What can I make with a toaster I no longer need? (project)

[Etienne]

So, I woke up this morning and around breakfast time I noticed the toaster, just popping out of the trash can. So i said "hey, why is the toaster in the trash can" my mom said it no longer works, and I said "maybe I can fix it, and if not, can I try to make something out of it?" she said yeah, she wants a new toaster. So... I guess it's up for project use! I don't know anything about electronics nor am I an engineer, I'm a high school student.

Any ideas? xD

 

[Evo]

Love your avatar that's a sloth?

 

[Etienne]

lol yes, it's an astronaut sloth ;)

 

[reenmachine]

you can draw a face on it and use it as a decoration

Yes, I'm kidding.Please don't do that.

 

[Student100]

What kind of toaster is it?

The heating coil might be useful for something. Incubators come to mind, you could fashion one of those and even reuse most of the toaster body doing it. Well, if you keep chickens or plants it might be useful. I guess you could put models in it too, if it helps cure everything faster. Make a dehydrator maybe?

Most of the rest of the toaster would probably be scarp. Be careful opening it up.

 

[berkeman]

So, I woke up this morning and around breakfast time I noticed the toaster, just popping out of the trash can. So i said "hey, why is the toaster in the trash can" my mom said it no longer works, and I said "maybe I can fix it, and if not, can I try to make something out of it?" she said yeah, she wants a new toaster. So... I guess it's up for project use! I don't know anything about electronics nor am I an engineer, I'm a high school student.

Any ideas? xD

If you don't know anything about electronics, I would recommend not opening it. Exposed AC Mains wiring is dangerous.

 

[lisab]

If you don't know anything about electronics, I would recommend not opening it. Exposed AC Mains wiring is dangerous.

Yeah, don't make a sloth fryer .

 

[robphy]

Here's a project:
mashable.com/2014/07/16/how-you-make-selfie-toast/

 

[edward]

A made in China toaster bites the dust and will be replaced by yet another made in China toaster.

The OP can do several things with the toaster. Disassemble it carefully making note of all the parts and their locations.

The OP may get lucky and find what failed. From my past life as an amateur small appliance repairman the number one failure is the heater (resistance wire that glows red when toasting), number two is the pop up mechanism.

Now try to put that thing back together and get an idea of just how small the hands of Chinese toaster assemblers are. There may be no remaining parts left after the re assembly or points will be deducted.

DO NOT PLUG IT IN AGAIN the American power grid is fragile.

The next thing that I would do is to get a large hammer and exercise my right to freedom of expression.

 

[dkotschessaa]

You could make one of these:

http://www.komonews.com/news/offbeat/Vermont-company-debuts-selfie-toaster-268554672.html

Oh, sorry, someone beat me to it. :)

 

[OmCheeto]

Recycle it. Now! Or end up like me, with a household full of junk...

27 years of "Oh! This might be a good thing to save!", has rendered me almost insane trying to get rid of all this useless crap.

Although the nichrome heating element might make you think that you could one day recreate Planck's cavity radiation experiment, it won't.

You need tungsten for that.

 

[dlgoff]

27 years of "Oh! This might be a good thing to save!", has rendered me almost insane trying to get rid of all this useless crap.

What renders me almost insane is needing something only to remember that I got rid of it.

Keep On Keeping would be my suggestion.

 

[edward]

What renders me almost insane is needing something only to remember that I got rid of it.

Keep On Keeping would be my suggestion.

As I have gotten older I have cleared out some of my "stuff." I occasionally start looking for something and then realize that I had decided at some point in the past that I would probably never need again it again and had trashed it.

Although so far I have never need a broken toaster. Then again I might need some nichrome wire at some point. I have always enjoyed combining two broken pieces of junk to make a working piece of junk.

 

[rolerbe]

There are several projects out there for converting toaster ovens into surface mount solder reflow ovens for electronics PCB construction.