DIY HDD: As any laptop fanatic will attest, being within the laptop enterprise for a couple of years often means accumulating a pile of spare components and {hardware} parts. Previous arduous drives might be repurposed as extra storage in newer techniques, and even reworked into inventive modding initiatives with a couple of additional items and a little bit of soldering, after which there’s this.
One such modder, who enjoys tinkering with electronics and PC {hardware}, turned a retired arduous disk drive right into a customized disc sander. Not too long ago featured by Tom’s {Hardware}, the undertaking makes intelligent use of the 7200 RPM velocity of an previous WD HDD, together with a couple of extra parts and a few primary instruments.
The creator, generally known as “ProShorts 101,” used a WD Caviar Blue WD1600AAJS drive, relationship again to 2009 and providing what was then a lavish 160GB of storage. To finish the construct, he integrated a 30A digital velocity controller, a servo tester, a 12V socket, and sandpaper, which he glued to the HDD’s spinning disc.
The modder disassembled the arduous drive, eliminated the PCB and different parts usually present in a functioning drive, and put in the brand new components. He even reused a number of the unique metallic casing to protect the interior components, leaving solely the rotating disc uncovered. Lastly, sandpaper was glued onto the metallic disc floor, finishing the “transportable” disc sander.
As somebody urged within the video feedback, ProShorts may have improved the design through the use of Velcro as an alternative of glue. This might permit for straightforward substitute of worn sandpaper sooner or later. Others praised the ingenuity of repurposing a (presumably) non-functional arduous drive into one thing helpful.
Disc sanders are available in numerous sizes, shapes, and value ranges, and buying a high-quality one usually requires a big funding. Whereas an HDD-based sander will not grind heavy-duty metals or allow you to construct a home, it may very well be “adequate” for some private, smaller scale initiatives.
ProShorts 101’s DIY creations embody quite a lot of testers and digital devices. He clearly has a ardour for reworking on a regular basis objects into new, useful “toys” although we discovered that the overuse of phrases like “superb,” “unbelievable,” and “helpful” makes searching his YouTube channel a tad bit bothersome.
