As mentioned in the last log, the variac's issues are finally solved !

First : the fuse holder was damaged and finding an exact replacement part was almost impossible.

I found a suitable fuse holder but the hole was not adapted...

Enter Alex and his extensive collection of power tools and bits.

A conical bit was used to reshape the fuse holder's hole so the new part would fit :-)

After a bit of re-soldering, the variac is finally operational !

But wait, it's not finished.

Tying the variac to the wooden box is another challenge. The variac has no fixation point so it would move around in the box... which is out of question.
Alex has found a very smart, cheap, efficient and unintrusive system with L-shaped steel bits, which by coincidence have the right dimension for the holes. 4 of these are now keeping the variac in place !

The trick was simply to unscrew the frame's screws...
Some screws tie the assembly to the wooden frame, and that's it.

To say I'm thankful for Alex's help is an understatement ;-)