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Thread: Hard drive clock
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5th July 2012, 05:50 PM #1
He's dead Jim
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Hard drive clock
This isn't woodwork but thought you lovers of the tick-tocks might like it
*Really* simple to make. It only involves pulling the cover off with a T6 star driver, tapping out the drive spindle, drilling an 8mm hole through the drive plate holder, and filing down part of the face of the drive plate holder a little to be able to get a 24mm shaft through far enough to attach securely.
The stand at the back is just a bit of coat hanger wire I bent around a tin to make the curve with a couple of short bends on the ends to go inside some screw holes.
The drive's reading head (the arm at the bottom of the disc) can still be moved over the plate with enough room for the hands to pass over it which might make for an interesting "action in still-life" pose and contrast with the clock hands.
As a desk top clock, and without numbers, it could sit either horizontally or vertically.
There is a fair bit of magnetic stuff inside the drive (around the plate and the reading arm) so I'm not sure how it's going to affect the clock's accuracy. I guess time will tell *boom tish*
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5th July 2012, 06:35 PM #2
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Nice one! Hard disc have lots of precision parts ideal to harvest for clock work..if you ask me.
The magnet are super strong and will I predict affect the clock mechanism.Must be an older drive cause the platter is removable. Time will tell...
Dean.
Ps is it a segate?
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5th July 2012, 06:48 PM #3
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It's an old 80 gig Western Digital Caviar donated by a mate (who doesn't know what I'm sending it back as).
I'll see how much the magnets affect the short-term precision and if it's too bad I'll see if I can fix it up. Around the inside of the platter it would be easy enough but require a bit of work on the grinder. I haven't researched a DIY way of demagnetising something, so it might even be easier than that.
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5th July 2012, 06:54 PM #4
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Very nice piece. Great recycling and a real talking point for the right desk.
As 1964deano says, there's an interesting collection of precision bits to be found inside a hard drive. I predict the magnetic brackets will play havoc too as they are super strong. I use them screwed to the wall as tool holders in fact.
Just read your second post....
The reading heads and brackets can be removed but it does leave a bit of a blank space. You must have rotated them to get them off the platter so it's well and truly stuffed and is now a zero gig drive.
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5th July 2012, 07:02 PM #5
He's dead Jim
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Just had a quick look on ye olde Google for demagnetising and found this:
FAQ How do you demagnetize a magnet
Heat it up or whack it with a hammer. It doesn't get much easier than that
I thought I'd leave the reading arm in just because it looked funky. Now I'll see if I can pop it off to demagnetise and do as much of the unit as I can.
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5th July 2012, 09:10 PM #6
He's dead Jim
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Well that was easy.
I pulled the drive apart to access the magnetic bits, put them on a shovel in the fire (I'm sure the oven would have been just as good but it was sooooooooo far away
) and let them sit there for a bit. The magnetic bits went back to normal and as a bonus the glue that was keeping them attached melted away so they fell off anyway. I've scorched the pieces a little so they look like a very very faint bronze which is a little bit of a bummer, but lesson learned and I'll be more prepared for next time.
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6th July 2012, 01:00 AM #7
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The magnets are very brittle as well and as you observed only seem to be glued on. I have pulled heaps apart for my clock so far and use the magnets to hold the tools and cutters on the inside walls of my cnc.Dean
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6th July 2012, 09:49 AM #8
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Originally Posted by RedShirtGuy
This isn't woodwork but thought you lovers of the tick-tocks might like it
And the computer persons among us.
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16th July 2012, 09:49 PM #9
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Love it!!
Perfect gift for a Technophile...
Too many projects, so little time, even less money!Are you a registered member? Why not? click here to register. It's free and only takes 37 seconds! Doing work around the home? Wander over to our sister site, Renovate Forum, for all your renovation queries.
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21st July 2012, 03:54 PM #10
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very nice
Very original, I like it!
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