head-positioners - (was Apple Floppy Drives (was: More Apple Pimpers))

That spiral cam was an attempt to reduce price and mass, I suppose. Like the stone wheel, I imagine it was better than SOME of the other options available at the time, in one respect or another. I don't remember at all (go figure!) what options there were at the time, short of the lead-screw that was used on 8" drives, for moving the heads. I've got a few pictures of Siemens mini-drives (5-1/4") that use lead screws, but I don't remember other vendors using them. Did Shugart make a minifloppy with a lead screw? The old BASF drives that I've cussed from time to time for their fragility at the door latch used that spiral cam arrangement. It was interesting, and, if you worked at it, you could foul it up, since it was readily accessible. Every other scheme I remember from that period used a tendon drive, as did the DS 8" drives, other than Siemens'. What do you remember? Dick