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An Antique Toaster That's Better Than Today’s [video]

386 points by CaliforniaKarl 7y ago

EdgarVerona 7y ago
That is pretty brilliant.
spats1990 7y ago
The left-hand slice of toast when it comes back up at 1:19. >:( Good video though. Pushing the toast down 3-4 times before realising the damn thing is unplugged is my signature move.
lolinder 7y ago
We actually have one of these, and it's absolutely brilliant. It's been in constant use since my father-in-law was growing up, and yet it still works flawlessly. I've never burnt a piece of toast with it. It's kinda depressing that today our toasters are less useful and stop working 10x sooner.
- emmelaich 7y ago
  Our family had one of these too. I remember it as being better and longer lasting than any toaster I've had since. And it lasted a loong time - 30 years or so.
Lio 7y ago
I’m a massive fan of my classic Dualit 4 slice toaster. (Look I’m British we like toast, alright?) I was all ready to pooh-pooh this new fangled design from the 60s vs Dualit’s classic design from 1952; it’s the Technics SL1200 of the international toast scene. Honestly though this design is ingenious! Video is well worth watching (assuming you like toasted bread comestibles). Now if you’ll excuse I’m off for some afternoon crumpet.
- ooerrmissus 7y ago
  > Now if you’ll excuse I’m off for some afternoon crumpet. Don't forget to bring her some of your toast ;)
  - Lio 7y ago
    If I knew how to type a Sid James dirty chuckle I would. ;)
    - craz8 7y ago
      I certainly heard that chuckle when reading that line Keeping this on topic, Sid probably had one of these
- combatentropy 7y ago
  > my classic Dualit 4 slice toaster --- which is around $300 and still selling. I think we need to rethink the reasons that the Sunbeam was discontinued.
  - scoot 7y ago
    It sounds expensive, but we've had ours for over 20 years, and I expect it to last another 20 (or beyond) and look just as classy. It's mechanically simple, easily serviceable (four screws), and spares are readily available.
nyolfen 7y ago
this channel is truly excellent, strongly recommended if old electronics are even kind of interesting to you, and still worth a shot if they aren't. in particular i'd recommend this video about the sony trinitron: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aFhzGEBQlk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aFhzGEBQlk
- rzzzt 7y ago
  I can also heartily recommend watching Alec's videos. He also has a second channel for the "DVD extra"-kind of content that doesn't quite fit into the original videos, or is cut due to time constraints; I find these also interesting (link leads to "Filming CRTs", demonstrated on the Trinitron used in parent's video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j0IC0bu3dg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j0IC0bu3dg
- puranjay 7y ago
  Seconded. Their exploration of failed technology is particularly interesting. This two part video on CEDs - which I didn't even know were a thing - is absolutely fascinating. The depth of research rivals any educational program on TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnpX8d8zRIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnpX8d8zRIA
adrianmonk 7y ago
It's awesome how this toaster works, but for practical purposes, I would prefer a toaster that does not auto-start. One of the challenges of cooking is juggling multiple things so the food is all ready at the same time. Being able to do steps in advance helps with that. This actually kind of matters for toast because freshly toasted bread is a lot better than cold toast. So it's helpful to be able to take bread out of the package, stick it in the toaster, and put loaf of bread back where it belongs when convenient, then come back later and start the final step (actually toasting) at the exact right time. (On a side note, in actual fact, I have never had a toaster. A toaster oven does everything a toaster does and more. You can make a hot sandwich with melted cheese, for example.)
- __s 7y ago
  Had a toaster that would detect when you put bread in & start. Issue: walk away & if you don't take the toast out within a dozen seconds of it finishing, it'd go on to toast toast
  - ohazi 7y ago
    i.e. set your kitchen on fire. How the hell does something like that pass basic safety testing?
  - hinkley 7y ago
    This one has a latch that prevents that. To fire the second time you have to remove the toast (it’s mentioned near the end of the video).
  - nbutyllithium 7y ago
    Terrifying! At least the Sunbeam toaster in his video had a mechanism that requires the toast be removed before the cycle can start again (~11:25 in the video). Thinking of all the possible ways something can fail and mitigating them can be difficult but I feel like leaving the toast in should have been an obvious one.
- benj111 7y ago
  "because freshly toasted bread is a lot better than cold toast" Whilst I do agree with you, there is somewhat of a bathtub curve to toast temperature. 'hotel' cold toast, with very nearly melted butter is almost as nice as fresh hot buttered toast. Tepid toast isnt so good. Ps a good overhead gas grill (broiler) is the best for toast, unfortunately most seem to be rubbish these days :(
MertsA 7y ago
Yeesh, looks like an antique fire hazard to me. Also, unless the video is mistaken, if that complex linkage fails or the inner heating element fails then the thermostat on it is going to be blocked by that bit on the bottom of the bread carriage that's meant to block it while the carriage is lowered. That seems like a good way to get it stuck in the on position so if someone just looked at the toaster, they might not even realize that it's still on because the bread isn't lowered. What happens if something flammable like a letter slides off of something unnoticed and falls into the toaster? Even if someone is home and awake the thing moves slowly and is downright silent when it turns on and lowers the toast. The first sign of something going wrong might very well be flames. This thing is a burn hazard, shock hazard, and fire hazard all in one.
- maxerickson 7y ago
  The burning letter would probably stain the chrome finish.
  - jmpman 7y ago
    I bet it wipes clean.
- sjg007 7y ago
  Why would you have a letter near your toaster? Also why not unplug it when done?
  - koolba 7y ago
    > Why would you have a letter near your toaster? The standard American household with 2.3 kids has everything on the counter near the toaster. For the "oven" style toasters there's an significant chance that there's something made out of either paper or plastic atop the metal roof ready to melt as well. > Also why not unplug it when done? And plug it back in every morning? That'd be unnecessarily annoying.
    - vonmoltke 7y ago
harryposner 7y ago
I don't think he's right that you could implement a bagel mode on that toaster by just running the center heating element. Both heating elements are necessary for the toaster to function (which he mentions!). You need to run the center element to drive the bread lifter, but you also need to run the outer element to heat the side of the bread facing the bimetallic strip. You can't put the bimetallic strip on the center side of the bread, since it needs direct exposure to the heat radiating off the bread, and the coiled center heating element would get in the way.
