Ultimate Hard Disk Modding
One of my old WD HDDs died on me recently and I've been thinking about what I could do with it. It appears (and sounds!) like the head is broken. I was sitting around this afternoon and decided, hmmm..My HDD would look nice with a window.
I set about with my clean room (ziploc baggie with holes for screwdriver), my set of torx sockets, hacksaw, and the all important dremel tool.
I took the sticker that says "Removal will void warranty" off, and then proceded to remove all the screws, of course in complaince with common cleanroom procedure (dirty basement, ziploc baggie :) ).
Then I cut out the shape that I wanted the window to be in the HDD "top" which was now removed. I used a drill to start the cut, and then proceded with a scroll saw. I soon realized that I needed to make the actual window out of something. I scoured my workshop for a leftover pice of glass, but settled with the clear plastic top of a case that formerly held transistors. I proceded to cut this into the proper shape.
It was almost time for dinner, so I gooped up the perimiter of the window with black silicone to make an airtight seal and then stuck it onto the metal "top". I had dinner, and came back down to the workshop. The silicone had dried, leaving me a metal HDD top with a window. I screwed it back onto the HDD, and realized that I had lost a screw, oh well. Then I duct taped a "warranty" sticker around the drive so that no dust got in.
Since the drive was orginally broken, I don't know if I ruined the drive or not, but it still looks very cool while powering up. :D
If anyone can host my pictures, I would be glad to send them.