They go off of who volunteers. For example, if a person who specializes in fixing stand mixers volunteers, that will be one of the tables people can visit. That repair person brings the parts (for example, there are a few parts in stand mixers that tend to break, so the repair person would know to bring fixes for those). I have also heard of repair cafe's elsewhere even bringing in 3D printers to help with part replacement.

Here is the text from a recent one in my town:

Items that are accepted at Repair Café events:

• Electronics such as gaming consoles, CD player, DVD player, camera, adaptor cord, etc.
• Small appliances such as toasters, coffee makers, lamps, waffle makers...you get the idea!
• Smaller pieces of furniture such as small wooden furniture pieces, a clock, or a plastic item that needs some crazy glue.
• Toys! Whether it needs glue or some wire soldering, we can try to repair it!
• Clothing or housewares (clean please!) that need mending. Full alterations will not be done.

Items not allowed:

• Microwaves

@aviation_hydrated @Blair I imagine it depends on the repair cafe. But where I go we just have generic consumables, e.g fabric, thread, solder, glue, batteries (most volunteer provided, some in common). No so much specific parts - fixers will help determine what part is needed and where it can be found, if possible and feasible.

I just learned about these so don't really know how they do it, but you can cannibalize some of the broken ones for spare parts. Also for what I understand many are periodic or even stable so people who need a part can get it and come back another day. I've seen one looking around done in a place where they have a 3d printer.

With cleaning and lubing; screws, bolts, nuts; cables and contacts you can resuscitate a lot of appliances and domestic machines. If you can also 3d print the shitty small plastic parts that break, even for a sturdier one if possible, that could save people a lot of money and tons of waste.