- tuukkah 7y ago
  Additionally, there must not be a hole in the center of the bagel as that would cause the heat from one side to radiate directly to the bimetal on the other side.
XorNot 7y ago
Loved this video. The mechanical design of this thing (the solely mechanical design) is a thing of beauty.
tompccs 7y ago
There's a simple reason why this toaster was discontinued, and that's because it can't be made from commodity components which are used by all toaster manufacturers, as well as in a variety of other domestic appliances. Plus, assembly looks quite intricate and probably highly manual. It's beautiful, sure, but go and buy a toaster today and see how much premium people are willing to pay for a designer brand with no functional advantage. Sadly toasters all work "well enough". This is a textbook example of great engineering being trumped by globalised economics and fickle consumers.
- hinkley 7y ago
  Except we live in a world where YouTube videos are interrupted by photogenic hipsters selling sunglasses made of titanium and hand cut, old school soap. Recreating this toaster is exactly the kind of thing I hope that set gets around to. Plus, there are toasters that cost more than my tablet which don’t have this feature. If you can make a toaster that infuriatingly stupidly expensive and sell it, you can sure as hell afford to make a workalike [of] this mechanism.
  - smacktoward 7y ago
    Even for that market, the way you make money isn't by making products that are better than the commodity alternative. It's by taking the commodity alternative and dressing it up in fancy packaging and marketing so it looks like a product that's better than the commodity alternative. Making unique, superior products is expensive. Your profit margins are much better if you just take the same crap everyone else is selling and put a sharp suit of clothes on it.
  - puranjay 7y ago
    My biggest pet peeve is all sorts of appliance manufacturers sticking touchscreen displays everywhere. The coffee machine in my office has a touchscreen display. It only dispenses 4 things - lattes, cappuccinos, black coffee, and espressos. Why does this have to be a touchscreen? It could have easily been more usable buttons. But I guess you can't charge a $100 premium for buttons
benj111 7y ago
Someone should introduce this guy to the Teasmaid, I think he'd be equally impressed https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teasmade https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teasmade
shakna 7y ago
I actually had one of these for a good long while. I was too terrified of it to pull it apart and understand the mechanism, but it was a great example of UX. Removing just the step of pushing down and fast return actually did make me appreciate it more. But he is absolutely right when he pointed to the paper insulated wire as a truly hideous and terrifying thing. My toaster did eventually burst into flames, and that's about where I think the fire started. Hard to tell when looking at twisted metal. I think this is a great example of the kind of things that planned obsolescence has killed. The design could probably have been improved, and the safety brought up to modern standards, through research and iteration. However, why invest in making a better toaster when you can sell a $2 worth of toaster for $5 that will expire in less than two years?
- bch 7y ago
  > [...] why invest in making a better [...] This is the question of our Industrial Age. I think a nice example is VW (in a former life) w their beetle program. Well documented in Small Wonder[0] under Heinz Nordhoff[1]. Easy 50 years of incremental improvements and what seem like truly human- (Volks) oriented design decisions. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Small-Wonder-Amazing-Volkswagen-Beetle/dp/0837601479 https://www.amazon.com/Small-Wonder-Amazing-Volkswagen-Beetl... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Nordhoff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Nordhoff
- userbinator 7y ago
  That's not regular paper. It's probably some sort of mica-asbestos composite and definitely not flammable. Fire is likely to be caused by bread crumbs, since otherwise there is nothing combustible in the toaster (unlike the plastic-ful modern ones.)
dmitriid 7y ago
The Swedish company Husqvarna used to make toasters that would carefully lower your bred, close the lid, and then carefully bring it back up much like the toaster in the video. Unfortunately, Ic an't a video of it, or even proper product descriptions (it looks like they discontinued toasters). And yeah, it wasn't as consistent :)
azinman2 7y ago
Except how do you stop it early?
- kempbellt 7y ago
  Turn the dial
  - azinman2 7y ago
    But it’s both not very accessible as well as you’re resetting what you might want to keep as the default.
- Retric 7y ago
  There is probably a button, but at worst unplugging it works as toast is raised when the coils cool.
  - ken 7y ago
    There is no button. You can sometimes make it abort by slamming the intensity dial all the way to the left. But yes, in general you have to unplug it, which is horribly inconvenient.
- analog31 7y ago
  You don't need to. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but... The classic toaster sensed the temperature of the toast, and stopped when it was done. My family had one of these, and it was quite predictable. We never had to change the setting, and it handled a variety of kinds of bread. Today's toasters, at least the cheaper ones, seem to be based solely on time, and so it's unknowable how a particular kind of bread will behave. You have to watch it and be prepared to stop it early. Bagels were a problem if the hole lined up with the sensor. I don't think store-bought bagels were a thing in our area until long after the toaster was made.
Tokkemon 7y ago
I love this channel so much. Well done Alec!
abootstrapper 7y ago
I love this guys videos.
radicalbyte 7y ago
On a slight tangent: when I saw the title I thought "I'll probably have to post a link to that Technology Connections film showing that natty old toaster". His channel is really interesting; even if like me you find his style a little irritating at first it really grows on you when you see that he really knows what he's talking about. One of my favorite channels next to Jeff Cavaliere (Athlean-X).
dwighttk 7y ago
So, you have to toast two pieces at once?
- pg_bot 7y ago
  No, if you have one piece of toast you put it in the slot that has the lever.
  - dwighttk 7y ago
    ah, I was trying to stay around in the video until he got to that, but even at 1.75x I couldn't handle it.
twic 7y ago
As a Brit watching this video, i had to stop and google a couple of Americanisms: "unpolarized cord" - good god, you mean you can plug most American appliances in either way round, and so random parts of them will be live? This is the worst country on earth! "toaster strudels" - correction, this is the greatest country on earth.
