19 Mar
2005
19 Mar
'05
11:54 p.m.
Ethan Dicks wrote:
Having said that, someday I know I'll have to face
at least one round
of this... I have several DF32 drives that I expect have seriously
worn plating (I've only ever tested the electronics, but I _have_ spun
the platters up and down, 20 years ago, long before I knew it could
cause a problem). Getting a replacement platter fashioned and turned
What about RL02s? Are they meant to be left alone once mounted and run
up, or can you treat them like big Zip disks?
to suitable smoothness is completely within the realm
of accessible
tools for steam engines, etc. It's really no worse than turning a
brake rotor. My only real concern is _plating_ the platter. Setting
Turning brake discs is something I've never understood. They're cheap.
They're your *brakes*. If the disc is scored or corroded, *throw the
pair away*. For the amount of hassle that's involved, it's just not
worth doing it twice. </offtopic>
up an electroplating rig is easy enough (I copper
plated a number of
nickels and quarters as a lad ;-) presuming one can a) come up with an
acceptable formula for the coating, and b) gain access to the various
I thought the coating was sprayed on? Looking at the edge of an RL02,
there are clear "dribble marks" where it's run down the side of the disk.
soluable compounds to mix up a batch of plating
solution. Even when
that's done, one still has to construct the timing track generator,
but at least that's well documented, so one could build the real deal
from old DEC bits, or one could simulate a formatter with modern
circuitry... the timing pulses are not that bad.
I did wonder about such a thing. I'm still trying to get my head round
the DF32 timing for my PDP8 emulator.
Gordon.