Unscrewed : salvage and reuse motors, gears, switches, and more from your old electronics

Format:

Book

Title:

Unscrewed : salvage and reuse motors, gears, switches, and more from your old electronics

Author:

Sobey, Edwin J. C., 1948-

ISBN:

9781569766040

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

xv, 236 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

General Note:

Includes index.

Contents:

Introduction -- Audiocassette player -- Bar code scanner -- Bubble gun -- Camera (digital) -- Camera (film) -- CD-ROM -- Clock -- Computer mouse (mechanical) -- Computer mouse (optical) -- Drill (electric) -- DustBuster -- DVD player -- Emergency radio -- Fan (computer) -- Fax -- Ferrite choke -- Floppy drive -- Guitar (electronic toy) -- Hair dryer -- Hard drive -- Headphones -- Ink-jet printer -- Joystick -- Keyboard) -- Laptop -- Laptop screen -- Laster printer (LED bar) -- Laser printer (single laser) -- Metal detector -- Pencil sharpener (electric) -- Phonograph -- Piano keyboard -- Pointing stick -- Popcorn popper -- Radio-controlled car -- Remote control (toy) -- Sander -- Scanner -- Screwdriver (electric) -- Shredder -- Super soaker -- Timer -- Toothbrush (electric) -- Touchpad -- Typewriter -- Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) -- Videocassette camera -- Videocassette recorder (VCR) -- Video game light gun -- Web cam -- Wireless router -- Yoke -- Zip drive -- Glossary.

Summary:

"Perfect for the do-it-yourselfer, this handy guide to household electronics gives the weekend workbench enthusiast a multitude of ideas on how to salvage valuable parts from old electronics and turn them into useful gadgets once more. This handbook is loaded with information and helpful tips for disassembling old and broken electronics. Each of the more than 50 deconstruction projects includes a "treasures cache" of the components to be found, a required tools list, and step-by-step instructions with photos on how to safely extract the working components. Projects include building a desk lamp from an old flatbed scanner, a barbeque supercharger from a Dustbuster impeller, and a robot from the gears, rollers, and stepper motor found in an ink-jet printer. Now, old VHS players and fax machines will find new life with these fun ideas"-- Provided by publisher.

"UNSCREWED is the perfect resource for anyone looking to salvage hidden treasures from old electronics and appliances. Author Ed Sobey, founder of the National Inventors Hall of Fame, will show how items found in an old flatbed scanner can be used to build a desk lamp; how a DustBuster impeller can be converted to quickly prep a charcoal grill; how the gears, rollers, and stepper motor found in an ink-jet printer can become a robot; and much more. Each of the 50+ deconstruction projects includes a "treasures cache" of the components to be found and step-by-step instructions, with photos, on how to safely extract the working components"-- Provided by publisher.

Subject(s):

Electronic apparatus and appliances -- Design and construction -- Amateurs' manuals.

Electronic apparatus and appliances -- Recycling -- Amateurs' manuals.

Salvage (Waste, etc.) -- Amateurs' manuals.

Science experiments.

Genre:

handbooks.

manuals (instructional materials)

Handbooks and manuals

Handbooks and manuals.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Dallas Public Library	621.3815 Sobey	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Monmouth Public Library	621.3815 Sobey, E. 2011	Searching... Unknown
Searching... Silver Falls Library	621.3815 SOBEY	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Admit it: you love to explore how things work. Screwdriver and pliers in hand, no castoff electronics or old appliances are safe. But once you've pulled apart your prey, do you really just want to screw it back together again . . . assuming you could? Unscrewed is the perfect resource for all UIYers--Undo It Yourselfers--looking to salvage hidden treasures or repurpose old junk.

Author Ed Sobey will show you how to safely disassemble more than 50 devices, including: Laser Printer, Radio-Controlled Car, Zip Drive, Videocassette Recorder, Paper Shredder, Audiocassette Player, Electric Drill, Computer Mouse, Keyboard, Fax Machine, Joystick, Floppy Drive, Videocassette Camera, Electric Clock, and More!

Each deconstruction project includes a "treasure cache" of the components to be found, a required tools list, and step-by-step instructions, with photos, on how to extract the working components. It also includes suggestions on how to repurpose your electronic finds. Why pay good money to an electronics store when you probably already have what you need in that old VCR, printer, or hair dryer? Fight the mindset of planned obsolescence--there's technological gold in that there junk!

