The lock button on my car key fob hasn’t been working for ~ 6 months. I was looking at buying a new key fob for between $9 to $35, but something told me to take it apart.
Some isopropyl alcohol, a used toothbrush, and 5 minutes later I discovered some kind of sticky blue goop had infiltrated my key fob. After a quick brush down and slight emersion of the lock button, my key fob is now working again.
A few weeks ago my massive 40-year-old table saw refused to start. For a while I could coax it to life by manually getting it spinning and hitting the start button, but eventually that stopped working. Faced with a $300+ cost for a new motor, I watched a few DIY videos and was able to take the motor apart and clean some contacts with fine sandpaper. Now it’s back to its old self!
Adam Savage has a great video about an old automatic hack saw he bought, where he says that people wanting to get into mechanical work should buy lots of old tools, take them apart, fix them, and reassemble them. Then they’d gain some real working knowledge of how things work. I thought it was great advice.
It’s great advice, and realistically how any serious attempt at a workshop or garage starts off unless you’re filthy rich.