etching an HD platter? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: naimis
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2012, 03:21:38 am
content: Has anyone out there ever etched a circuit onto a hard disk drive platter? I was thinking this might be a way to achieve my goal (get a spinning circuit while minimizing vibration), but of course there are a number of potential issues.I don't have a platter handy as I've destroyed all my old disks with thermite, so I have no idea if the surface is even conductive.Over the years platters have been made out of a multitude of materials, including fiberglass cores, glass cores and aluminum cores. Fiberglass ones are probably pretty damn hard to find these days, glass cores would probably be super hard to drill any through holes/vias in without shattering and aluminum may not be electrically isolated from the magnetic surface. Not really sure about that.So if anyone happens to have tried this before, I'd be real interested in hearing about your experiences.

author: 8086
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2012, 03:40:53 am
content: Just have a circular PCB manufactured? Once you start adding components you're on your own as far as balance is concerned anyway, so why bother with trying to etch onto a platter?

author: naimis
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2012, 03:56:10 am
content: Quote from: 8086 on June 17, 2012, 03:40:53 am.... You're probably right. Not sure why I failed to make that logical connection - it's not like I hadn't thought about the difficulties of getting a balance with a single microcontroller on the circuit. I was drunk when I posted, yeah that's it.That said, I'd still be interested to hear if anyone's done it, for curiosity's sake if nothing else.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2012, 04:00:01 am
content: It would be pretty damn cool to have a circuit on an HDD platter, rotating or not.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2012, 05:03:55 am
content: Fiberglass disks ? No way !Quartz platter are still used for laptop drives and high rpm as the expansion coeficcient is less than aluminum. It is possible to etch the magnetic surface. This is actually done to create patterned media. But you wont be able to solder it... It aint copper...The magnetic layer is simple to etch , the hard part is going to strip of the carbon coating... The surface of a harddisk is not the magnetic layer. That lies buried underneath DLC : diamond-like carbon. That stuff is incredibly hard. It is actually a layer of industrial diamond....Another problem you will have is to get the lubrication layer off.. The surface of a drive is coated in an oily substance that is vapor deposited to make the surface extremely slippery. This is to improve the aerodynamics of the platter. The spinning platters would create too much turbulence and airflow and the heads would not be able to get close enough for reliable operation.Any kind of liquid , including etchant will simply roll off without making contact. The only way to etch it is using a plasma reactor. And that is not a piece of equipment you find in the shop around the corner....

author: khessels
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: August 27, 2016, 03:17:25 am
content: If regular pcb is to heavy, why not try pyralux .

author: CJay
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 27, 2016, 07:12:40 am
content: Lots of modern platters are glass, so, if you're feeling adventurous it should be possible to deposit a layer of some conductive material onto it and then plate a thicker layer on top of that which can be etched.Not sure how it'd react to soldering.Another possible would be to have a flexible board made and stick that to it, or, much simpler, just use a circular board in the first place, if you're worried about flexing get it made with aluminium substrate.