- gautamcgoel 7y ago
  Comment of the day right here!
- Aloha 7y ago
  Pretty much every modern appliance is polarized. The key to note, in most houses when the unpolarized stuff was new, there were alarmingly few ground sources nearby, so the fact that one side of the appliance was hot, doesn't actually matter that much - so while it's safer now, it wasn't that unsafe then. I'd also point out, these choices make more sense when you consider the lower voltage of US power distribution.
  - kwhitefoot 7y ago
    Pretty much every modern European mains powered device is double insulated so it doesn't matter which pole is live and which is neutral. Some countries do have polarized connectors (UK, some Polish, France, Belgium, etc.) but many do not. However supposedly competent electricians sometimes connect them the wrong way round anyway or omit the earth or both as I discovered in France last year. See this web page for a convenient list of mains connectors and countries that use them: https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/ https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- vinay427 7y ago
  Tangent but virtually every country in continental Europe has two-prong unpolarized cords. It's far more common here than in the US, in my experience.
lampenrad 7y ago
Very neat design, but there are highly advanced toasters nowadays. There just doesn‘t seem a market for them in the West (yet?). Bloomberg recently covered high-end Japanese toasters: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-16/this-japanese-toaster-costs-270-it-only-makes-one-slice-at-a-time https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-16/this-japa...
- megaremote 7y ago
  There are high end toasters in the west. I feel like no one did any research at all. https://www.toaster.org/glass-toasters/ https://www.toaster.org/glass-toasters/
  - Cytobit 7y ago
    I don't see any evidence that that site did comprehensive reviews and analysis. Just a bunch of Amazon affiliate links.
Aloha 7y ago
I'm really happy to see that a Technology Connections video made HN, this guy produces really entertaining and easy to digest videos about technology most people don't give too much thought to. While I can't say I learned anything new most of the time (This video and the one about TOSLINK are exceptions), I was entertained and can use these videos to send to someone who doesn't have a huge technical background on stuff.
staplor 7y ago
It's not as if similar toasters don't exist. I have a similar one in my kitchen. https://www.kitchenaid.com/countertop-appliances/toasters/two-slice/p.pro-line-series-2-slice-automatic-toaster.kmt2203ca.html https://www.kitchenaid.com/countertop-appliances/toasters/tw...
- opencl 7y ago
  There are modern toasters with the auto drop functionality but none that I'm aware of that sense the temperature of the bread like the old sunbeam does.
ubertoop 7y ago
It's antiquated. My toaster uses machine learning to determine the "doneness" of the bread. Thereby allowing for breads of variant moisture levels to be brought to the same level of doneness, independent of surface heat. Couple that with the fact that my toaster is also connected via 802.11g to the INTERNET where, naturally, I can view the toast progress via an iOS or Android app. A live feed of the toast progress is streamed to the app, and I can either cancel early or allow the bread to finish toasting. Upon finishing, a push notification is sent to my phone. Nice. Lastly, and this is probably the highlight feature... I can share my toasting status to social. With the click of a button I can share a screen shot of my toast, WITH my choice of camera filter. Nothing says "ive got it better than you" than a picture of a perfectly toasted piece of toast with a christmas spirit filter.
- DaiPlusPlus 7y ago
  Is it on Amazon?
  - unionpivo 7y ago
    no but 50 different lookalikes from china are.
- drivingmenuts 7y ago
  It’s all fun and games until someone hacks your toaster to start toasting penii onto the surface.
  - trhway 7y ago
    or they make the toaster to slightly and unpredictably vary the quality of the toasting - not enough for you to notice anything specific, yet enough to make you start the day with a bit of puzzled annoyance and undermining your confidence in your perception of reality - "was the toast different yesterday or is it just me?" - and leaving you with something bugging at the back of your mind through the day making you a bit impatient, a bit more easily frustrated, distracted and having some unspecified resentment building up deep inside you more and more with every day...
pooya13 7y ago
We are approaching The Toaster Event Horizon.
emcrazyone 7y ago
I have this toaster and LOVE it. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=crc8n7D4kYg https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=crc8n7D4kYg
- robocat 7y ago
  Does anyone know how Breville are making really usable appliances? I bought a microwave oven which has a very good UI (buttons, knobs, layout, display). Also: why do I fear the UI of anything with a German brand name?
- friendlybus 7y ago
  Is it bree-ville or brev-ill?
joshu 7y ago
I kinda want one. I wonder if people will start buying and modding them? I can/t wait for /r/MechanicalToasters
pkulak 7y ago
Knew who this was before I clicked. Do yourself a favor and browse his other videos: there's absolute gold in there.
modeless 7y ago
"Now you know why you were taught to never stick a knife down a toaster" That's the most interesting part of this video to me. I was definitely taught this, and I never understood why because modern toasters don't have this problem (where the insides of the toaster may be connected to a live wire even when off). Funny how this kind of cultural knowledge persists after it's no longer relevant. It's crazy to see just how unsafe appliances used to be. People maybe don't take that safety differential into account when lamenting the complexity and unreliability of modern stuff. One other safety thing: it looks like this toaster may not raise small toast high enough to easily grab. Most toaster levers let you manually raise the toast higher than normal to retrieve it. Without a lever you are forced to reach into the hot slot and risk burns or electrocution to retrieve your toast before it cools.
- tbyehl 7y ago
  Toaster tongs. I don't remember encountering a toaster that could lift while I was growing up... but toaster tongs were a hit at every Tupperware party.
robocat 7y ago
The nichrome wire is under tension in this device. When the nichrome wire breaks (eventual common failure I think), wouldn't that cause a high risk of the live wire touching the body of the toaster?
- retroriffic 7y ago
  Note that the host isn’t saying that this 60s toaster _as designed_ is better in every way— rather, that a modernized version of this design would be better than toasters designed today using the latest electronics.
denormalfloat 7y ago
That is a lot of moving parts for a toaster. It seems like even a few crumbs falling into the wrong spot would jam the falling/raising mechanism.
paulcole 7y ago
