Damn ugly, why would a manufactuer use such a bland white block of plastic.
Also you now need a stein glass and a horned fur trimmed helmet btw, I don't make the rules.
this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2026
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Now remove the bottom and re-do that one and your fridge looks meant to be that way, and better.
Not gonna lie, I spent like 5 hours on the first one. Had that been a commission for a customer, it would've been a 300€ fridge handle. Two of them would more than double the price of the fridge itself.
Ya lol. Thats always the way. Mass production really reduces the cost of everything like crazy. Anything one builds for themselves is always going to be crazy expensive compared to factory made. Unless they have all the equipment already, and knowhow to do it real fast.
I can lend the tools I don't have from my local community workshop and most of the time I don't consider the time to build/repair something work, but leisure. So while yes, all my shit would be way too expensive if I sold it, it's still very much viable for me
Yup, I totally get that. Plus theres the satisfaction of it. And for many things the option to have it custom suited to your needs.
If I was a billionaire, there would be very few things I'd buy from a factory. Well, maybe not few, like toothbrushes toilet paper etc... obviously there are many things id get factory, but wherever possible, I'd prefer hand made by artisans, because its cooler, I want them to have jobs, and I can have it custom made. I'd be prepared to pay that premium for others to do it too.
Very stylish, barely noticable repair 🤣
Robust!
Wanted to make sure it'll outlive the fridge!
Why did you do it in all white?
Yeah I might have at least spray painted that handle.
You should also replace the bottom one. It's a little "DIY", but it's still an improvement on bland white plastic
And then they match.
My dilemma would be do I really want to replace one that isn’t broken and risk fucking it up more? Versus having to look at handles that don’t match.
Nice! I've got no metal or woodworking skills, but I do have a 3d printer. I've been doing these types of repairs lately and it's just soooo damn satisfying. I replaced some broken pieces of a shoe rack the other day and felt like a god among men.
I'm yet to dive into that rabbit hole but it's just a matter of time. My understanding however is that the technology is already mature enough to be actually practical for normal users too.
Yeah I got my first printer something like 5 years ago and it was much more tinkering than the average person would probably want to put up with.
I bought a more modern printer recently and it's a night and day difference. For the most part, you can just tell it to print something with substantially less manual intervention.
Yeah but designing your own stuff takes time
I like it better than the original, unironically.
Replace the other one too!
I am beyond sick to death of 'everything is either landlord white, or stainless steel and black'.
I honestly do too.
The Japanese even have a term for this kind of thing: Kintsugi - for when instead of hiding the repair you embrace it. I like the aesthetic personally. I think it adds character. I've got plenty of builds and repairs like this around the house that might not look so pretty but are handmade and of high quality.
Yep, yep yep yep, fully agree and am also a fan of the concept behind Kinstugi.
Though I think that kintsugi more specifically refers to ... well, a literal artform/method of repair of things like glasses, cups, vases, etc...
Yeah, the general idea of ... just repairing things that break, instead of replacing them wholly... making do with what you have and what you know...
We all need to shift toward that.
Reduce, reuse, recycle, repair.
We are living in a cyberpunk dystopia and if we ever want it to inch toward a solarpunk alternative, we will need to do with what exists, produce less literal mountains and islands of garbage.
... Beyond that, you could say that a kind of custom repair like this is literally building character.
That gives the fridge ao much more character. Love it! Now do the other one!
the door will come off before that handle does
I love how the plywood gives the handle texture.
I was going to paint it first but decided against it. Should probably still seal it with something or it'll look dirty real quick.
A layer of matte poly on the wood and metal would keep it nice for a while. Don’t want rust streaks on the fridge if it gets humid.
You need to break the bottom handle too
If it weren't crooked, I'd vote for painting it.
I quite like the aesthetic in general, the crookedness would drive me mad.
It's not off by much - looks worse in the picture. I still gotta tweak it a little bit.
Steampunk fridge, it may need some more cogs and pipes to get to the next level.
Did it pass the WAF?
She took off about 6 months ago. Couldn't live with the missing fridge handle I suppose.
Maybe I should call her..
Maybe she took off with the fridge handle and they now live together and thinking about getting a dog...
/s hope it's not a painful wound to poke fun at.
The top one looks like it may need replacing soon as well 😂
Fuck yea
I love this
Great, like it! It follows one of my own design rules at home - if you can't hide it, promote it!
I wish I had a 3d printer at Home to repair many broken appliances that only needed a small spare part.
I've come to hate everything made of plastic these last few years. most my electronics went out of service because of how flimsy they were made.
I have replaced a number of broken parts in my house using my 3D printer and it's so nice.
Lot of DIY fridge repairs on Lemmy lately.
I thought I was in dullmensclub for a second
I rarely post there anymore because every time someone complains it's not dull enough.
Cool!
Never had a fridge with a handle
Skyrim fridge
Here's how good your replacement is: I assumed the one on the bottom was the DIY one and you'd 3D printed it. Top one is much prettier.
At this point just rebuild the whole fridge with wood and steel. It looks so much more long lasting, durable and worthwhile than the white poly* material.
You just attached it with ordinary screws into the plastic? Hope it holds...
It's machine screws attached into threaded inserts in the door. The same ones the original handle was attached with.