My old glory hole gave out after fifteen years last Tuesday

It was a custom one I built back in 2009, and the refractory finally cracked all the way through on a big vase pull. I had to shut down the whole shop for two days while I patched it with some emergency castable. Makes you think, you know? We used to build so much of our own gear, but now it's all just a phone call away. What's the longest you've ever kept a major piece of equipment running?

2 comments

2 Comments

hunt.rowan12d ago

It's like we've lost the art of fixing things for good.

stone.evan12d ago

Spot on, hunt.rowan. It feels like everything is built to fail now so you have to buy a new one. My coffee maker broke last month, and the repair cost was basically the price of a new one. We're stuck in a loop where fixing stuff is made to be a hassle on purpose. It's not just about skill, it's that the whole system fights against a lasting fix. Makes you miss when things were built solid enough to actually last.