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On Jun 6, 12:12 pm, TwoGuns wrote:
At a recent garage sale I bought a box of old hard drives. I have a
project that requires several very strong magnets and when I saw this
box of 25 Hard drives for $5.00 I took them home. Taking the drives
apart was an educational experience. After seeing the way different
manufacturers go about mounting what are almost identical components I
realized how many ways there are to approach the same problem.
Obviously ALL of these drives had a problem and were not in working
condition. The most common cause of failure I noticed seemed to be
failure of spacers between the two magnets. Another vexing problem
was finding the hidden six point screws that were covered by security
tape. On the first drive I learned just how pesky the adhesive used on
the security tape can be. A box cutting razor blade worked nicely
though. Other must have tools were a set of various six sided star
wrenches, a small Phillips, a small straight screwdriver and a snap
ring removal tool. One or two older units needed a small open end
wrench but they were rare.

I have a use for the magnets but I am wondering about some of the
other parts and how I could use them. I have been told the circuit
boards are considered "HAZARDOUS" and I will probably have to take
them to a local re-cycler and pay a fee to dispose of them. I will
wait until I have a big box of them before I do that though.

The cases appear to be all Aluminum although some of them have a Black
paint on them that I am wondering about: Can I just use paint thinner
to clean them up or is there some kind of dangerous chemical in the
paint that could be a problem ? Some of the older drives are really
thick Aluminum and I think I have a few projects where I can use them.

The small drive motors look like they might be fun to tinker with
also. I hooked one up to a large 9 volt dry cell battery and I was
amazed at how fast it was spinning.

The hard drives ring like a bell when you strike them and I made a
wind chime out of several just to irritate the neighborhood squirrels.
There is a small amount of Copper windings that might be salvageable
but even at $3.00 a pound they might not be worth messing with.

I have two prescription bottles filled with assorted screws and nuts
and another with small bearings that I may find useful someday.

My 21 year old Nephew came over at the tail end of my disassembly
project and he wants me to call him the next time I get a box of them
so he can help me take them apart.

If any of you have any suggestions for projects using these parts let
me know about them. The magnets are working perfectly for the use I
intended.

Dennis

Dunno about the hard drives - but I do have some in the junkbox, will
be interesting to explore them. Have seen articles about using the
magnets in wind generators.

Most modern consumer/computer stuff is scarce on the recyclables - I
did a project with old vcr parts recently, worked out real well, vis

Pull out the head drum assembly, dismantle - it provided 2 by 16mm by
6mm bore high speed precsion bearings and a length of ground 6mm rod.
Also were 2 by brass bushings with setscrews that provided ready made
shaft positioners stops for a optical encoder I was building. Nice
quality machine screws, setscrews as well.

Old VCRs are an EXCELLENT source of high quality hook up wire in a
multitude of colors as well as shielded audio cable, with pre-stripped
ends (nice and neat) - MUCH nicer than you can buy in Tandy etc. The
power transformers are a good score too - they are designed for
continuous use, so I used one as float charger for the standby SLA
batteries in the workshop - BTW, the batteries, typically 12/40Ah came
as pulls from electric mobility scooters, they get changed on a time
used basis and are usually good for a few years more use for portable
operation.

Since metalworking came into my life, now scouring dump bins and hard
rubbish collections for interesting and recyclable mechanical/metal
bits - anyone got any good hints on this for recycling? - being a
novice, I haven't developed the "eye" that comes with experience...

Andrew VK3bFA.


Verge shopping - Council verge collections, do they have them in Victoria?
(does the 3 mean Victoria?)
&
Old photocopiers