the sugru blog

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[evolve your stuff] 3 ways to improve the design of your iphone charger

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Filed under: Wonderful Hackery, design, ihack, tip

Most sugru users start with a simple repair… and what we’ve found is that sometimes a repair – as well as being a solution – can also be an opportunity for awesomeness!

We love that thought! So we made a video of 3 simple improvements to the iphone cable that evolved from the classic sugru repair / strain relief hack.

Have any of your repairs resulted in you making improvements to the design of something? We’d love to hear about them!

Make your oven kid-safe

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Filed under: Wonderful Hackery

Check out this awesome idea from @Miklpa over on gurus!
sugru + plexiglass = kid-safe oven door

The sugru elevates the plexiglass plate a few millimeters from the glass surface of the oven, which makes the insulation quite good.

What a clever hack, we love it!

sugru ♥ magnets [a clever way to access the USB ports on your iMac]

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Filed under: Wonderful Hackery, design, ihack, tip


After years of fumbling around and complaining we thought that it was about time we did something about the crappy USB ports on the iMacs in our office.


With 2 small magnets and a USB extension lead, we made a clever way to access our USB ports that’s totally awesome to use.

We should add that this is our second attempt at cracking the problem. We were told by the shy folk on Instructables that the original solution was ugly ;) Thanks for pushing us guys, you made us think a bit harder about how to make this look good too. Without your comments and suggestions we would not have come up with this solution.

Credit to Criggie for suggesting that we use magnets, this turned out the be a fantastic idea and allowed us to make a very discreet USB cable that is incredibly intuitive and fun to use.

Check out our new ible with simple step by step instructions.
oh, and in case you are worried about removing this from your iMac sometime, check out our removable video.

Posted by James
 

Your oldest hacks so far: the winners of our contest!

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Filed under: Wonderful Hackery, physical properties

People have been coming up with awesome hacks ever since sugru came out at the end of 2009, and recently we’ve had a bunch of emails expressing surprise that your hacks have withstood extreme conditions, frequent usage and everyday exposure to wear and tear. You shouldn’t be surprised…sugru is designed to last!

But we think this is really cool so we ran a little contest to celebrate those tried-and-tested hacks…and these are the winners!

All the best entries here show sugru hacks that are challenged by their conditions – from long winters to harsh detergents – but because the sugru was applied well, they’re standing the test of time. Have a browse through them to see what we mean. Special shout out to Scott for his awesome heavy-duty all-weather car airfoil repair, which may not be the most beautiful hack in the world, but it sure demonstrates longevity…

This hack is almost two years old and survived two U.S. Midwest winters. The airfoil cracked completely through as I had used it as a curb squeegee one too many times. It’s not a pretty hack but the sugru is tough and has held the airfoil together at all speeds and in all kinds of road conditions.” Scott, USA

More hacks aged 2 years and counting…

Secure your bike’s wobbly D-lock clip attachment – from Jenny in York

Add an attachment to your vacuum cleaner that holds excess cord – from Rita in Pennsylvania

Make a storage jar lid easy to unscrew by adding grips – from Ellen in New York

Keep a turnip knife with a cracked handle in action – from Deidre in Glasgow

Hacks aged 18 months and counting….

Prevent dog leads from snagging in the gaps on wooden decking – from Meghan in Ohio

Create simple and adjustable dividers in a storage basket – from Jennifer in New York

Fix up the volume control on your car’s steering wheel with a tactile button – from sugru guru @lysdexic

Hacks aged 1 year and counting…

Reinforce your Kindle’s case to prevent pressure damage – from Rachel in Atlanta

Keep your circular knitting machine still by adding suction cups – from sugru guru @linuxgirl

Everybody listed above gets a lovely multipack to enjoy! And big thanks to all who took part – we love learning more about what’s worked for you over time.

I should also mention our very own James and Roger, who’ve been hacking with sugru since the protoyping days – you’ll be pleased to hear that their favourite early applications are lasting beautifully - James’ bike bell mount and Roger’s greenhouse doorstopper have both stayed put for five years now, and are still going strong!

How to make your iMac easier to use

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Filed under: Wonderful Hackery, design, tip

This one’s from Ben here in the sugru office:
“Aaaargh, every time I need to plug headphones or a USB device into my iMac I either have to climb over it or fumble around blind !!!”


“This is a bit of a pain but super simple to solve, I made a full step by step ible to show you how to put your ports exactly where you need them, on the front of your iMac. Try it and see what a difference it can make :)

Remember, although sugru will stay stuck for as long as you want it to, it can be removed from your iMac later if needed, simply by cutting it off with a sharp knife. Our Removable video shows how.
If you make this, or if you have ideas how to make this hack even better let us know!

sugru + conductive foam = conductive sugru!