18 minutes for that. Jesus Christ.
gnicholas 7y ago
I inherited one of these from my grandfather. I always thought it was elegant because there was no manual lever, but I had no idea how complicated the mechanism is (current through a wire heats it so it expands, triggering a series of levers). After watching the first part of the video I wanted to get it back out and start using it again. Then he described the paper insulation around the wire, and I decided not to. Maybe in a few years my kid and I will watch his remediation video and give it a try. Seems like a pretty serious fire (and electrocution) hazard as-is!
soheil 7y ago
It seems like modern toasters try to accomplish so many requirements which are boring and dull at the expense of giving up on ingenuity and beautiful design. Take for example bagel mode, nearly all modern cheap toasters support that, this adds complexity and reduces viability of a rather simpler yet elegant design. Manufacturers wanting to satisfy these rather mundane requirements in order to not only appeal to as many consumers as possible, but also avoid a type of boycott because product X cannot do task Y, thus it's inferior marketing arguments, they forego engineering elegance.
- soheil 7y ago
  This could be a type of The Tyranny of the Minority [0] having to satisfy so many small yet forcefully demanded items. [0] https://areomagazine.com/2019/04/02/the-tyranny-of-the-minority-and-how-to-prevent-it/ https://areomagazine.com/2019/04/02/the-tyranny-of-the-minor...
starpilot 7y ago
Get a toaster oven. Does everything a toaster can, better. Reheat cookies, make small baked goods, and just easier to use.
- wyclif 7y ago
  I've used both frequently, and I don't think the toaster oven is easier. It's just better for things that are not slices of bread or bagels, so I'd concede it's a more general kitchen appliance. To toast bread in a toaster oven, I need to open the glass door, then position the bread on the tray, close the door, and then turn the dial. Then I have to open and close the door after toasting. With a toaster, it's just drop the bread in and push the lever down. Then pull the toast out when done. It may not seem like a significant number of saved steps, but if you're doing it over and over again it adds up.
kaendfinger 7y ago
Highly Recommend this channel btw, lots of quality videos on old technology.
gumby 7y ago
Toasters like that are still for sale. I have one I bought at Target -- hard to get more mass market than that. I recently moved into a smaller space so put the toaster in my garage and just use the oven like we did when I was a kid. My watch tells me when to pull it out!
ken 7y ago
3 months ago, I wrote a mini-rant in response to this video about how this is the Worst Toaster Ever Made: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20177007 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20177007 I stand by every word I wrote. I'd rather use a propane torch. It'd be quicker and easier and safer.
- davidw 7y ago
  > The sensor wasn't very good, either. There was a razor thin margin where you'd get reasonable toast, and it was almost all the way to the "light" end. At even 25% to "dark", you'd get a block of charcoal. I'd set it all the way at "light", and toast my bread twice, if needed, because that was safest. In the video, the first toast that comes out of the 'old school' toaster looks pretty dark: https://youtu.be/1OfxlSG6q5Y?t=78 https://youtu.be/1OfxlSG6q5Y?t=78
- knolax 7y ago
  > I'd rather use a propane torch. I've had toast made on a charcoal grill and I gotta say it tastes a lot better than toast made in a toaster.
  - pkroll 7y ago
    Everything tastes better made on a charcoal grill. As someone in a high-rise, with a propane grill, my envy is considerable.
- gridlockd 7y ago
  Thanks for the rant. I saw that video back then and immediately suspected that it was a "so clever it's stupid" design. I hate it when companies do that stuff and get away with it, or even praised for it. (Looking at you Apple, your keyboards suck and the notch is stupid)
  - erikpukinskis 7y ago
    The notch is pretty smart. People want more screen space, but it’s nice to have the battery and time visible, the notch let’s you stick them up there with the camera in otherwise wasted space.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
SubiculumCode 7y ago
My grandma is still using the toaster she bought int he 60's. My mom is still using the same microwave she bought in the 80's, crank dial and all.
switch007 7y ago
Pfffft toasters. Pan-fried toast is the best toast! This is _irrefutably_ true, because you can add butter to a pan and not a toaster! In case you aren't convinced: isn't a grilled cheese sandwich one of the best uses of bread? Case closed. Throw out your toasters and bathe in the wonderous joy of pan-fried toast.
Shivetya 7y ago
The vintage toaster you want, no bagels, is a Toastmaster 1B16. my parents have my grandfather's toaster of this model and I have one from ebay. Perfect toast each time. Sunbeam made a similar one though it had less adjustment as seen in the video but I think it was inferior to the Toastmaster; I have both and both still work Please note, whomever is using the name now is certainly not making a toaster of the same quality. they weigh a good amount but that tends to be the case of anything from the forties and fifties. Example auction of a 1B16 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Toastmaster-1B16-Automatic-Toaster/283620320392?hash=item420916a488:g:RT0AAOSwEtpdhSdn https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Toastmaster-1B16-Automatic-... Great site for toasters https://toastercentral.com/toaster40s.htm https://toastercentral.com/toaster40s.htm
innagadadavida 7y ago
Anyone remembers the afterdark screensaver from the PC era? It looks like this toaster was used for the flying toaster. Amazing product, pity today’s stuff is just built so poorly.
Krasnol 7y ago
I like how the first time he puts toast into it, the left one comes out charcoal black before the cut. I wonder what happened there.
Too 7y ago
As ingenious as this is, can you truly call it simple? I mean just look at the patent alone, it has over 120 listed items and the real production piece probably even more. It is mechanically incredibly complex, combining all kinds of levers, materials, linkages, thermal expansion, small tolerances, reflecting radiation, latches, bimetallic switches. Contrast this with a basic design which can probably be made with 2 or 3 moving parts only: the spring, some latch and a time/heat-controlled relay. Assuming you'd want to replicate this thing with modern equipment, would it be cheaper and simpler with a servo and a µC?
wkjagt 7y ago
A while ago, I wrote (1) about an old toaster I had bought at a thrift store 7 years earlier and that I’d been using daily since. Now, 5 years later, I’m still using this same toaster, and it still out-toasts most newer toasters. I really believe it’s getting harder to find quality products that are built with longevity and repairability in mind. (1) https://medium.com/@wkjagt/i-love-my-toaster-d9b335d4abf9 https://medium.com/@wkjagt/i-love-my-toaster-d9b335d4abf9

