>I also love learning about mechanical engineering and manufacturing, but have never actually tried making anything.
I strongly recommend you hire professionals for this. I've worked as a Product Manager for physical products. There is a gulf of knowledge between designing something in CAD and designing something that will endure the rigors of toasting for 20 years. The previous sentence doesn't even cover the gulf of knowledge between taking a prototype to a design that's meant for mass production.
I'm interested in creating a portfolio of open source appliances. Stuff that will last for life (or is at least repairable). If it's a "smart" applicance and open source, you don't need to worry about your appliance spying on you or being at the whims of a vendor who bricks your device for whatever reason.
"I'm interested in creating a portfolio of open source appliances."
Yes I'm very interested in that idea too. One thing I think is vital is to separate the UI and any smart features from the rest of the device. For example, cheap induction cookers have a single mcu which has the code for running the induction heater, and also runs the UI, with just a cheap display/button board as the physical interface.
This mcu package seems to be at the heart of a huge number of brands, which are all then stuck with the same terrible UI. If the ui was running on it's own mcu, talking spi or whatever to the main controller, makers could differentiate with their own UIs. And hackers could hack.
I strongly recommend you hire professionals for this. I've worked as a Product Manager for physical products. There is a gulf of knowledge between designing something in CAD and designing something that will endure the rigors of toasting for 20 years. The previous sentence doesn't even cover the gulf of knowledge between taking a prototype to a design that's meant for mass production.
I'm interested in creating a portfolio of open source appliances. Stuff that will last for life (or is at least repairable). If it's a "smart" applicance and open source, you don't need to worry about your appliance spying on you or being at the whims of a vendor who bricks your device for whatever reason.