16 Jan
2023
16 Jan
'23
4:54 p.m.
On 1/16/23 04:14, p.gebhardt--- via cctalk wrote:
Hello list,
Yesterday, I was wondering, if there are any multiplatter disk pack production tools
known to exist?
There are disk pack inspection and cleaning tools in the wild (also one on eBay for a
ridiculously high price) and occasionally, I also saw unused and originally packed disk
platters for sale, but these are, to my limited knowledge, worthless if the production and
platter alignment tools are missing.
Washington University had a magnetic media lab at one time,
and got several semi loads of gear from an IBM lab. There
were air bearing spindle tables and many racks of IBM
circuitry based on MST chip technology. I assume some of
this could have been used as servo track writers. Any
system that doesn't have a dedicated servo surface or
embedded servo info doesn't need a servo track writer, it
can just format the pack by itself (with proper diagnostic
programs, of course.)
Aligning the heads on the drive is an issue only if you want
to interchange platters. Then, you need an alignment pack -
wow, those would be quite hard to find today! There are
tools like alignment meters that can make the job easier,
but really all you need is a scope and generally a rod with
an eccentric tip to adjust the head position.
Jon