Artful Variable Resistor Built Out of Scavenged Junk

I love seeing old junk repurposed into something new and useful, and our readers are no strangers to scavenging components from otherwise valueless devices. But what about building the component itself from garbage? That’s exactly what janitor Crvknight did to make this surprisingly artful variable resistor.

Variable resistors (usually in the form of potentiometers) are such ubiquitous and inexpensive components that most of us would probably never even consider making our own. If you don’t have a potentiometer on hand and don’t want to wait for delivery, you might pull one out of an old appliance. But actually making one? That’s new.

Crvknight built this one using supplies that seem to have been collected from their place of employment — likely things that were being thrown out. Those supplies include coat hanger, copper wire, and the graphite rods from No.2 pencils.

They then used those to form what is essentially a linear potentiometer. Sliding the two stands closer together lowers resistance, while moving them apart increases resistance. That happens because current flows through the graphite, which has relatively high resistance. The more distance the current has to travel through the graphite, the more the resistance adds up.

And though it takes up an awful lot of space, it has a freeform artistic quality that is very appealing.

The best part is that this is just one component of a larger project. Crvknight intends to make an entire electroplating system entirely out of garbage, with this as part of the power circuit. That should really be something to behold and I can’t wait to see it.