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.

If anyone can host my pictures, I would be glad to send them.