Jim Ihrig (right) of River Forest and Mac Robinet of Oak Park look at plastic gears they pulled from a broken mixer. | J.Geil ~ For Sun-Times Media

Marion Kessy of Oak Park works to fix a set of blinds during the Repair Cafe at the Oak Park Arms on Saturday. | J.Geil ~ For Sun-Times Media

Tools scatter a table at a Repair Cafe event at the Oak Park Arms, Saturday, March 16, 2013. | J.Geil ~ For Sun-Times Media

Marion Kessy of Oak Park (right) works with ArthurLifshin of Oak Park as they replace a fan in a laptop computer during the Repair Cafe event at the Oak Park Arms on Saturday, March 16. | J.Geil ~ For Sun-Times Media

Bob Hutzel carries a wooden bookshelf he fixed at the Repair Cafe. | J.Geil ~ For Sun-Times Media

Marion Kessy of Oak Park replaces a fan in a laptop computer. | J.Geil ~ For Sun-Times Media

Marion Kessy of Oak Park works to fix a set of blinds during a Repair Cafe event at the Oak Park Arms, Saturday, March 16, 2013. | J.Geil ~ For Sun-Times Media

Paul Oppenheim (left) and Bob Hakes work on a remote. | J.Geil ~ For Sun-Times Media

Bob Hutzel (middle) is surrounded by Raam Mehendale (left), Ivone Powers (second from right) and Sandra Reid (right) as they looks at Reid's broken clock radio during a Repair Cafe event at the Oak Park Arms, Saturday, March 16, 2013. Reid's clock radio was a gift from her father for her 21st birthday and she was hoping the volunteers at the Repair Cafe could get it back to working order. | J.Geil ~ For Sun-Times Media

Bob Hutzel is surrounded by Raam Mehendale (right), Ivone Powers (second from right) and Sandra Reid as they look at Reid's broken clock radio, a 21st-birthday gift from her father. She hoped the Repair Cafe could save it. | J.Geil ~ For Sun-Times Media