irl MacGyvers

[reorith]

i've noticed the playground is populated by a fair number of out of the box laterally thinking individuals, and now i am curious. what are some of your real life moments that would make Angus MacGyver grin? i want to hear about times when you've fabricated or repaired items from or with unconventional materials or methods.

hard mode: no duct tape
nightmare mode: pics or it didn't happen.

[Force]

I was doing some work on my motorcycle and found myself in a position in which I needed a jack, but didn't have one to hand (nor wanted to purchase one). Thinking outside the box, I got out my motorcycle tiedowns and hung the bike from the rafters.

[Groundhog]

Lessee... While working in a day camp's computer room: Printer runs out of ink. No problem, get another cartridge. Yes problem: the replacement cartridge was one of those refurbished ones, and the yellow nozzle was all clogged with dried-up ink. What did I do? I primed the ink cartridge with water, meaning that I dripped water into the yellow nozzle.

Unfortunately, it didn't work, but it was worth a shot.

[Pyrian]

Hanging framed prints at work with paper clips comes to mind. I once rigged up a monitor cable with some spare wires and scotch tape. My speaker power button kept coming out so I superglued it into the on position. I once made a staff-brazier out of a power case fan, LED's, some gift-pack paper, and random assorted things lying around. When my computer CPU was overheating I took the case off and placed a large industrial-strength fan next to it. Nevermind some of the awful programming practices I've done from time to time.

Honestly, a little improvisation is all in a days work for me, most of the time.

[Raiki]

Well, I have been able to make a ballista, catapult, and trebuchet out of paperclips and rubber bands. Good for shooting quarters, marbles, or balls of OTHER rubber bands for at least a good 30 feet, though only the ballista gave any sort of power.

Woo for being really bored at work.

~R~

[Ninja Chocobo]

Once, I needed to type a capital letter for the start of a sentence, but my Shift keys were broken, so I turned on Caps Lock for that one letter, then turned it off.

[reorith]

Once, I needed to type a capital letter for the start of a sentence, but my Shift keys were broken, so I turned on Caps Lock for that one letter, then turned it off.

.sʍoɹb ʇı ɹǝbuoɹʇs ǝɥʇ 'ʇı ǝʇɐɥ noʎ ǝɹoɯ ǝɥʇ

[Yarram]

¿sǝɯıʇǝɯos ɹǝʌıɹpʍǝɹɔs ɐ ɟo pɐǝʇsuı sǝʌıuʞ ǝsn ı

[RS14]

I had a lofted bed last year. I also wanted a place to put my glasses, watch, and keys when I slept so as to be immediately at hand in the night. My room had wires for the lights strung along the ceiling, and encased in a metal housing, rather than strung through the ceiling itself. I slipped a couple rubber bands above this and used them to hang two carabiners, which I used as hooks.

[Temotei]

My dog chewed on my retainer a bit, bending it to where I couldn't use it.

Hmm...I used several objects...I think the one that did the most was my pencil. :smallcool:

I can't think of it, but I know I did something along those lines, except much crazier, recently.

[Bob_the_Mighty]

I once repaired a broken bari sax with a bobby pin. Does that count?

[KuReshtin]

I like superglue.

I've superglued the wing mirrors back onto my car after they'd been kicked off by some hooligans.
Before I got the super glue, though, I used parts of an egg carton and duct tape to keep one of them in place. Then black electrical tape to kind of camouflage the repair job, or they'd just kick it off the car again.

I also took a really big cardboard box, used a pair of scissors to cut it a bit and make it into a smaller cardboard box that I used to send soem birthday presents to my sister.
Just to annoy her, I used both super glue AND duct tape to seal the box together, and she said it took her about 25 minutes to open it up when she got the package.

[raitalin]

I once filed off a piece of a broken tooth that was cutting the crap out of my tongue with a file from a multi-tool.

[BigBadBugbear]

There I fixed it! (www.thereifixedit.com)

[Thufir]

I once opened a bottle using my cafe discount pass-thing, a penny, and a 50p (The penny was probably unnecessary).

[Force]

I like superglue.

I've superglued the wing mirrors back onto my car after they'd been kicked off by some hooligans.
Before I got the super glue, though, I used parts of an egg carton and duct tape to keep one of them in place. Then black electrical tape to kind of camouflage the repair job, or they'd just kick it off the car again.

I also took a really big cardboard box, used a pair of scissors to cut it a bit and make it into a smaller cardboard box that I used to send soem birthday presents to my sister.
Just to annoy her, I used both super glue AND duct tape to seal the box together, and she said it took her about 25 minutes to open it up when she got the package.

Superglue > DAP Weldwood.

[KuReshtin]

Actually, that reminds me. i have a bunch of stuff that I need to send to my brother. I'm thinking there will be a repeat of the superglue/duct tape combo packaging when I send him his package. He's going to enjoy that sooo much.
Especially efter his birthday gift he got a coupe of years ago that consisted of a 8-foot PVC pipe (4-inch diameter) that had been stuffed with cans of energy drink and then sealed with PVC pipe cement (his buddy is a plumber) so the only way for him to get the gift open was to get a hacksaw and start sawing through the pipe.
of course, he ended up sawing into one of the cans of energy drink, which had by then worked up a bit of internal pressure. :smalleek::smallcool:
Instant energy drink fountain.:smallbiggrin:

[Cobra_Ikari]

When my key jammed in a lock, I used a garden hoe to pry my door open instead. This has happened enough times that my friend refers to the hoe as "The Masterkey". :smalltongue:

I've done the same thing indoors with a knife, some wire, and a screwdriver. I should probably just have new keys made. >.>

[Pyrian]

I should probably just have new keys made. >.>I had a sticky lock. One squirt of WD-40 and it hasn't given me a problem for 5 years or so.

[thorgrim29]

I'm better at finding creative ways of destroying stuff then creative ways of building/fixing them, unfortunately. When I try building/fixing I most often end up destroying.

[Mystic Muse]

I made a dungeon master's screen out of cardboard and duct tape.

[Thufir]

I made a dungeon master's screen out of cardboard and duct tape.

My brother made one out of a cardboard box and some rocks.

[Dienekes]

Me and my bro used to booby-trap each others rooms with household materials.

Haven't done it in years though.

[Ashtar]

I needed a cardboard tube to carry a poster around. Unfortunately, couldn't find one anywhere, so five minutes later, a tube made out of three PET plastic water bottles and some duct tape was born. It survived being crushed into a suitcase, flying across the Atlantic, and arrived with no damage to the poster. :)

[reorith]

My brother made one out of a cardboard box and some rocks.

i made one. in a cave. from a box of scraps!

[IsaacTheHungry]

I made a DM screen with a pair of broken dell laptops :smallbiggrin:

[Raiki]

Me and my bro used to booby-trap each others rooms with household materials.

Haven't done it in years though.

You know, my sisters and I used to do this to each other all the time when we were young.

The bucket of yogurt propped on top of the slightly open door ended it though, our mother threatened to ground us until we moved out after that.

~R~

[Temotei]

I made a house from rocks, Lego trees, and Lego bushes. That was fun. :smallamused:

Best (hardest) part was the garage with the car.

[CMOTDibbler]

I've used way too many things as a DM's screen...
Legos(The best DM screen ever, in my opinion)
Binders
Torn-open tissue boxes
Piled-up books
A keyboard
A small coffee table...
I could go on. Another one that comes to mind is when I trapped my room with string, 3 books, a small toy crossbow, and a nerf dart. When my dad opened the door, the crossbow fell, and the nerf dart hit him in the chest.