Old inkjet printers that no longer work or old laser printers that are no longer functioning can serve as an excellent starting point for salvaging a great number of very useful parts.

Many people use the DC motors and stepper motors as well as steel shafts and limit switches found in these old printers when they build their own CNC machines and 3D Printers.

Step 1: Starting to Take Apart the Printer by Removing Paper Tray

The first step is always to remove the paper tray and paper holder as well as any other attached large pieces of plastic. Then you can begin by taking apart the plastic shell.

Step 2: Using a Philips Screw Driver to Take Apart the Printer

A simple Philips screw driver is all that is needed to take apart most of the printers. Inkjet printer and laser printer all have useful parts that can be salvaged and recycled to be used in other projects. Most people use the parts found in printers to make their own CNC Machines and 3D Printers.

Step 3: Some of the Useful Parts From an Old Inkjet Printer

The most sough after parts in printers are the stepper motors (usually from laser printers), regular DC motors, steel rods and shafts, a whole bunch of gears and gearing systems, screws, springs, limit switches, optical encoders and much more.

After taking everything out of the plastic shell, I further disassemble the components. These are all the useful parts from the inkjet printer. I keep the cartridge head assembly as well as the paper feeder as one piece.

There are two motors that I can salvage as well as a whole bunch of useful gears. There is a 30 volt switch mode power supply that can be useful in the future.

There are a few limit switches and some plastic rollers, a whole bunch of screws and springs

Step 4: Taking Apart a Laser Printer

Taking apart this old laser printer goes much the same way. I begin by removing the paper tray and taking apart the plastic shell.

The laser printer is significantly more complex than the inkjet printer. The components also seem to be of much higher quality.

There is this stepper motor which I was really looking forward to get. It is a Nidec 50M2883061 DC 22.5V that I find in this old Brother laser printer. This stepper motor is probably the most useful part salvaged.

Step 5: Useful Parts Salvaged From an Old Laser Printer

There are these solenoid coils and some optical encoders plus the toner and the drum kit that can be salvaged as well as the laser and prism assembly.

So if you have old printers lying around at home that you can no longer use try to see what useful parts you can salvage out of them. You never know when you'll need to use them in a future CNC or 3D printer project.