That is pretty brilliant.

spats1990 7y ago

The left-hand slice of toast when it comes back up at 1:19. >:( Good video though. Pushing the toast down 3-4 times before realising the damn thing is unplugged is my signature move.

lolinder 7y ago

We actually have one of these, and it's absolutely brilliant. It's been in constant use since my father-in-law was growing up, and yet it still works flawlessly. I've never burnt a piece of toast with it. It's kinda depressing that today our toasters are less useful and stop working 10x sooner.

emmelaich 7y ago
Our family had one of these too. I remember it as being better and longer lasting than any toaster I've had since. And it lasted a loong time - 30 years or so.

Lio 7y ago

I’m a massive fan of my classic Dualit 4 slice toaster. (Look I’m British we like toast, alright?) I was all ready to pooh-pooh this new fangled design from the 60s vs Dualit’s classic design from 1952; it’s the Technics SL1200 of the international toast scene. Honestly though this design is ingenious! Video is well worth watching (assuming you like toasted bread comestibles). Now if you’ll excuse I’m off for some afternoon crumpet.

ooerrmissus 7y ago
> Now if you’ll excuse I’m off for some afternoon crumpet. Don't forget to bring her some of your toast ;)
- Lio 7y ago
  If I knew how to type a Sid James dirty chuckle I would. ;)
  - craz8 7y ago
    I certainly heard that chuckle when reading that line Keeping this on topic, Sid probably had one of these
combatentropy 7y ago
> my classic Dualit 4 slice toaster --- which is around $300 and still selling. I think we need to rethink the reasons that the Sunbeam was discontinued.
- scoot 7y ago
  It sounds expensive, but we've had ours for over 20 years, and I expect it to last another 20 (or beyond) and look just as classy. It's mechanically simple, easily serviceable (four screws), and spares are readily available.

nyolfen 7y ago

this channel is truly excellent, strongly recommended if old electronics are even kind of interesting to you, and still worth a shot if they aren't. in particular i'd recommend this video about the sony trinitron: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aFhzGEBQlk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aFhzGEBQlk

rzzzt 7y ago
I can also heartily recommend watching Alec's videos. He also has a second channel for the "DVD extra"-kind of content that doesn't quite fit into the original videos, or is cut due to time constraints; I find these also interesting (link leads to "Filming CRTs", demonstrated on the Trinitron used in parent's video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j0IC0bu3dg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j0IC0bu3dg
puranjay 7y ago
Seconded. Their exploration of failed technology is particularly interesting. This two part video on CEDs - which I didn't even know were a thing - is absolutely fascinating. The depth of research rivals any educational program on TV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnpX8d8zRIA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnpX8d8zRIA

adrianmonk 7y ago

It's awesome how this toaster works, but for practical purposes, I would prefer a toaster that does not auto-start. One of the challenges of cooking is juggling multiple things so the food is all ready at the same time. Being able to do steps in advance helps with that. This actually kind of matters for toast because freshly toasted bread is a lot better than cold toast. So it's helpful to be able to take bread out of the package, stick it in the toaster, and put loaf of bread back where it belongs when convenient, then come back later and start the final step (actually toasting) at the exact right time. (On a side note, in actual fact, I have never had a toaster. A toaster oven does everything a toaster does and more. You can make a hot sandwich with melted cheese, for example.)

__s 7y ago
Had a toaster that would detect when you put bread in & start. Issue: walk away & if you don't take the toast out within a dozen seconds of it finishing, it'd go on to toast toast
- ohazi 7y ago
  i.e. set your kitchen on fire. How the hell does something like that pass basic safety testing?
- hinkley 7y ago
  This one has a latch that prevents that. To fire the second time you have to remove the toast (it’s mentioned near the end of the video).
- nbutyllithium 7y ago
  Terrifying! At least the Sunbeam toaster in his video had a mechanism that requires the toast be removed before the cycle can start again (~11:25 in the video). Thinking of all the possible ways something can fail and mitigating them can be difficult but I feel like leaving the toast in should have been an obvious one.
benj111 7y ago
"because freshly toasted bread is a lot better than cold toast" Whilst I do agree with you, there is somewhat of a bathtub curve to toast temperature. 'hotel' cold toast, with very nearly melted butter is almost as nice as fresh hot buttered toast. Tepid toast isnt so good. Ps a good overhead gas grill (broiler) is the best for toast, unfortunately most seem to be rubbish these days :(

MertsA 7y ago

Yeesh, looks like an antique fire hazard to me. Also, unless the video is mistaken, if that complex linkage fails or the inner heating element fails then the thermostat on it is going to be blocked by that bit on the bottom of the bread carriage that's meant to block it while the carriage is lowered. That seems like a good way to get it stuck in the on position so if someone just looked at the toaster, they might not even realize that it's still on because the bread isn't lowered. What happens if something flammable like a letter slides off of something unnoticed and falls into the toaster? Even if someone is home and awake the thing moves slowly and is downright silent when it turns on and lowers the toast. The first sign of something going wrong might very well be flames. This thing is a burn hazard, shock hazard, and fire hazard all in one.

maxerickson 7y ago
The burning letter would probably stain the chrome finish.
- jmpman 7y ago
  I bet it wipes clean.
sjg007 7y ago
Why would you have a letter near your toaster? Also why not unplug it when done?
- koolba 7y ago
  > Why would you have a letter near your toaster? The standard American household with 2.3 kids has everything on the counter near the toaster. For the "oven" style toasters there's an significant chance that there's something made out of either paper or plastic atop the metal roof ready to melt as well. > Also why not unplug it when done? And plug it back in every morning? That'd be unnecessarily annoying.
  - vonmoltke 7y ago

harryposner 7y ago

I don't think he's right that you could implement a bagel mode on that toaster by just running the center heating element. Both heating elements are necessary for the toaster to function (which he mentions!). You need to run the center element to drive the bread lifter, but you also need to run the outer element to heat the side of the bread facing the bimetallic strip. You can't put the bimetallic strip on the center side of the bread, since it needs direct exposure to the heat radiating off the bread, and the coiled center heating element would get in the way.

tuukkah 7y ago
Additionally, there must not be a hole in the center of the bagel as that would cause the heat from one side to radiate directly to the bimetal on the other side.

