When my brand name toaster failed after a year because of a bad crimp I looked for "industrial" toasters. Most of the traditional hotel type toaster manufacturers no longer make two or four slice toasters. Their standard line is the moving rack toaster that you see at midrange hotels with a buffet breakfast. Since that is always on (and beastly expensive) it isn't exactly what I was looking for.

Then I found a site that repairs and sells old toasters. The *really* old ones they sell to collectors. We are talking 1920's and 1930's here. But toasters from the 1950's and 1960's were popular.

If you look at most name brand toasters, of whatever price, the innards are just about the same. If you want a cast housing you pay more, but the innards don't change much.

I finally went to Good Will. A dented but working toaster was $6. Once I figured out how to take it apart (d&*^n knob!) I beat out the dent and put a toast rack rod back in the hole it popped out of. Works perfectly!

Well then. Let's take a look at the original broken one. You have to unbend lots of sheet metal tabs and get creative converting a Faston lug to connect to the heating element, but now I shouldn't want for toasters for a decade or so.