[Gllug] Disk Wipe

[Frank Scott]

On Wed, May 26, 2004 at 01:45:27PM +0100, Chris Bell wrote:
> On Wed 26 May, Andrew Halliwell wrote:
> > 
> 
> > 
> > They must be tough then 
> > I always thought disk platters were rather brittle (strong enough to
> > withstand the odd knock when encased in a drive casing, but exposed and used
> > as a mirror...)
> > 
> > Aren't you afraid of shrapnel?
> > :)
> > 
>    There has been one crashing around in my toolbag for ages. It feels very
> stiff and unlikely to bend, but it seems to be much tougher than glass. I
> did choose one which did not have concentric circles ground in to the
> surface. Perhaps I should test one with a hammer.
> 
I once collected a large number of platters (> 50) for a friend's project,
and I kept some samples of the glass and aluminium substrates. They
don't look very different, but emit different notes when used as wind
chimes!

The aluminium platters are not brittle. I'm using one from an old 5.25
drive to mount the rotating blades on the robot lawnmower I'm building
and it machines very nicely.

My favourite method of putting disc platters beyond any change of
reading them is to cook them on the hot plate of an electric stove.

If the rise above the Curie point doesn't do it, the plastic deformation
when they begin to melt certainly does.

Frank

-- 
    .^.     .''`. 
    /V\    : ;`  :   Frank Scott  Sutton, London
  /(   )\  `. ''`
   ^^ ^^     `- 
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