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Filed under: Wonderful Hackery, inventing, making, physical properties, tip

And then make a stylus from it!

Guru of the month goes to Ola from Sweden aka @olacarlsson on gurus for this super cool project. To make your own, follow the full step-by-step on gurus!

Congrats Ola! 5 packs of sugru and a Hack Things Better t-shirt will be on their way to you very soon!

For a chance to win guru of the month yourself, just get yourself some sugru, hack some stuff and upload pictures to gurus to help others do the same!

Make precise rubber parts by turning sugru on a drill

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Filed under: Hack of the Month!, Wonderful Hackery

Hack of the Month!

The winner this month is to Joshua in North Carolina for not only hacking his car better but showing us all a beautiful technique for forming precise sugru parts.

“With my satellite antenna taken apart by a rampant car wash and us not using satellite radio anyway, I replaced the bare antenna with a sugru covered screw. I placed the screw in a drill, applied sugru, and spun it while forming with soap covered fingers, as if on a potter’s wheel. I also used the turning drill to carve a concave shape for the base with an exacto knife. It was amazing! I’ve posted a full step by step on instructables.”

Awesome – congrats Joshua! 5 packs of sugru and a Hack Things Better t-shirt will be winging their way to you very soon.

For a chance to win Hack of the Month yourself, just get some sugru , hack some stuff and send us some photos for a chance to win!

What’s your oldest sugru hack?

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Filed under: Wonderful Hackery, physical properties

Wouter got in touch with us recently to share this dishwasher fix that is now 6 months old and going strong “I used it like this for 6 months and used the machine every 2 days” — Wouter, Netherlands. What’s your oldest sugru hack?

We’ve got 10 new super packs of sugru to give away (new colours!) to the 10 oldest and best hacks – email pics to hacks@sugru.com or post them on gurus with ‘my oldest hack’ in the title.

We’ll give you a bit of time to root them out and pick out the winners on Monday 16th April.
Can’t wait to see them!

Make your own prescription swimming goggles

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Filed under: Outdoor Enthusiasts, Wonderful Hackery


Awesome sugru user Mikael showed us this hack recently…
“Since I have quite a strong prescription, I’m more or less blind when I swim. I don’t want to buy prescription goggles as they’re so expensive, but I had several old, ordinary glasses as well as regular swimming goggles. So, I sugru’ed them together! The end result works really well!”

We put it up on the gallery… but that’s not enough!
We want to help as many of you as we can to make your own, so we’ve made a step-by-step. What you’ll need: a pair of regular swimming goggles, an old pair of glasses and some sugru.

Follow the full step by step on gurus, or on instructables, dive in…and enjoy full underwater visibility!

Climbers and snowboarders hack their gear to make it work better for them

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Filed under: Outdoor Enthusiasts, Wonderful Hackery

From the peaks of Europe and New Zealand to the slopes of Canada, we’re sooo excited to see so many people relying on their sugru in extreme and challenging environments!
Check out what some of you amazing people have been up to!

Make your glacier glasses work better.

“My glacier glasses were just too big for me, they were letting light in from the sides. I was heading off to climb a lovely mountain but was desperate to fix them as I had been using duct tape which was scratching my face and wasn’t very pleasant. Then I saw the sugru sitting there, and thought, there’s my answer!” – Melanie, New Zealand.

Make a noboard from an old snowboard

“Noboarding is more fun with friends, so I made a spare. It’s lighter and cheaper!” For those new to noboarding – it’s a twist on snowbarding where you’re not strapped in, you need to grip with your feet like surfing – normally it requires a $200 pad with grippy nodules but Scott made his own. “What you need: 1 old snowboard, Binding hardwear, a handful of tiny screws and a few mini-packs of sugru!” — Scott, Calgary.

Have a look on gurus for more ‘in-progress’ images, and check out this video of Scott and the board in action!

Keep your awesome snow gear going


“My left snowboard boot got torn by the lift chair and started leaking. I used white sugru to repair it and you can’t even see it!” — Annie, Greece. “I’m on my 5th pair of snowboard gloves, which tear from carrying the board with its sharp edges – I’m saving and protecting this pair with a thin smear of sugru on the palm” – Nathan, Kent.

If you’re now also thinking of using sugru to hack your snow gear, check out the technical specs here, and if you have any uses you’d like to run past us before you do it, jump onto our forum gurus, we’ll be delighted to help you figure out a hack / repair if you like.
Thanks guys for sharing your awesome hacks with us :) Keep having an awesome time and keep on sharing, it’s inspiring!