Amateur engineer embarks on homemade floppy disk creation, discovering the process was unfamiliar to them upon unleashing their engineering skills
In a groundbreaking demonstration, YouTuber Polymatt has successfully constructed a 3.5-inch floppy disk from scratch using consumer-available materials. This homemade replica, reminiscent of a 44-year-old storage medium, showcases the combination of precision CNC milling, laser cutting, and a handcrafted magnetic coating process.
- CNC Machining of the Disk Enclosure
Polymatt meticulously crafted the floppy disk’s enclosure and mechanical parts from aluminum plates approximately 3 mm thick, using a Carvera Air desktop CNC machine. The enclosure was modeled precisely by measuring an original floppy disk with calipers and designing it in Shapr3D software. To achieve the thin shell walls (~1.6 mm), a tape-and-superglue method was employed to secure the metal during milling, and afterwards, sanding gave it a brushed aluminum finish.
- Laser-Cutting the Magnetic Disk Substrate
The internal magnetic disk was cut from a thin PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film by employing a 5-watt laser attached to the CNC machine. The film’s thinness and flexibility replicated the iconic floppy disk’s substrate, which is critical for smooth spinning inside the shell. To flatten the laser-cut PET film and remove internal stresses, it was heated to about 70°C and placed under a weighted glass panel inside a 3D printer.
- Applying the Magnetic Coating
Polymatt prepared a magnetic suspension—a fine iron oxide powder suspended in a carrier fluid— which was then applied evenly onto the PET film. Achieving a magnetic coating thickness of about 2 microns was required to rival commercially-manufactured floppy disk media. The coating method involved degassing the suspension to remove air bubbles, then applying it under even, consistent pressure with a single stroke, and drying inside a gentle vacuum to prevent imperfections.
- Role of Tween 20 in the Magnetic Coating Process
Tween 20, a non-ionic surfactant, likely served as a dispersing agent in the magnetic suspension. It helps maintain a stable, homogeneous mixture of iron oxide particles suspended in liquid, enabling a smooth, uniform coating without clumping. This uniformity is crucial to create a thin, consistent magnetic layer that can be magnetized properly for data storage. Tween 20 also helps in wetting the surface and controlling the fluid’s flow, which facilitates the precise, even application needed on the thin PET substrate.
- Testing and Writing Data
After assembly, testing was done with a device called the Grease Weasel, which visualizes magnetic flux transitions on the disk, showing the magnetic polarity flips that encode binary data. Initial attempts at writing and reading data showed visible magnetic patterns, and with tweaks, Polymatt succeeded in writing raw data track sectors detectable by floppy disk emulation software, albeit basic and limited in functionality.
Andy Edser, a hardware writer for PC Gamer, has been building and reviewing PC hardware since he was 12 years old. Despite his early start, he still remembers his first gaming PC, built when IDE cables were still in use, and high resolution wasn’t as common. Today, Andy continues to work as a hardware writer for PC Gamer, having attended numerous product launches and trade shows around the world. He has written reviews for various external storage drives, including the Adata SD810, Crucial X9, Samsung T9, Sandisk Extreme Pro, Seagate Ultra Compact, LaCie Rugged Pro 5, Samsung T7 Shield, and SanDisk Desk Drive.
This remarkable homemade recreation of an iconic magnetic storage medium using accessible tech and materials represents a significant achievement in the world of DIY hardware projects.
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