Crafts from a hard drive engine. Vacuum cleaner from an old computer hard drive. Preparing an old hard drive

If you have an unnecessary, old, or perhaps non-working one lying around at home HDD and, in addition, you like to do interesting nonsense, then you are at the right place. Today we will look at one more application, besides the main one. hard drive. There is nothing sensible or useful in this, but I hope you will find it interesting.

What do we do with an old hard drive?

The hard drive rotates at breakneck speed during operation. Process work hard The disk can be found in the article What do you think will happen if the disk is spun up to breakneck speed and let go for a walk around the world? This is exactly what our old hard drive will do. The following describes the process that precedes this fun.

Preparing an old hard drive

To prepare an old hard drive for this event, you need to remove its cover and remove the hard drive head, which is used to read information. If everything is done correctly, the hard drive should look like this:

As you can see, removing the magnetic disk itself is no longer a problem. This is exactly the result we need to achieve: the magnetic disk should freely come off its burrow, but this does not need to be done yet. When the time comes, he will get down from there himself.

What do we do next?

After that, we need to connect power to our old hard drive. This should be done from the computer's power supply. If we connect power to the hard drive and supply electricity to the power supply, our drive will start spinning. This is what we are trying to achieve. Now slowly lower the hard drive to the floor and begin to gently tilt it so that the open side is closer to the floor. Somewhere in a perpendicular position (plus or minus a few degrees), the disk will be able to fly off its hole. You can help him with this. Here, make sure that the direction of rotation of the disk does not coincide with your location. As soon as the disc comes off, it will speed out of sight across the floor.

The principle is probably clear. It's like toy cars, the wheels of which need to be charged in reverse motion, after which they will go quite far. It’s the same here: we charge our disk with kinetic energy and lower it to the floor. But unlike a toy car, you need to be a little careful. Since some hard disks can spin up to 15,000 rpm, then in front of you is something like a cutting wheel. Therefore, there is no need to place fragile objects or close friends in the path of the old hard drive.

But you shouldn’t worry too much about safety. The untwisted disk runs perfectly straight, so you can choose its trajectory yourself and not be afraid that it will turn in the wrong direction. We did not observe any destructive actions in relation to the floor and wall (the only thing in my case that was not afraid of coming face to face with the disk).

This is how you can make a new toy out of an old hard drive.

And just for those who like to browse the site in search of interesting and useful things. As usual in our time, old things are disposed of in the most common way, this is throwing them into landfills, but sometimes it happens that something useful can be collected from an item that has failed or lost its basic qualities, in other words, given a second life. In this homemade product, the author shares with us the idea of ​​​​creating a vacuum cleaner from a hard drive, which is not capable of working as a storage device due to its long service life.

In order to assemble a vacuum cleaner with your own hands, we will be needed:
*A hard drive from a computer that is not capable of functioning normally as a storage device or is simply unnecessary.
*Plastic ribbon.
*Glue "second".
*Hacksaw blade for metal.
*Thick cardboard or thin plywood of your choice.
*Insulation tape.
*Thermal gun.
*A filter, which can serve as an unnecessary stocking, tights or sock.

Once all the components are available, you can begin making the vacuum cleaner.
The first step will be to disassemble the hard drive and free it from unnecessary parts that we will not need,
Be careful when disassembling, as many elements are glued with strong adhesive and if torn off you can get hurt.

In this publication, we will look at what can be made using an unnecessary old hard drive.

Neodymium magnets in a computer

First you need to unscrew several screws that secure the housing parts. Under the cover we see a neodymium magnet. Hard drives use very powerful magnets that can lift up to 1,300 times their own weight.

All modern drives always have two magnetic head block limiters and, accordingly, 2 neodymium magnets. To remove the 2nd magnet, you need to unscrew another screw and remove it together with the holder or first unscrew the block of magnetic heads and then pry it off with a screwdriver.

The uses of neodymium magnets are almost limitless. For clamps and fasteners, toys and entertainment, cleaning engine and transmission oil, searching for treasures and lost iron objects under water, making engines and generators, restoring the magnetic properties of other magnets and much, much more.

Mini sandpaper made from a hard drive

To do this, you first need to transfer the dimensions of the disk onto sandpaper; this can be conveniently done using a compass. You should use fine-grain sandpaper so as not to overload the engine. So, cut out the outer diameter with scissors and the inner diameter with a stationery knife.

Glue the sandpaper where possible using glue. But in order not to wait for a long time for the glue to dry and so that you can easily change the sandpaper, you can use double-sided tape.

The emery is already ready. We connect it to the connector from computer unit food and use it. Despite its small dimensions, this sanding machine is quite powerful. Its power is enough to sharpen screwdrivers, pencils, chisels and carving knives.

