Mods:
Harvesting Hard Drive Magnets
Software:
Harvesting Hard Drive Magnets
Warning: These magnets are extremely strong. Having them snap together can break them, or, if skin gets in there, WILL hurt like hell, and possibly break the skin.
Ever wanted a super strong magnet for making a motor, or maybe screwing with you're co-workers and friends, or just for the hell of it? Well, these magnets can provide hours of fun and mischief (which is fun), and better yet, these magnets are almost free! All you need is an old hard drive, screwdriver, and maybe a hammer (for more fun)
Here we have a hard drive, just sitting there, minding it's own business. Let's strip it (voiding the warranty for ever more.)
Here we see that hidden under the attractive foil cover lie a couple of screws. The screws on this drive happen to be torx, but other drives might have phillips.
Unscrew all the screws and gently pry off the top cover. Sometimes there's foil tape around the edges of the drive to seal it further, so if it doesn't come off easily, this is probably what's causing the problem.
Get a flathead screwdriver and pry the top magnet off. Sometimes these are screwed down as well, so if it doesn't come off with some prying, check for screws.
Take the drive heads and platter off, or smash em off or whatever. Get the 2nd magnet out from under the drive head assembly.
Here's the magnets, but we aren't done yet.
If you see glue around the edges of the magnet, cut, scrape, or burn it off.
These are the finished magnets. They look small, but looks can be deceiving. These are probably the strongest magnets that you can get for "free".