Author Notes

Ed Sobey is the founder and director of the Northwest Invention Center and the author of The Way Toys Work, The Way Kitchens Work, and A Field Guide to Household Technology.

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

Sobey (How Kitchens Work, 2010, etc.) provides instructions for dismantling unwanted electronics and offers suggestions on how to repurpose what you mine.Wondering what to do with your old scanner? Unscrew it piece-by-piece, set the motors aside for future projects and use the remaining parts to construct a desk lamp, of course! Sobey, a master in the art of salvage, has the basics covered with instructions for how to start repurposing more than 50 of your most unwanted possessions, from joysticks to guitars to hairdryers. While the author's intentions are noble, with increasing attention paid to conservation and sustainability, he falls flat with this guide. Sobey thoroughly covers the steps to taking apart the devices, but he fails to provide instructions on how to repurpose them, merely suggesting alternate uses in a lackluster and uninformative conclusion to each chapter. Guiding readers step-by-illustrated-step through stripping a discarded bubble gun for gears, springs and switches, the author then suggests that its pump be retrofitted into a small irrigation system for houseplants. But readers are left to their own devices to figure out how.Perfect for readers who like to take things apart to see what's inside but useless for those with intentions of putting them back together.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Tinkerers, do-it-yourselfers, and hobbyists will get a kick out of this new book from the author of The Way Toys Work (2008). With clear, step-by-step instructions and some very helpful photographs, Sobey shows readers how to disassemble a variety of electronic gadgets (digital camera, typewriter, floppy drive, piano keyboard, DVD player, etc.) and mine them for the reusable odds and ends within. For example, tiny motors inside a digital camera could be used to power a mechanical sculpture. A typewriter's spring-loaded pulley would be a nifty power system for a model car. Ferrite chokes those little bulby things at the ends of computer power cords could be made into offbeat jewelry. Sobey is primarily interested in showing readers how to take things apart, but you're more or less on your own when it comes to building something new (he makes suggestions but doesn't show you what to do). But it's probably safe to assume that readers with the interest and skills to do the taking-apart should have no trouble finding something to do with the treasures they uncover. Great fun for former readers of the late, lamented Popular Electronics.--Pitt, Davi. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
Audiocassette Player	p. 1
Bar Code Scanner	p. 5
Bubble Gun	p. 8
Camera (Digital)	p. 12
Camera (Film)	p. 17
CD-ROM	p. 22
Clock	p. 29
Computer Mouse (Mechanical)	p. 32
Computer Mouse (Optical)	p. 36
Drill (Electric)	p. 39
DustBuster	p. 44
DVD Player	p. 49
Emergency Radio	p. 56
Fan (Computer)	p. 60
Fax	p. 63
Ferrite Choke	p. 70
Floppy Drive	p. 73
Guitar (Electronic Toy)	p. 76
Hair Dryer	p. 81
Hard Drive	p. 86
Headphones	p. 91
Ink-Jet Printer	p. 95
Joystick	p. 102
Keyboard	p. 107
Laptop	p. 111
Laptop Screen	p. 115
Laser Printer (LED Bar)	p. 119
Laser Printer (Single Laser)	p. 125
Metal Detector	p. 132
Pencil Sharpener (Electric)	p. 135
Phonograph	p. 138
Piano Keyboard	p. 143
Pointing Stick	p. 147
Popcorn Popper	p. 150
Radio-Controlled Car	p. 154
Remote Control (Toy)	p. 158
Sander	p. 162
Scanner	p. 166
Screwdriver (Electric)	p. 171
Shredder	p. 174
Super Soaker	p. 178
Timer	p. 181
Toothbrush (Electric)	p. 185
Touchpad	p. 188
Typewriter	p. 192
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)	p. 197
Videocassette Camera	p. 201
Videocassette Recorder (VCR)	p. 207
Video Game Light Gun	p. 212
Web Cam	p. 216
Wireless Router	p. 219
Yoke	p. 222
Zip Drive	p. 226
Glossary and Index of Components	p. 231

Available:*

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

Booklist Review

Table of Contents