Unscrewed: Salvage and Reuse Motors, Gears, Switches, and More from Your Old Electronics

257 Pages·2011·5.95 MB·English

by  Ed Sobey

popular science
“Where others see trash bound for the landfill, intelligent tinkerer Ed
S
Sobey sees gold, and Unscrewed is the bridge between useless junk and
o
precious raw material.”
b
—William Gurstelle, author of Backyard Ballistics e
y
“Great fun for the Popular Electronics crowd.” —Booklist
A
dmit 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
Unscrewed
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
U
Videocassette Recorder Paper Shredder Audiocassette Player
Electric Drill Computer Mouse Keyboard n
Fax Machine Joystick Floppy Drive
s
Videocassette Camera Electric Clock and More!
c
Salvage and Reuse Motors, Gears,
Each deconstruction project includes a “treasure cache” of the components to be
r
found, a required tools list, and step-by-step instructions, with photos, on how to
Switches, and More from
extract the working components. It also includes suggestions on how to repurpose
e
your electronic finds. Why pay good money to an electronics store when you prob-
Your Old Electronics
ably already have what you need in that old VCR, printer, or hair dryer? Fight the w
mindset of planned obsolescence—there’s technological gold in that there junk!
Ed Sobey
is the founder and director of the Northwest Invention Center and e
the author of The Way Toys Work, The Way Kitchens Work, and A Field Guide to
d
Household Technology.
$16.95 (CAN $18.95)
ISBN 978-1-56976-604-0
51695
IPG Ed Sobey
IPG
9 781569 766040
Unscrewed
Salvage and Reuse Motors, Gears, Switches,
and More from Your Old Electronics
Ed Sobey
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sobey, Edwin J. C., 1948–
Unscrewed : salvage and reuse motors, gears, switches, and more from your old
electronics / Ed Sobey.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-56976-604-0 (pbk.)
1. Electronic apparatus and appliances—Design and construction—Amateurs’
manuals. 2. Electronic apparatus and appliances—Recycling—Amateurs’ manuals.
3. Salvage (Waste, etc.)—Amateurs’ manuals. I. Title.
TK9965.S66 2011
621.3815—dc22
2011004953
Cover and interior design: Sarah Olson
Cover image: D-BASE/Stone/Getty Images
© 2011 by Ed Sobey
All rights reserved
Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN 978-1-56976-604-0
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
To the City of Akron—thank you for launching the National
Invention Center and inviting me to be a part of it.

To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.
—Thomas Alva Edison
This book will help you with the second part.

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

Acknowledgments
Collecting computers and peripherals for dissection is a challenging task
in itself. Thanks go to my network of friends who are computer geeks and
techno-users. Michael Meyers of Eastside Computer provided me with a
treasure trove of components and some good thoughts on how stuff works.
Michael also keeps my computers operating so I can write books. Thank you.
Running friend Carl Kadie, a researcher for Microsoft, gave me some
unique treasures, too. I think he also regifted me the computer yoke that
I had given him the year before. Anyway, Nancy, his wife, is delighted to
be rid of some of the stuff crowding their closets. Norbert Geer contrib-
uted a monitor for dissection, and Jerry Gardner brought it to our next run.
Thanks, guys.
Richard Rundle provided an LCD monitor, and John Dickson gave me
his old TiVo. Mark King not only gave me his scanner/fax/printer, he also
brought it to me. Seth Leary loaned me one of his metal detectors, but I
haven’t returned it.
John Weigant contributed several items he rescued from the Portland
Goodwill Outlet, where he often shops for yesterday’s treasures. He also
built the glove/boot/sock dryer pictured in the fan project. Dave Foley with
Oregon Community Communications in Roseburg, Oregon, provided tech-
nical assistance and component identification. He also answered many of
my questions about circuitry and components. Thanks, Dave.
George Gerpheide was generous with his time in recounting to me the
history of his invention, the touchpad.
ix