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That's amazing. Jaw dropping.
I thought I was cool for making a clock one time.
No but I wish I had been. 😑
Back in the day I bought a fridge freezer combo, second hand, no handles. Used to be a built in model. As handles I used two magnets from full height drives, they were ludicrously strong and shaped like a little bit like a handle.
Full height drives were 3.25" high for those who are wondering.
I use the old disks as costers
No, because I am worried the NSA may try to collate data from them. In fact, I zero-wipe, drill bit the drives in the platters and the PCB, and drop them off at e-waste for recycling.
I thought you made a custom thermos bottle at first
Same.
Both of my autistic kids love magents. I will pull them from old drives, car/pc speakers, or anything else that has them.
Now I am feeling sorry I did not...
There's some really fun chemistry in the rare-earth magnets - I used to buy them in bulk to enlarge my own IT-workshop collection, which was mostly broken down for Nd salts. Also, the magnets from iMac screens were also plentiful when HDD magnets got small (and then went extinct).
What are they made of anyways?? Could one see any etching marks with a microscope?
Usually aluminium or glass. There's a metallic coating applied to the outside surfaces that stores the data. That layer is very thin though, so most of the material is the substrate.
They aren't etched
I don't have the space to hoard garbage.
Considering they're covered in toxic shit, nope.
I'm pretty sure that's not true. What do you think is on there?
They contain lead, as well as other harmful toxins. I did a bit of research and it seems unless you physically destroy the platters it shouldn't be an issue.
Still, I'd rather just not do something so useless and risk my health in the process.
A typical HDD design consists of a spindle that holds flat circular disks, called platters, which hold the recorded data. The platters are made from a non-magnetic material, usually aluminum alloy, glass, or ceramic. They are coated with a shallow layer of magnetic material typically 10–20 nm in depth, with an outer layer of carbon for protection.[46][47][48] For reference, a standard piece of copy paper is 0.07–0.18 mm (70,000–180,000 nm)[49] thick.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive
This comment suggests it may contain leaded solder.
I use them as a coaster for coffee. They shouldn't contain any lead. I guess that would be illegal at least in the EU. You can't even put lead in solder anymore, so I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to put it in HDDs.
No, but you do, and I like this ob-jay-dar
Stanley
I have like 30 old hard drives laying around and have been thinking about doing a cool art installation with them for a while.
Maybe shatter the platters to create a spiky landscape and epoxy them in, or something like that.
Any ideas?
I use an old platter on my desk as a coaster.
Already have a few of those, always a good party gag for the ones that know.
Their density makes them ring like a bell, if suspended by a wire through the center. Good wind chimes.
Will have to try that, also a good way to one-up my neighbor with those CDs hanging outside. :)
As more of an artist than a techie for the most part — if you have your medium or at least part of it — the more interesting thing about art is what you have to say about it.
As an example, if you want to draw a distinction and comparison between the age of discovery and the age of technology, you could use the hard drives as a canvas on which to paint a portrait of something like Robert Scott / Lawrence Oates, or Jacques Cousteau, or Armstrong and Aldrin etc.
On that last one - if you could tie the size of the drive in comparison to the size of the code used in the moon landing that might also be interesting.
Anyway, all that to say - art is a mix of medium and message
Thanks for the artist view on things. :)
I mostly want something pretty to look at but adding a message to it is an excellent idea.
If you have different types you could do an exploded view hardware showcase
Yes, I've got quite a few types, good idea.
I keep the magnets, but I shred the platters. 'cause magnets are cool.
That's funny, that's exactly the method I stored my cdRoms back in the day.