It's a disease. I too am fond of the fix it myself. When my oldest was
little, the once loved stores would put on a $0.25/item sale on Saturdays.
I would buy several of the same toy to make a working one usually saving
over $20.

I too had a broken shredder. It knocks over easily and the switch took a
direct hit. Simple matter to put it back together, but there was 1 spring
missing. None of the usual shops had a 3 position switch with 8 connections
on the bottom, so I hit Apache Reclamation. Boy, they had tons of them. I
bought several of each type (5 or so) hoping one would fit. Couple a bucks
at the most. I was able to tear one apart and use it's springs as a
replacement so I didn't even have to solder!

Lots o fun.

Joel. phx

Sure, fixing yard sale junk is not profitable, but at my age, it gets
to be fun!
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada