That’s funny, that’s exactly the method I stored my cdRoms back in the day.
I would take those and the adhesive rubber feet that you would get with switches and make coasters out of them to give away.
I’ve done this for years and it works great.
I don’t want to ruin your fun, but the last time I saw a post like this on reddit, the top comment was: “Don’t open hard drives. They contain micro particles from wear and tear, that are as dangerous as asbestos.”
Edit: I found the post and comment. The issue mentioned was the cobalt. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/17il3i3/comment/k6veo9c/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Edit2: I went and searched a bit. This meta-analysis says they found no increased cancer risk for exposure to cobalt particles. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230021001288
If your hard drive has dust it would’ve failed a long time ago. They are designed to be extremely clean. The head is like a 747 flying an inch above the ground. It sounds like an urban myth to scare people.
I did a quick bit of research on this, and I wasn’t really able to find anything to corroborate this. I’d be interested to know if there is a proper source to this though
Edit: there can be some concern for those metal particles, although this is no different for any metal dust by the looks of things https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/do-old-hard-drives-contain-toxic-materials.1623183/#post-11646780
Unfortunately, I don’t have a proper source. When I saw this post, the warning from reddit came to my mind and from the answers here I was surprised how many people open drives.
I assume, it is per hard drive such a negligible amount, that it could theoretically matter over a long time if you open a lot but that there is probably not a single medical proven case and the warning from reddit was overly cautious.
Edit: I found the post and comment. The issue mentioned was the cobalt. https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/17il3i3/comment/k6veo9c/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
Edit2: I went and searched a bit. This meta-analysis says they found no increased cancer risk for exposure to cobalt particles. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273230021001288
Hey, I just want to say you’re a real one for actually coming back with the Reddit comment and even a source essentially debunking what you said. This is why I love Lemmy, thank you.
The posting essentially says there is no risk than tosses out mercury and lead vapors which don’t exist in a HDD. Then it talks about the lead in solder. You’d have to vigorously rub and handle the solder on circuit boards to get any amount on your skin worth worrying about and then you just wash your hands. That risk is true of all boards that don’t use low or lead free solder. The whole comment is very hypothetical.
If they were remotely any threat to human population it would of been banned.
I have never seen any dust or particles, they are pristine looking inside and no film or anything when touching internals. But I did some checking, drives have an air filter to catch wear particles to preserve clean head to disc contact, so those micro particles are hopefully trapped in the filter, and the risk is super low because of the tiny amount available, compared to clouds of asbestos dust in a home reno.
I don’t have the space to hoard garbage.
Stanley
I keep the magnets, but I shred the platters. 'cause magnets are cool.
Platters make good coasters
Considering they’re covered in toxic shit, nope.
I’m pretty sure that’s not true. What do you think is on there?
They contain lead, as well as other harmful toxins. I did a bit of research and it seems unless you physically destroy the platters it shouldn’t be an issue.
Still, I’d rather just not do something so useless and risk my health in the process.
I use them as a coaster for coffee. They shouldn’t contain any lead. I guess that would be illegal at least in the EU. You can’t even put lead in solder anymore, so I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to put it in HDDs.
A typical HDD design consists of a spindle that holds flat circular disks, called platters, which hold the recorded data. The platters are made from a non-magnetic material, usually aluminum alloy, glass, or ceramic. They are coated with a shallow layer of magnetic material typically 10–20 nm in depth, with an outer layer of carbon for protection.[46][47][48] For reference, a standard piece of copy paper is 0.07–0.18 mm (70,000–180,000 nm)[49] thick.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive
This comment suggests it may contain leaded solder.
And here I thought I had a lot of hdd platter coaster’s.
I have like 15 over the past decade and now I realize I am an ant to OP
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No, but you do, and I like this ob-jay-dar
Curious about the age of the oldest one
I started collecting in probably 2007, so manufactured before that for sure.
What
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Likewise
This is cool, but honestly kind of a deranged question to ask.
This is just a less gross version of “DAE store their piss in jars so they can commemorate their unitary secretions”?
Unhinged comment.
baffled glance…wot?
Fair, my home office is a monument to too much free time, a hoarding habit for ewaste, and a wife who works weekends and overnights.
Does anybody else harvest the teeth of their victims and put them on a keychain?
Or fashion bow ties from their testicles. . ?