How to eliminate PC noise

Often old computer cases make a lot of noise. One of the reasons for this problem is the direct mounting of the hard drive to the PC case. When reading information, the disk develops enormous speeds and, accordingly, a slight vibration appears, which is transmitted to the entire computer case. A small manufacturing defect, poor soldering or a screw not tightened completely in the case lid will always remind you of this.

To fix this problem we just need to cut 4 rubber strips. This could be old bicycle tubes, deflated children's balls, or a piece of silicone car mat. We screw the ribbons to the hard drive and attach it to a new place just below the DVD-ROM or even instead.

Overall, an excellent result is obtained, since all vibrations are absorbed by the rubber bands. This device can also be called an anti-shock. If you accidentally kick your PC, it will have no effect on the hard drive.

Before we start gutting your hard drive, let's talk about data security. A "dead hard drive" means that the drive is not functioning properly and any attempts you make to recover the data will programmatically were not successful. If the disk contains really important data, and you suspect that there may be an eccentric who will decide to get it, then erase the data so that it is not recoverable :). Although, if the only valuable thing on your screw was stolen rips of Bon Jovi concerts, then your hardware is ripe for all sorts of DIY projects (Do It Yourself projects).

Basically, all DIY projects with hard drives, can be divided according to the levels of technical knowledge and skill of the experimenter. Let's start from simple to complex :).

Extraction of spare parts

The simplest but most useful thing that can be obtained from a hard drive is magnets. Hard drives use super strong magnets and can be used in any household. Here is an example of how one character built a knife holder for the kitchen. He took a wooden plank, extracted the core with a chisel, and stuffed magnets into it.

In general, of course, he did this in vain, because when a friend has knives at hand, it’s not far from everyday life :). It’s good that I didn’t catch the pans.

They are also often used to magnetize screwdrivers or as refrigerator magnets.

Let's add more creativity

Ordinary screw pancakes can be turned into a steampunk clock. To do this, you will need a few parts, which you can find in hobby stores, or try to discreetly borrow your granny's alarm clock.

And if “your hands are not for boredom,” then next you can assemble an LED clock from a hard drive.

You can also turn an old hard drive into a super-sensitive input device. You can see how a craftsman turned his old HDD into a DJ console.

Here's just a small sketch interesting solutions from old pieces of iron.

It’s interesting how our readers use dead hard drives in everyday life.

If your hard drive is broken and cannot be restored, then, as in the joke, you can get an ashtray, a mirror and a magnet from it :) In fact, you can get MUCH more, and I will now tell you how to do it and what is there interesting.
If you don’t have a faulty hard drive (hard drive), don’t be upset, contact your computer friends, friends, or any service center computer equipment, they definitely should have such copies (usually in workshops men are too lazy to throw away old trash). The “older” the disc, the better: before, they didn’t skimp on material and all sorts of things.

For the master class, I took as many as three pieces (I saved up for a long time) to show the possible differences (although they are usually all different, you will never guess what is under the cover this time) In addition to the hard drive itself, we will need screwdrivers (minimum - Phillips and flathead (" +" and "-"), maximum - a set of screwdrivers as in the photo in the upper left corner, namely a hexagonal star attachment).

This photo shows that there are different thicknesses. It’s better (if you have a choice) to take a thicker one, there may be a bonus: not one, but even two or three mirrors! Plus all sorts of other things.

If the “screws” (the slang name for a hard drive) are like this (from a similar company), then it will be easier for you; you only need Phillips and straight screwdrivers, they are usually found in every home. I don’t know where, but I came across ALL hard drives from this company with cross mounts...

Like this

Unscrew the bolts and take a flat screwdriver (as a lever, so it’s better to be stronger)

We place a screwdriver under the lid and, turning it slightly, go around the perimeter. The lid is usually glued to something similar to silicone, so simply pressing the lever does not work well, especially since you can break something inside with a sharp movement.

Does not work? Is there something stopping you from opening it? Still would! Manufacturers are not fools:) there are always one or two. or even three hidden bolts under the stickers :) Feel with a screwdriver and you will find dimples that can easily be picked out with the same straight screwdriver. That's where I had it hidden :)
And another tip: when you unscrew the bolts, you don’t need to do it one by one, you need to loosen each one by half a turn or a turn and only then unscrew them completely, otherwise it may turn out that the last one or two cannot be unscrewed due to the skew of the lid. Also IMPORTANT: when the bolt does not want to come off, you do not need to turn it with force - this way you can scratch out either a screwdriver or the hole. You need to press the screwdriver with almost all your weight perpendicular to the product, and while pressing, lightly try to turn it. The harder you press, the better. I even had to unscrew fasteners that my husband couldn’t unscrew =) The main thing here is technology and accuracy, not strength =) Although strength is still needed, if your hand is tired, it’s better to get to work in a couple of hours, when your hand has rested.

