From time to time the blacksmith shop is presented with an unusual domestic project. In this instance it was to salvage two broken axels on a Learning Journey Shop and Go Shopping Cart before the granddaughters arrive for their Christmas visits.
This shopping cart has seen a lot of use for five or more years and I made a glue repair a couple of times but this time it was in bad enough shape that more was required.
I removed the wheels and measured for new axels - 9/16” round worked well. I fabricated a frame from 3/16” x 1” flat bar. That was the only tricky part because of the odd-angle mitering at the corners so it would fit snugly inside the plastic base perimeter. 3/4” square tube made nice housings for the axels. Holes for cotter pins were drilled in the ends of the axels.
When I was satisfied with the fit, I cut off the original plastic axels and attached the steel frame to the cart with clear acrylic adhesive and let it harden overnight. The next day the wheels were mounted and it was ready to go shopping.
I looked up this toy on the web and it is apparently very popular and has been through several versions so there are probably many thousands of them out there somewhere in the world with broken axels. This is one idea of how to salvage them.
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| Frame fitted before plastic axel removal. |
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| Assembled with adhesive. |
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