this hideousness is a toaster, built by Thomas Thwaites.
Thomas, who has a master’s in design from the Royal College of Art, set out to build an electric appliance from scratch. It took nine months of work, and almost $2,000. In the end, he made a “bread heater” and also ended up making a safety hazard, a point, and a funny and thoughtful book.
The intention was to reverse-engineer a cheap toaster. Obtaining and refining all of the raw materials needed. The plan was to avoid using modern technology. ”It’s that fantasy 14-year-old boys have,” he says. “What if I found myself marooned on a strange planet? What if the world came to an end? Would I be able to survive?” Thomas did not set out to fail. “I honestly thought that making a toaster wouldn’t be that tough,” he states. “I was aiming to make capacitors, or perhaps as a minimum a spring. You’d think I’d be capable to make a bloody spring.”
the book: “The Toaster Project: Or a Heroic Attempt to Build a Simple Electric Appliance from Scratch.”