So, we did it all. And what beauty is inside the lid! Everything sparkles :)
Someone will decide that beauty is needed to admire it and will leave everything as it is, but I’m greedy :) Therefore, I’ll analyze it further.

Now you need to unwind top elements one by one. It's better to start with a magnet and a "prickly thing." And as a warning, when unwinding, use the method I described above, since in the middle everything is usually screwed on very tightly and you can ruin the whole thing.

After the magnet is unscrewed (sometimes, by the way, it is not screwed in at all, but simply fixed on the protrusions in the case), we remove the upper part of the magnet with the same lever screwdriver, just be very careful, it can become magnetized back and knock off your fingers! The lower part of the magnet (most often it is not a magnet, but just a piece of iron) can also be screwed on, or can simply be easily removed after removing the magnet

Now it comes to the mirror. There are many difficulties here:
first - the element rotates and you need to hold it tightly and press down to unscrew all the bolts
second - it is very easy to scratch the mirror with a screwdriver, and then these scratches will not be pleasing at all
and the third - according to the law of meanness, if you don’t follow the rules that I described above - the last bolt ALWAYS turns out to be tightly screwed... here you already have to tinker, rest and tinker again (after all, for the first and second reasons you need to unscrew it carefully)
BUT the result of greed is always the same: after all, everything gets promoted and very interesting and beautiful things are obtained: in the photo there is a ring with holes...

The mirror itself (here you should rejoice and clap your hands - especially if there are several mirrors)
By the way, now do you understand why it is called “hard drive”?
The disk must be removed carefully by moving the little thing to the right (I call it a mouse, I’ll explain why later)

When all the mirrors have been removed and the joy has subsided, you can unscrew the motor (located under the disk) and the “mouse”. The “mouse” can simply be removed from the base upwards, or it can be screwed on.

I don’t know, maybe it’s a bad photo, but in this circle in the middle there is a depression. You're lucky if, in addition to the recess, there is a transverse slot - this means you can unscrew this cylinder with a regular straight screwdriver. I was unlucky - and therefore we take a closer look at the recess, or rather at its shape. For me it’s a hexagon - which means I take it from a set of screwdrivers (there is also a set of wrenches - men should know) approximately suitable in size and twist.

That's it! Only now I realized that I never took a photo of the “mouse”:(((But I think if you look at the other photos (and especially if you look at it yourself), you will understand why this is so. When the cylinder is removed, you get something like an “eye” "mouse. And the sharp end is its nose. Some old hard drives used colored wires, and when I tore the cable of the “spiky thing” from the mouse, funny antennae wires stuck out at the tip of its nose :) That’s why the “mouse”

Let's return to our trial. This is what we ended up with. This thing can be used in different ways: as a hammer :), as an ashtray (you just have to screw the motor into place and cover the holes with something), or it can be used in some other way, I think you shouldn’t have any problems with its use.
But first we need to turn it over and unscrew something no less valuable to us.

We unscrew 4-5 bolts (I think an intermediate photo is not needed) - and lo and behold! In addition to the cool circuit (from which, if necessary, you can remove the microcircuits, or use it as your own decoration), we also have a miracle foam rubber. It’s a miracle, because it is unique in density, softness, etc. It was from this that I made the pupils for my felted dragon, but you can cut out anything you want! Sometimes the foam rubber is covered with film on one side, and sometimes without it. If the hard drive is very old, the foam rubber is uninteresting, and most often burnt here and there.

Here are our treasures :)
By the way, maybe your imagination can tell you WHAT can be made from bolts? I already have a SEA of them, in different sizes and colors... maybe your imagination will tell you? :)

Below is another photo possible options analysis using the example of other hard drives

You just need to pry up a piece of metal and peel it off a little from all sides; the glue, as you remember, is like silicone and it stretches. The main thing is not to bend

This time there was another surprise in store for me - a metal ring under the lid. At first I thought it was a magnet and was happy, but the magnet effect created a very tenacious glue.

You can disconnect the circuit immediately, even before disassembling the entire “screw”. Especially when it is attached with a cable that can be accidentally torn if done the other way around.
The train comes out easily, just pull it.

This is the advantage I talked about when I pointed out the thickness of the hard drive. Here the top cover turned out to be very roomy, and there are only two holes in it (they can either be sealed or the same bolts can be screwed in), this is an ideal ashtray :) or a container for small items... you decide.