adamk95•1mo agoProlific Poster

Stopped by a tech repair shop in Portland and saw a guy fix a phone screen with a heat gun and a playing card

I walked into this small shop on Hawthorne last weekend to grab a charging cable, and this dude was prying open a cracked iPhone screen using a trading card - a Pokemon card no less. He said he's been doing it for years and saves like $50 a month on specialty tools. Made me wonder how many other 'pro' gadget repair tricks are just clever hacks we overpay for. Anyone else seen repair shops get creative with weird tools?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_young591mo ago

Haha that's awesome! Honestly, a lot of pro work is just knowing the right cheap trick. I've seen guys use guitar picks for prying stuff open too.

susan6491mo ago

Pro work" feels like a stretch for guitar picks. It's just being clever with what's around.

the_linda1mo agoMost Upvoted

Totally! Saw a guy at a laptop repair place use a butter knife to pop off a keyboard once. He said the thin metal was perfect for the clips and he'd never broken one. Makes you wonder how many "special" tools are just regular stuff from the kitchen drawer. What's the weirdest tool swap you've seen work?