Disc Mount - Store and Display CDs on Metal Surfaces

A disc mount is a small, magnetic holder for a CD to solve an access, storage, destruction problem we ran into time and again in our gaming area. Now we can store our discs on nearly any metal surface and rearrange as needed. The convenience and flexibility has resolved the problem. Learn more on our Disc Mount Project Page.

This instructable shows you how to create a disc mount in less than 10 seconds and how to use it.

• Buy assembled Disc Mounts.
• Learn more details on its use on the project page.
• See more pictures in our Disc Mount gallery.

In our case, we modified the back of a poster with tin to give us a fun display to store our discs. I show you how to do this poster frame mod in the instructable, Poster Magnet Board.

Step 1 Get Parts and Materials

We designed the disc mount to securely attach to a poster, with an acrylic face up to 3/32 in. thick, upside down, holding a CD. (Hey, you never know how people might attach their CDs, right?) So, the strength of these are over-kill for attaching directly to bare metal, but works great for metal covered with materials such as laminate, fabric, vinyl, acrylic, etc. To build a disc mount you will need the following:

• 1, foam cd hub (0.52 in. diameter x 0.375 in. thick)
• 1, nylon washer (0.85 in. diameter x 0.395 in. diameter hole x 0.062 in. thick)
• 1, neodymium magnet (Ni-Cu-Ni plated, 0.375 in. diameter x 0.062 in. thick)
• 1, white vinyl sticker (0.75 in. diameter)

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Be aware that safety is your responsibility. Please read our Safety Warning and Disclaimer before you start.

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Comments

[knexsuperbuilderfreak]

GAH never touch the shiny side like you did in step 7 pic4 never!!!!!!!!

[Void Schism]

It won't affect it at all. The data layer is behind a layer of plastic, so unless you scratch it badly it won't affect the disc. This was one of the major selling points of cd's when they came out.
Infact you can safely wash a cd in with the dishes and still use it, once dry that is ;)

[the_burrito_master]

That's a white cd looks kinda like the other side but it's not.

[scaranman]

This is an awesome idea. The only concern i would have is turning my cds into dust collectors.

[GeekyAdam]

I agree. Great idea, just worried about CDs being exposed to the elements rather than in a case or holder of some sort.

[EggHead101]

Feather duster, canned air, Fluffy cat ...

[EggHead101]

Good idea, but for those of us without metal walls I suggest getting thin metal strips and make a design on the wall !! Maybe in a tic tac toe design. Paint the strips to match the room - or not...
Have fun with it!

[Lesedi]

i like the general dea about this. but i think ill do this with my dads old vinyls!! or make a floor with vinyls on it

[Stew2]

This is such a cool idea! We have a spare bedroom converted to a "video game room" and this would just rock in there! Great ible!

[sensoryhouse]

i do this on the wall with thumb tacks

[darkmuskrat]

Ok. Before I say anything else,
MAGNETS+CD'S=BAD TIME(maybe)
this being said....It really does look great and probably works well.
The only problem is i have a bunch of *4.7gig* CD's and
Magnets (MAY!!!! That is MAY!!!) destroy CD's.
Other than that, great instructable and if there just for decoration. even better :D

[SniperInTheDarkness]

Magnets have absolutely affect on cds or dvds (your 4.7gig disks) because cds run on optical, but other things like floppy disks, vhs tapes and most hard drives could be damaged by direct magnetic contact. (with hard drives it takes more magnetic power than you can accidentally expose it to, i've tried with a very powerful magnet to erase the data, but it was still intact, but its never a good idea to put magnets near hard drives.)

[ithinkibrokeit]

it takes a hugely powerful magnet to erase data on a hard drive, but a very weak one to mess up the magnet system that moves the read/write head

[benjgvps]

It is fine for CDs, though can be bad for floppy disks and VHS tapes. I have to keep my magnets away from my floppies, killed one or two and had to remake them.

[laboratory424]

As stanoster mentioned, magnets will not harm CDs, DVDs, CD-RWs, DVD-RWs, etc. These discs are made of plastic with the data encoded as bumps molded on the plastic, or (in the case of RW's) opaque dots in a clear dye layer burned in by a laser. Both of which are not affected by magnetic fields. If you are curious, HowStuffWorks has some good background on this:

Construction of CD
How CD Burners work
How CD-RWs Work

No worries...we've been storing all of our games this way for nearly a year.

[stranoster]

Why would magnets have any effect on cd's or DVD's? In the days of magnetic recording this may have been a viable comment (MAGNETS+EXPENSIVE CASSETTE TAPE=BAD TIME) but now in the future we actually burn the CD literally. The burner in your computer burns tiny bits of ink in the CD and it represents the 1's and 0's. ANYWAY, back from my high horse I agree it is a great instructable and it was made better by the fact I got to rant at you for next to no reason. Brilliant Instructable, really presentable and thank you darkmuskrat for being that person who I ranted at today. I remind myself of Doctor Cox (In his head: Must rub something in someone's face... Aloud: So how's that coma going for ya? In his head again: Much better!). To sum up it looks brilliant.

[darkmuskrat]

Ok, like I said it was a big "MAY damage them". I just say this because i had a stack of cd's i knew worked in a box with a bunch of insanely strong earth magnets and after 2 weeks they didnt work (all 50 of them)....ill look into it, but i still say; "this instructable is awesome!

[lipstick61]

I love this idea but am worried they will become dust magnets. Have you found this to be a problem?

[laboratory424]

Excellent question. We've been using this system for over 2 years and haven't had any problems with dust on the CDs. Oh, and we do have lots of dust in our house (we live in the "sticks").

We mount our CDs on posters with metal backing, or metal straps on the wall. So dust doesn't have much of anything to settle on. I imagine if you mounted them on a horizontal surface, like a table top (I have no idea why), dust could be an issue. But, if you plan to mount them vertically...no worries.

[lipstick61]

Thanks for replying. We have lots of dust in our house too and it was good to hear we are not the only ones... :). I can't wait to try this idea. Two teenagers with playstations, music CDs etc can drive a person insane with the constant picking up and putting away of CDs so they don't get wrecked and the equipment doesn't get wrecked from the dust. I'm still trying to work out why I bother!

[laboratory424]

You pretty much described the situation that caused me to create the Disc Mount (except you need to replace "Playstation" with "Wii"). We lost many CDs to scratches and cracks...expensive.

Having the disc mount systems right next to the console, computer, and stereo worked for us. Kids have picked up the habit to pop the CDs on/off without thinking. Now if I could just figure something out for socks... ;)

If you don't want to hunt for parts we do sell a Disc Mount Parts Kit to get you going.

[Brennn10]

I just bought your parts package. This will be a perfect gift for my mom's birthday. I am going to try and put something together with her Bruce Springsteen Cd's.

[laboratory424]

Parts are on their way! When you finish the display it would be cool to see a picture of what you came up with.

[laboratory424]

(removed by author or community request)

[Brennn10]

Thank you! I received the shipping number today as well. I am searching for a good poster and hopefully I can get a tin sheet. Thank you, I am very excited to build these!

[mdmoose29]

amazing! now i just need to line my room in metal and i will be all set

[incorrigible packrat]

What! Your room isn't already lined with metal? The thought police will get ya! Line your room with metal ASAP. In the meantime, a cone of common aluminum cookery sheeting, worn over the cranial area, will provide limited protection.

[Kevvixx]

Amazing, its always the simple instructables that amaze me. Great Job!

[Brennn10]

Excellent job! I really love this simple device that is inexpensive and easy to use! Now, all we need to do is find some cd's with awesome colors and covers.