XorNot 7y ago

Loved this video. The mechanical design of this thing (the solely mechanical design) is a thing of beauty.

tompccs 7y ago

There's a simple reason why this toaster was discontinued, and that's because it can't be made from commodity components which are used by all toaster manufacturers, as well as in a variety of other domestic appliances. Plus, assembly looks quite intricate and probably highly manual. It's beautiful, sure, but go and buy a toaster today and see how much premium people are willing to pay for a designer brand with no functional advantage. Sadly toasters all work "well enough". This is a textbook example of great engineering being trumped by globalised economics and fickle consumers.

hinkley 7y ago
Except we live in a world where YouTube videos are interrupted by photogenic hipsters selling sunglasses made of titanium and hand cut, old school soap. Recreating this toaster is exactly the kind of thing I hope that set gets around to. Plus, there are toasters that cost more than my tablet which don’t have this feature. If you can make a toaster that infuriatingly stupidly expensive and sell it, you can sure as hell afford to make a workalike [of] this mechanism.
- smacktoward 7y ago
  Even for that market, the way you make money isn't by making products that are better than the commodity alternative. It's by taking the commodity alternative and dressing it up in fancy packaging and marketing so it looks like a product that's better than the commodity alternative. Making unique, superior products is expensive. Your profit margins are much better if you just take the same crap everyone else is selling and put a sharp suit of clothes on it.
- puranjay 7y ago
  My biggest pet peeve is all sorts of appliance manufacturers sticking touchscreen displays everywhere. The coffee machine in my office has a touchscreen display. It only dispenses 4 things - lattes, cappuccinos, black coffee, and espressos. Why does this have to be a touchscreen? It could have easily been more usable buttons. But I guess you can't charge a $100 premium for buttons

benj111 7y ago

Someone should introduce this guy to the Teasmaid, I think he'd be equally impressed https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teasmade https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teasmade

shakna 7y ago

I actually had one of these for a good long while. I was too terrified of it to pull it apart and understand the mechanism, but it was a great example of UX. Removing just the step of pushing down and fast return actually did make me appreciate it more. But he is absolutely right when he pointed to the paper insulated wire as a truly hideous and terrifying thing. My toaster did eventually burst into flames, and that's about where I think the fire started. Hard to tell when looking at twisted metal. I think this is a great example of the kind of things that planned obsolescence has killed. The design could probably have been improved, and the safety brought up to modern standards, through research and iteration. However, why invest in making a better toaster when you can sell a $2 worth of toaster for $5 that will expire in less than two years?

bch 7y ago
> [...] why invest in making a better [...] This is the question of our Industrial Age. I think a nice example is VW (in a former life) w their beetle program. Well documented in Small Wonder[0] under Heinz Nordhoff[1]. Easy 50 years of incremental improvements and what seem like truly human- (Volks) oriented design decisions. [0] https://www.amazon.com/Small-Wonder-Amazing-Volkswagen-Beetle/dp/0837601479 https://www.amazon.com/Small-Wonder-Amazing-Volkswagen-Beetl... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Nordhoff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Nordhoff
userbinator 7y ago
That's not regular paper. It's probably some sort of mica-asbestos composite and definitely not flammable. Fire is likely to be caused by bread crumbs, since otherwise there is nothing combustible in the toaster (unlike the plastic-ful modern ones.)

dmitriid 7y ago

The Swedish company Husqvarna used to make toasters that would carefully lower your bred, close the lid, and then carefully bring it back up much like the toaster in the video. Unfortunately, Ic an't a video of it, or even proper product descriptions (it looks like they discontinued toasters). And yeah, it wasn't as consistent :)

azinman2 7y ago

Except how do you stop it early?

kempbellt 7y ago
Turn the dial
- azinman2 7y ago
  But it’s both not very accessible as well as you’re resetting what you might want to keep as the default.
Retric 7y ago
There is probably a button, but at worst unplugging it works as toast is raised when the coils cool.
- ken 7y ago
  There is no button. You can sometimes make it abort by slamming the intensity dial all the way to the left. But yes, in general you have to unplug it, which is horribly inconvenient.
analog31 7y ago
You don't need to. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but... The classic toaster sensed the temperature of the toast, and stopped when it was done. My family had one of these, and it was quite predictable. We never had to change the setting, and it handled a variety of kinds of bread. Today's toasters, at least the cheaper ones, seem to be based solely on time, and so it's unknowable how a particular kind of bread will behave. You have to watch it and be prepared to stop it early. Bagels were a problem if the hole lined up with the sensor. I don't think store-bought bagels were a thing in our area until long after the toaster was made.

Tokkemon 7y ago

I love this channel so much. Well done Alec!

abootstrapper 7y ago

I love this guys videos.

radicalbyte 7y ago

On a slight tangent: when I saw the title I thought "I'll probably have to post a link to that Technology Connections film showing that natty old toaster". His channel is really interesting; even if like me you find his style a little irritating at first it really grows on you when you see that he really knows what he's talking about. One of my favorite channels next to Jeff Cavaliere (Athlean-X).

dwighttk 7y ago

So, you have to toast two pieces at once?

pg_bot 7y ago
No, if you have one piece of toast you put it in the slot that has the lever.
- dwighttk 7y ago
  ah, I was trying to stay around in the video until he got to that, but even at 1.75x I couldn't handle it.

twic 7y ago

As a Brit watching this video, i had to stop and google a couple of Americanisms: "unpolarized cord" - good god, you mean you can plug most American appliances in either way round, and so random parts of them will be live? This is the worst country on earth! "toaster strudels" - correction, this is the greatest country on earth.

