I Spent 3 Weeks and $599.47 Fixing a Dumb Playground Toy

Published December 03, 2024 · 8:08 · 86,395 views

About This Video

Ten broken rollers on a playground toy. Should be no problem. Get a 1.75-inch dowel, cut it to length, drill a 9/16 hole, paint, install. Wrong. Home Depot only sells dowels too small and too big. The axle hole must be square and centered or the roller pinches little kid fingers. Van had to buy a drill press (he said he would never buy a drill press) and a miter saw (he did not want to buy a miter saw) and build a jig and a fence to keep the dowels from falling off the table.

The Home Depot trip is always two hours and two visits. Always four hours. The process: miter-cut four-inch lengths of two-inch dowel, mill them down to 1.75 inches with a hole saw, bore a 9/16 hole for the axle, cut to final length using the custom jig. Sand, paint, seal, times eleven. Three weeks, $599.47 in tools and materials for a dumb playground toy. The problem is not too much time or too much money. Maybe the problem is too much fun. Maybe there is no problem at all.

Transcript

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description thank you better help this looks brand new I just put that there they fix these these used to be broken this o these are broken so these are 1

and 3/4 by 1 and 3/4 and the axle is half in 7 8 8 9 10 10 so 10 of them are broken this should be no problem wrong just get a one and 3/4 in dowel cut it into 1 and 3/4 in length drill a 916

hole in them [Music] ah sh paint one side brown one side white install and we're done am I going to be the one that's going to set them straight look at me

wrong oh man well the Lord of Darkness they say is in the details Satan the Devil the

devil is in the details two details in particular detail one the dowels got to be 1 and 3/4 in in

diameter exactly too small and the axle hole will bust the roller in half when we drill it too big and it won't fit in

the slot 1 and 38 I need 1 and 3/4 of course Home Depot only sells

dowels too small and too big I don't want to drive around town looking for a 1 and 3/4 in dowel I was going to try

spinning the dowel in a drill and then using these things with a grinder to grind it down to the desired diameter

but I'm going to use a hole saw instead so I'll just Mill down the 2 in no problem a you I got to buy a

drill press and I don't want to buy a drill press and detail number two the axle hole must be square and

centered if not when the roller spins it will get stuck in the slot and possibly pinch little kid

[Music] fingers and all this stuff drill press which I said I'd never buy I'm under playing the Home Depot trip it's always

2 hours and it's always two visits it's always 4 hours you need the drill press and the

drill press Vice to drill the hole straight and [Music] centered you need the miter saw I didn't want to buy a miter saw you need the

miter saw to cut the rollers Square so they sit Square in the drill press Vice

so you can drill the axle hole Square just such a nightmare

so this was the process for cutting milling and drilling each

[Music] roller miter saw 4in lengths of 2in diameter dowel Mill two in lengths of the there are so many trip wires with this project

so many little things for instance I had to build this little fence so that these dowels don't fall off the table while

I'm drilling watch M 2in lengths of the 2 in diameter

dowels to 1 and 3/4 in diameter dowels I got to lower the bit each time to get that last 3/4 in of [Music]

Milling bore a 9/16 in hole for the axle and before I could miter cut the M

dowel I had to make this jig to hold the mil dowel Square in the miter

saw so fast the dowel Into The Jig then miter cut the 1 and 3/4 in diameter

dowel into 1 and 3/4 in [Music] lengths sand paint seal times 11 10 to replace the broken ones and one spare I still got to install these things at the

playground please dear God let them fit I put three weeks and over 500 bucks

into this project problem isn't that it's too much time or too much money maybe the problem is that it's too

much fun maybe there's no problem at all maybe in the end this is what I

really want to do with my life walk the earth like Kane and Kung Fu but fix

things instead of kung fu fight maybe that's what I'm going to do

[Music] the most boring toy on the playground I can barely even this week on the patreon archival videos with director's commentary on my patreon right there the link is right there

Products & Tools Mentioned

  • BetterHelp mentions — sponsor
  • drill press uses — workshop tool
  • miter saw uses — workshop tool
  • hole saw uses — drill bit type

Films & Media Referenced

  • referenced

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