Hard
Drives Make Great Wind Chimes!
By James L. Haworth
Computers have been around for quite some time now. Through normal wear and tear, the hard drives have failed on many of them and we now have millions of defunct memory storage units out there. What to do with them? Here are a few things we can do to recycle their parts, including making the platters into wind chimes.
Assemble your tools- a couple of pair of different pliers, regular bladed screwdrivers, small Phillips driver (very small Phillips drivers are available in a set of six), and whatever tools you think you might need. You can never have too many tools. You will absolutely need a set of small Torx screwdrivers. I got a Husky brand screwdriver set at Home Depot for six bucks. It contained torx bits -T-4 through T-10 plus a T-15 and the bits store in the handle!
First of all take a look at the picture below. This is the way the hard drive looks before we disassemble it. The top is aluminum sheet metal and is easily removed by taking out six screws. The cover screws are usually T-6 or T-7 Torx screws. They may be hidden behind paper stickers, so be sure all of them are removed. Some hard drives have an additional small hex nut to hold the cover on. Remove this also. The cover may need a little encouragement to come off, so use a bladed screwdriver.
In the corner of the drive will be an assembly consisting of one or two very powerful magnets and a read-write head arm that goes over the shiny platters. Take off the two servo magnet screws (either Phillips or Torx screws). The servo magnets sometimes are held by rivets, which are easy to drill out with a one eight-inch drill bit. Don’t forget to remove the screw in the middle of the read-write head arm.
There will be one or more platters and they have either four or six Torx screws and an aluminum washer holding down the whole assembly. Remove these screws and the platters, read-write arm, and the servo magnets should come out together. Aluminum rings will separate the platters. You will need one ring to suspend your hard drive wind chime. The servo magnets often need to be pried out with a screwdriver, as it is their nature to be stubborn. Don’t put them on the refrigerator; you could lose paint getting them off! Try not to scratch the platters and handle them by the edges to prevent greasy fingers from leaving prints as we make our wind chimes
The magnet units are surprisingly strong and I use them to magnetize my screwdrivers. Several are screwed to my workbench. For a quick fix, you can stroke the driver a few times against the magnet so it will hold screws. Most of the time I just place my screwdrivers on the magnets and leave them there. Even though the magnets are mounted vertically they never drop a screwdriver.
There will be a motor under where the platters used to be and a small component board that you may or may not remove, depending on whether you will be recycling the aluminum. They are held with small Torx screws.
After we take the hard drive apart, and all the parts are unscrewed, we will have a thin cover, a thick base and several rings, all made of aluminum. There will be a couple of steel posts in the base, but they can be dealt with by using a sturdy pair of pliers. Aluminum takes a lot less energy to recycle, than it does to mine, transport, and extract from the raw ore. It’s valuable and if you get enough of it, you can sell it to the local metal recycler. Call first to check on minimum quantities and price.
Now we get to my favorite part, putting together the hard drive wind chime.
The whole chime with its components may be suspended from one of the aluminum rings you took out of the hard drive unit. Just tie three strings from the ring to the top piece that holds the hard drive platters. The ring can later be placed on a hook screwed to the bottom of your house eaves or a tree branch. The top is often made of wood, perhaps cut into a circle or other geometric shape. Very small holes are drilled near the edge, one for each of the ring suspension and one for each of your hard drive disks. Each string is passed through the hole in the disk and tied. The other end of each string is put through the bottom of the hole drilled in the wood piece, passed over the edge and tied to itself. Don’t make the hanging strings too long or the platters of the chime could tangle in a strong wind. I might also mention that your hard drive chime doesn't have to be hung outside. It could be suspended indoors, perhaps near a forced air vent or a fan.
A word about the string. You may have noticed that most wind chimes you see in the stores use a plastic string. It’s just monofilament fishing line found in any sporting goods department. Get at least ten pounds test even though you will not be hanging anything nearly that heavy with it. Heavier test line is thicker but it will resist the deteriorating effects of the sun’s ultraviolet rays and will last longer. Put a drop of quick setting glue on all knots when you have finished the project so the plastic knots will not slip and fall apart.
There. You’re done. You won’t have to make a sail to catch the wind or a striker to hit the hard drive disks. If the disks are hung at about the same distance from the top, they will hit each other. There’s no tuning involved as you would if you made metal tube wind chimes. Just enjoy the mild tinkling sound. Your hard drive wind chime will dance in the wind, flashing in the sun. Close your eyes and relax as the tensions evaporate.
Here’s a link you might find useful as it’s an article about constructing and tuning metal tube wind chimes and contains links to two message boards. One of the boards is for chimes not made from metal tubes. Other links are for making chimes from materials such as old silverware and stained glass.