gautamcgoel 7y ago
Comment of the day right here!
Aloha 7y ago
Pretty much every modern appliance is polarized. The key to note, in most houses when the unpolarized stuff was new, there were alarmingly few ground sources nearby, so the fact that one side of the appliance was hot, doesn't actually matter that much - so while it's safer now, it wasn't that unsafe then. I'd also point out, these choices make more sense when you consider the lower voltage of US power distribution.
- kwhitefoot 7y ago
  Pretty much every modern European mains powered device is double insulated so it doesn't matter which pole is live and which is neutral. Some countries do have polarized connectors (UK, some Polish, France, Belgium, etc.) but many do not. However supposedly competent electricians sometimes connect them the wrong way round anyway or omit the earth or both as I discovered in France last year. See this web page for a convenient list of mains connectors and countries that use them: https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/ https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
vinay427 7y ago
Tangent but virtually every country in continental Europe has two-prong unpolarized cords. It's far more common here than in the US, in my experience.

lampenrad 7y ago

Very neat design, but there are highly advanced toasters nowadays. There just doesn‘t seem a market for them in the West (yet?). Bloomberg recently covered high-end Japanese toasters: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-16/this-japanese-toaster-costs-270-it-only-makes-one-slice-at-a-time https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-16/this-japa...

megaremote 7y ago
There are high end toasters in the west. I feel like no one did any research at all. https://www.toaster.org/glass-toasters/ https://www.toaster.org/glass-toasters/
- Cytobit 7y ago
  I don't see any evidence that that site did comprehensive reviews and analysis. Just a bunch of Amazon affiliate links.

Aloha 7y ago

I'm really happy to see that a Technology Connections video made HN, this guy produces really entertaining and easy to digest videos about technology most people don't give too much thought to. While I can't say I learned anything new most of the time (This video and the one about TOSLINK are exceptions), I was entertained and can use these videos to send to someone who doesn't have a huge technical background on stuff.

staplor 7y ago

It's not as if similar toasters don't exist. I have a similar one in my kitchen. https://www.kitchenaid.com/countertop-appliances/toasters/two-slice/p.pro-line-series-2-slice-automatic-toaster.kmt2203ca.html https://www.kitchenaid.com/countertop-appliances/toasters/tw...

opencl 7y ago
There are modern toasters with the auto drop functionality but none that I'm aware of that sense the temperature of the bread like the old sunbeam does.

ubertoop 7y ago

It's antiquated. My toaster uses machine learning to determine the "doneness" of the bread. Thereby allowing for breads of variant moisture levels to be brought to the same level of doneness, independent of surface heat. Couple that with the fact that my toaster is also connected via 802.11g to the INTERNET where, naturally, I can view the toast progress via an iOS or Android app. A live feed of the toast progress is streamed to the app, and I can either cancel early or allow the bread to finish toasting. Upon finishing, a push notification is sent to my phone. Nice. Lastly, and this is probably the highlight feature... I can share my toasting status to social. With the click of a button I can share a screen shot of my toast, WITH my choice of camera filter. Nothing says "ive got it better than you" than a picture of a perfectly toasted piece of toast with a christmas spirit filter.

DaiPlusPlus 7y ago
Is it on Amazon?
- unionpivo 7y ago
  no but 50 different lookalikes from china are.
drivingmenuts 7y ago
It’s all fun and games until someone hacks your toaster to start toasting penii onto the surface.
- trhway 7y ago
  or they make the toaster to slightly and unpredictably vary the quality of the toasting - not enough for you to notice anything specific, yet enough to make you start the day with a bit of puzzled annoyance and undermining your confidence in your perception of reality - "was the toast different yesterday or is it just me?" - and leaving you with something bugging at the back of your mind through the day making you a bit impatient, a bit more easily frustrated, distracted and having some unspecified resentment building up deep inside you more and more with every day...

pooya13 7y ago

We are approaching The Toaster Event Horizon.

emcrazyone 7y ago

I have this toaster and LOVE it. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=crc8n7D4kYg https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=crc8n7D4kYg

robocat 7y ago
Does anyone know how Breville are making really usable appliances? I bought a microwave oven which has a very good UI (buttons, knobs, layout, display). Also: why do I fear the UI of anything with a German brand name?
friendlybus 7y ago
Is it bree-ville or brev-ill?

joshu 7y ago

I kinda want one. I wonder if people will start buying and modding them? I can/t wait for /r/MechanicalToasters

pkulak 7y ago

Knew who this was before I clicked. Do yourself a favor and browse his other videos: there's absolute gold in there.

modeless 7y ago

"Now you know why you were taught to never stick a knife down a toaster" That's the most interesting part of this video to me. I was definitely taught this, and I never understood why because modern toasters don't have this problem (where the insides of the toaster may be connected to a live wire even when off). Funny how this kind of cultural knowledge persists after it's no longer relevant. It's crazy to see just how unsafe appliances used to be. People maybe don't take that safety differential into account when lamenting the complexity and unreliability of modern stuff. One other safety thing: it looks like this toaster may not raise small toast high enough to easily grab. Most toaster levers let you manually raise the toast higher than normal to retrieve it. Without a lever you are forced to reach into the hot slot and risk burns or electrocution to retrieve your toast before it cools.

tbyehl 7y ago
Toaster tongs. I don't remember encountering a toaster that could lift while I was growing up... but toaster tongs were a hit at every Tupperware party.

robocat 7y ago

The nichrome wire is under tension in this device. When the nichrome wire breaks (eventual common failure I think), wouldn't that cause a high risk of the live wire touching the body of the toaster?

retroriffic 7y ago
Note that the host isn’t saying that this 60s toaster _as designed_ is better in every way— rather, that a modernized version of this design would be better than toasters designed today using the latest electronics.

denormalfloat 7y ago

That is a lot of moving parts for a toaster. It seems like even a few crumbs falling into the wrong spot would jam the falling/raising mechanism.

paulcole 7y ago

18 minutes for that. Jesus Christ.

