old hdd repurpose

[apoyusiken]

i have some old broken hdds and can i do smt with them other than a mechanical sand paper?

[Electronics Wizardy]

What models? If there about a 1tb or less maybe keep them as spares, but really not usefull. I use them for test bench PCs at times(they boot linux without a GUI fine)

[NumLock21]

Not a good idea to store something in a broken HDD. I would use as a paper weight.

[apoyusiken]

37 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

What models? If there about a 1tb or less maybe keep them as spares, but really not usefull. I use them for test bench PCs at times(they boot linux without a GUI fine)

 

32 minutes ago, NumLock21 said:

Not a good idea to store something in a broken HDD. I would use as a paper weight.

 

42 minutes ago, apoyusiken said:

 broken 

i meant they dont work (they spin but the pcs dont detect them really, and yea its not a good idea to store things on them even if they worked)

[Electronics Wizardy]

32 minutes ago, apoyusiken said:

 

 

i meant they dont work (they spin but the pcs dont detect them really, and yea its not a good idea to store things on them even if they worked)

If the PCs don't detect them right or they have issues, toss them. Not worth trying to fix

 

[apoyusiken]

2 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

If the PCs don't detect them right or they have issues, toss them. Not worth trying to fix

 

you dont get the question, some people have glued sandpaper on the disks to make a mechanical sandpaper. im asking for something similar .

[Electronics Wizardy]

5 minutes ago, apoyusiken said:

you dont get the question, some people have glued sandpaper on the disks to make a mechanical sandpaper. im asking for something similar .

Take out the magnets for fun? 

 

The motors are too gutless for sanding well.

[manikyath]

you have some magnets and a very gutless high speed brushless motor, as well as some random screws and bearings.

 

there is nothing you can do with those motors "directly". they are designed to spin a perfectly round and smooth disc at 7200rpm exactly, noting else.

[Pusbucket]

@apoyusiken @Electronics Wizardy @manikyath

 

it's been done more than a few times;

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/hdds/old-hdd-reworked-into-a-variable-speed-disc-sander

 

https://hackaday.com/2025/04/16/making-a-variable-speed-disc-sander-from-an-old-hard-drive/

 

and some folks are selling them on e-bay;

https://www.ebay.com/itm/406237165449?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28&var=676561684872&google_free_listing_action=view_item&srsltid=AfmBOoo4BEl2gnOEbRqRNXL81gkGWpcR3zH08pY8qgJZDrWvGXvdFEiv3uk&com_cvv=8fb3d522dc163aeadb66e08cd7450cbbdddc64c6cf2e8891f6d48747c6d56d2c

 

 

Granted your not going to be sanding down a redwood pool deck, but hey, it apparently works.

[manikyath]

6 minutes ago, Pusbucket said:

it's been done more than a few times;

doesnt mean that it was done well, or in any way useful.

 

- first video uses a very old drive, presumably with a relatively powerful motor.. although with the song overlay it's sort of difficult to gauge how well it's working.

- second video you can just hear it slow down when they're lightly touching it with a a very flimsy blade while barely taking material off. my battery powered dremel has significantly more power than this, and that is in no way a gutsy tool.

- third video.. once again gutless.

 

and while converting an old HDD to do this, there's so many options out there that make this completely irrelevant...

- a dremel or similar tool, with a disc attachment. they can be had STUPID cheap, and are both more powerful and more versatile. 

- desk mounted disc sanders (you know.. the tool this is mimicing) can be had for 100 bucks just off a quick google.

- do you have a drill? do you perhaps have a use for a drill? congrats, this entire project is now irrelevant. i use my milwaukee drill as a drill, sander, saw, and even miniature lathe.

- find an old (broken?) record player on ebay. they're just as gutless but you have a nice big surface to work on.

- remember that place where you bought that motor controller for the hard drive? well.. it turns out they sell propper motors too, and some of them may somewhat fit in before mentioned turntable. somewhere in my pile of random bits is a drone motor *with included controller* that i paid about 5 bucks for, that laughs at your puny HDD motor.

- CD drives tend to have a more powerful motor.

 

literally the only redeeming factor for making this viable is that in a HDD the motor is already attached to a disc, and it's spinning fast enough that that disc has *some* momentum to do *some* work.

 

now.. dont get me wrong, it's a great "feel good" project for a saturday afternoon, but if your goal is to sand something, elbow grease is gonna do you better than an old hard drive.

[Pusbucket]

2 minutes ago, manikyath said:

doesnt mean that it was done well, or in any way useful.

Yeah, I never said it was an awesome sander, but;

Could put a car buffing pad on it and use it to buff & polish Hot Wheels cars.

Glue little chairs to it and make a scary ride for Barbie dolls.

It could be slightly modified and used to wind thread onto spools or windings onto little motors. 

Mount it on the ceiling with platter facing down, attach strings of monofilament to the edge of the platter and tie tiny plastic birds to the ends. When it's on the birds would spin around like they were flying!

 

Man! The possibilities are endless!! 

 

 

[apoyusiken]

6 hours ago, manikyath said:

doesnt mean that it was done well, or in any way useful.

 

- first video uses a very old drive, presumably with a relatively powerful motor.. although with the song overlay it's sort of difficult to gauge how well it's working.

- second video you can just hear it slow down when they're lightly touching it with a a very flimsy blade while barely taking material off. my battery powered dremel has significantly more power than this, and that is in no way a gutsy tool.

- third video.. once again gutless.

 

and while converting an old HDD to do this, there's so many options out there that make this completely irrelevant...

- a dremel or similar tool, with a disc attachment. they can be had STUPID cheap, and are both more powerful and more versatile. 

- desk mounted disc sanders (you know.. the tool this is mimicing) can be had for 100 bucks just off a quick google.

- do you have a drill? do you perhaps have a use for a drill? congrats, this entire project is now irrelevant. i use my milwaukee drill as a drill, sander, saw, and even miniature lathe.

- find an old (broken?) record player on ebay. they're just as gutless but you have a nice big surface to work on.

- remember that place where you bought that motor controller for the hard drive? well.. it turns out they sell propper motors too, and some of them may somewhat fit in before mentioned turntable. somewhere in my pile of random bits is a drone motor *with included controller* that i paid about 5 bucks for, that laughs at your puny HDD motor.

- CD drives tend to have a more powerful motor.

 

literally the only redeeming factor for making this viable is that in a HDD the motor is already attached to a disc, and it's spinning fast enough that that disc has *some* momentum to do *some* work.

 

now.. dont get me wrong, it's a great "feel good" project for a saturday afternoon, but if your goal is to sand something, elbow grease is gonna do you better than an old hard drive.

yea bro the goal isnt really to sand smt just like doing smt fun. if the goal was sanding why would i be looking fot things to do with them

[Ryker Robb]

4 hours ago, apoyusiken said:

yea bro the goal isnt really to sand smt just like doing smt fun. if the goal was sanding why would i be looking fot things to do with them

 

[whispous]

16 hours ago, apoyusiken said:

broken

no

[apoyusiken]

3 minutes ago, whispous said:

no

what