Smelting Iron in a Microwave

By John Farrier in Art on Jul 21, 2009 at 7:24 pm


(Video Link)

Artist Thomas Thwaites is trying to build a toaster from scratch from the original raw materials — which he mined himself. Here is a video about his efforts to smelt iron ore at home. He’s doing so as a reflection upon a line from Douglas Adams’ novel Mostly Harmless: “Left to his own devices he couldn’t build a toaster. He could just about make a sandwich and that was it.”

Link via Ace of Spades

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  1. Him
    Jul 21st, 2009 at 10:26 pm

    Dang. I was waiting for the metal to explode when he put it in the microwave.

  2. Wes
    Jul 22nd, 2009 at 12:11 am

    So, buying the raw materials: not OK. Using a microwave to smelt them: perfectly reasonable?

    I believe the situation in which Arthur Dent found himself was being stuck on prehistoric Earth with no access to modern technology. Seems to me the real challenge would be to create a toaster from absolute scratch using only tools one could create himself.

    As a bonus, it should be powered with hand-cranked electricity.

  3. Buy Local
    Jul 22nd, 2009 at 11:00 am

    How bizarre.

    Seems a bit extreme to smelt the iron yourself.. I mean, building a toaster I kinda get.. but..!


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