gnicholas 7y ago

I inherited one of these from my grandfather. I always thought it was elegant because there was no manual lever, but I had no idea how complicated the mechanism is (current through a wire heats it so it expands, triggering a series of levers). After watching the first part of the video I wanted to get it back out and start using it again. Then he described the paper insulation around the wire, and I decided not to. Maybe in a few years my kid and I will watch his remediation video and give it a try. Seems like a pretty serious fire (and electrocution) hazard as-is!

soheil 7y ago

It seems like modern toasters try to accomplish so many requirements which are boring and dull at the expense of giving up on ingenuity and beautiful design. Take for example bagel mode, nearly all modern cheap toasters support that, this adds complexity and reduces viability of a rather simpler yet elegant design. Manufacturers wanting to satisfy these rather mundane requirements in order to not only appeal to as many consumers as possible, but also avoid a type of boycott because product X cannot do task Y, thus it's inferior marketing arguments, they forego engineering elegance.

soheil 7y ago
This could be a type of The Tyranny of the Minority [0] having to satisfy so many small yet forcefully demanded items. [0] https://areomagazine.com/2019/04/02/the-tyranny-of-the-minority-and-how-to-prevent-it/ https://areomagazine.com/2019/04/02/the-tyranny-of-the-minor...

starpilot 7y ago

Get a toaster oven. Does everything a toaster can, better. Reheat cookies, make small baked goods, and just easier to use.

wyclif 7y ago
I've used both frequently, and I don't think the toaster oven is easier. It's just better for things that are not slices of bread or bagels, so I'd concede it's a more general kitchen appliance. To toast bread in a toaster oven, I need to open the glass door, then position the bread on the tray, close the door, and then turn the dial. Then I have to open and close the door after toasting. With a toaster, it's just drop the bread in and push the lever down. Then pull the toast out when done. It may not seem like a significant number of saved steps, but if you're doing it over and over again it adds up.

kaendfinger 7y ago

Highly Recommend this channel btw, lots of quality videos on old technology.

gumby 7y ago

Toasters like that are still for sale. I have one I bought at Target -- hard to get more mass market than that. I recently moved into a smaller space so put the toaster in my garage and just use the oven like we did when I was a kid. My watch tells me when to pull it out!

ken 7y ago

3 months ago, I wrote a mini-rant in response to this video about how this is the Worst Toaster Ever Made: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20177007 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20177007 I stand by every word I wrote. I'd rather use a propane torch. It'd be quicker and easier and safer.

davidw 7y ago
> The sensor wasn't very good, either. There was a razor thin margin where you'd get reasonable toast, and it was almost all the way to the "light" end. At even 25% to "dark", you'd get a block of charcoal. I'd set it all the way at "light", and toast my bread twice, if needed, because that was safest. In the video, the first toast that comes out of the 'old school' toaster looks pretty dark: https://youtu.be/1OfxlSG6q5Y?t=78 https://youtu.be/1OfxlSG6q5Y?t=78
knolax 7y ago
> I'd rather use a propane torch. I've had toast made on a charcoal grill and I gotta say it tastes a lot better than toast made in a toaster.
- pkroll 7y ago
  Everything tastes better made on a charcoal grill. As someone in a high-rise, with a propane grill, my envy is considerable.
gridlockd 7y ago
Thanks for the rant. I saw that video back then and immediately suspected that it was a "so clever it's stupid" design. I hate it when companies do that stuff and get away with it, or even praised for it. (Looking at you Apple, your keyboards suck and the notch is stupid)
- erikpukinskis 7y ago
  The notch is pretty smart. People want more screen space, but it’s nice to have the battery and time visible, the notch let’s you stick them up there with the camera in otherwise wasted space.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

SubiculumCode 7y ago

My grandma is still using the toaster she bought int he 60's. My mom is still using the same microwave she bought in the 80's, crank dial and all.

switch007 7y ago

Pfffft toasters. Pan-fried toast is the best toast! This is _irrefutably_ true, because you can add butter to a pan and not a toaster! In case you aren't convinced: isn't a grilled cheese sandwich one of the best uses of bread? Case closed. Throw out your toasters and bathe in the wonderous joy of pan-fried toast.

Shivetya 7y ago

The vintage toaster you want, no bagels, is a Toastmaster 1B16. my parents have my grandfather's toaster of this model and I have one from ebay. Perfect toast each time. Sunbeam made a similar one though it had less adjustment as seen in the video but I think it was inferior to the Toastmaster; I have both and both still work Please note, whomever is using the name now is certainly not making a toaster of the same quality. they weigh a good amount but that tends to be the case of anything from the forties and fifties. Example auction of a 1B16 https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Toastmaster-1B16-Automatic-Toaster/283620320392?hash=item420916a488:g:RT0AAOSwEtpdhSdn https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Toastmaster-1B16-Automatic-... Great site for toasters https://toastercentral.com/toaster40s.htm https://toastercentral.com/toaster40s.htm

innagadadavida 7y ago

Anyone remembers the afterdark screensaver from the PC era? It looks like this toaster was used for the flying toaster. Amazing product, pity today’s stuff is just built so poorly.

Krasnol 7y ago

I like how the first time he puts toast into it, the left one comes out charcoal black before the cut. I wonder what happened there.

Too 7y ago

As ingenious as this is, can you truly call it simple? I mean just look at the patent alone, it has over 120 listed items and the real production piece probably even more. It is mechanically incredibly complex, combining all kinds of levers, materials, linkages, thermal expansion, small tolerances, reflecting radiation, latches, bimetallic switches. Contrast this with a basic design which can probably be made with 2 or 3 moving parts only: the spring, some latch and a time/heat-controlled relay. Assuming you'd want to replicate this thing with modern equipment, would it be cheaper and simpler with a servo and a µC?

wkjagt 7y ago

A while ago, I wrote (1) about an old toaster I had bought at a thrift store 7 years earlier and that I’d been using daily since. Now, 5 years later, I’m still using this same toaster, and it still out-toasts most newer toasters. I really believe it’s getting harder to find quality products that are built with longevity and repairability in mind. (1) https://medium.com/@wkjagt/i-love-my-toaster-d9b335d4abf9 https://medium.com/@wkjagt/i-love-my-toaster-d9b335d4abf9