30 Mar
2010
30 Mar
'10
9:12 a.m.
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:28:10 -0400
Subject: Re: Making Hard Sector Floppies
From: ethan.dicks at gmail.com
To: cctalk at classiccmp.org
On 3/30/10, Marvin Johnston <marvin at west.net> wrote:
A 35W is more than enough. Do remember, you want to vaporize and
not just melt. This does require focusing. IR is a pain to focus.
Two options; one is germanium lenses ( $$$$ ) and the other is gold
first surface mirrors ( $ ).
As I mentioned before, it is best to make it cut a circle with the beam.
If using mirrors, use elliptical mirrors for best results since you need
to create a small spot. It is best to use a longish focal length, say
about 2 foot or so. This allows you to keep the mirror a reasonable
distance from the disk ( at least 6 inches ). Spatter from the disk
is a pain.
Dwight
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I just finished a project using stepper motors and a PIC processor to
drive the whole thing. Aside from defining the parameters (and debugging
my mistakes), it was pretty easy to do. I used a Ramsey Stepper Motor
driver kit to drive a 200 step/rev floppy disk drive motor along with a
16F84A PIC processor to control it, and it worked great.
Nice.
Using a sharpie to just mark the hole location
sounds like it would be
really easy to do. Anyone know the permissible hole tolerances on hard
sector floppies?
Can't help you there.
If using a laser, what power would be required to
cut the holes and what
kind of laser? I currently have a 35W IR laser that could be more than a
bit dangerous without proper safety precautions ... I've kind of gotten
used to eyesight :)!
Wow! 35W? That will cut through 6mm acrylic with the right optics,
I'm pretty sure (50W will cut through 12mm). I don't know what the
threshold is for punching through mylar (vs acrylic), but 35W seems
like more than enough. A solid wood box for a cover would be a good
idea to protect your eyesight.
-etthan