Use a Fax Machine as a Document Copier


Use an old thrift store thermal fax machine as a quick and dirty document copy machine.

Old thermal-paper fax machines can be bought used for under $10 now.  A neat feature is using them as portable copy machines for those times when you need to quickly copy a document.  By removing the fax machine's phone handset, and any other unnecessary features, the fax machine becomes very portable.  Large thermal fax paper rolls allow lots of copies without having to worry about running out of toner.  The use of a simple 12 VDC to 120 VAC inverter will even allow for battery or vehicle operation.

The only hardware modification to this particular fax machine, a Bellsouth Model 2501P, was the removal of the handset and plastic holder, and the internal buzzer.

The removal of the buzzer allows for quite operation without all the beeping the fax machine would normally do after making a copy.

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