures, is waterproof and has a nice soft, grippy texture.

The Sugru web site is a great resource for ideas and information: http://sugru.com/us

I had a couple of projects lined up before I even ordered my Sugru so I knew I wanted to get a small packet of 6 black minipacks to try out.

My first project was a simple pot handle that had split, probably from the heat of the dishwasher, but the pot was still perfectly fine. It was going to come apart eventually if left to it's own devices, so I figured it was a good test of Sugru's abilities to fix and even improve on something.

I read the booklet that came with the package of Sugru. It's full of very helpful advice and suggestions. In fact, all of the packaging and marketing materials for this product are very appealing and have a sense of fun to them. It adds a lot to the product in terms of user experience. The booklet advised me that Sugru only stays good for 6 months so I should get hacking. And I did.

After washing my hands, I carefully opened the packet (mostly to take a nice picture) and kneaded the Sugru in between my fingers. It has a silicone rubber texture, pretty much exactly what I expected, but it will stick to your fingers a bit. I rolled out the Sugru into a long snakey cord. One tiny little packet goes a pretty long way. I coiled the cord of Sugru carefully around the pot handle where it was cracked, trying my best to get it even in thickness. Sugru blends into itself easily so I tore off bits and stuck them back into places to try to get as even a layer as I could. I used my thumbs to smooth the cord down and form it around the handle.

In the booklet it suggests using a bit of soapy water to get the Sugru smooth. That worked well for forming a slight ridge in the middle that I thought would add a bit of grip to the handle and make it even better than before it cracked. One packet was more than enough for this job and I even had a tiny piece left over.

Here are a couple of things I discovered. Short fingernails are better for modeling. I'm sure sculptors already know this, but I had a couple of DOH! moments and had to repair some scratches I made. Next time I will trim first. The Sugru will stick to your skin and stain a bit, but I was able to use a scrub brush and get it all off. The booklet warns that it can stain fabric. The booklet also suggests cleaning your hands with some tissue paper, but I foolishly neglected to prepare ahead.

After allowing the lid to air-cure for 24 hours I poked at it some and was quite satisfied with my handiwork. I'm very pleased with my fixed, and even improved, pot lid and it seems to be weathering the dishwasher quite well, thank you.

Buy some Sugru and lots of other fun stuff through Epic Objects. It's a whole site full of stuff you never knew you needed!