When our first cheap toaster broke, I tried to find a replacement part and then started really looking into a 'good' toaster. What I found is that there's prett

When our first cheap toaster broke, I tried to find a replacement part and then started really looking into a 'good' toaster. What I found is that there's pretty much the same metal box inside all toasters under about $200-- and even some of those seemed like they might use the same mechanism. (Cheap but costs a lot!) A few seemed like they might have slightly different control circuitry but not much else aside from the body shell. I even looked into making my own toaster (though not quite from scratch[0]) but eventually decided I wasn't willing to take on the risk of an untested electrical heating device, in the same way I would be wary of the cheapest toaster from ABCDEFG etc. on Amazon. Not long after, a customer brought a British-made toaster[1] into my repair shop. I had warned her about the impossibility of getting parts for toasters, but she'd actually already written in to the company and ordered a replacement heating element! It was surprisingly easy to work on, as the timer only controlled the heating element and the pop-up was a manual lever. At first glance that looked like a cheap solution, but on closer inspection it was built well and meant to last. (Costs a lot because it's not cheap.) I hear they still make some like that but the company's cheaper products aren't built the same. 0: https://www.dezeen.com/2009/06/27/the-toaster-project-by-thomas-thwaites/ https://www.dezeen.com/2009/06/27/the-toaster-project-by-tho... 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualit