Introduction: 3.5" HDD Secret Safe
This little project was one that resulted in me not having the right parts.
I was attempting to make a "USB HDD" by shoving a USB Hub and Flash drive together inside a gutted out HDD. But the hub didn't fit... so I was left with an empty shell.
This HDD swings open on a single screw, and can house tons of objects. If you have parts lying around you house, nobody would suspect a thing. You can even close it up, and insert it into a PC drive bay, the PC won't detect it, it will just slide and lock into place, close up your PC case and BAM, you have extra security.
Lets get started.
Step 1: Find a Suitable HDD
I used a broken 40gb Maxtor drive I had lying in my parts bin.
Make sure you have the right screw driver for the job.
Mine was held together by 6 torx screws, and one smaller sized torx that was a pain to get out.
Heres what mine looked like before I gutted it:
Step 2: Opening Up the Drive
This step is the hardest of them all.
This instructable is straight forward, and the idea is easy enough to figure out yourself.
Open up the drive by unscrewing the screws, maybe peeling a "Void Warranty" stick here and there, and some general grunt work, and you got that bad boy open.
Heres what mine looked like when I first popped the cover off:
Note: The metal plate is really reflective, you can even use it as a mirror!
Note2: The magnets are EXTREMELY strong, do not pinch your fingers in between them, for about 10 seconds you'll be sweating in pain until you finally pry them apart.
Step 3: Removing the Parts Inside
The hardest part of this step is the reflective metal plate.
To remove that, I took a hammer, and a metal rod, and from the bottom... popped it out. It took a few trys, but you'll eventually get it.
To remove the arm, just pry it off with a flat head screwdriver, or similar tool.
To remove the magnets, unscrew them from the case and lift them out. BE CAREFUL.
DO NOT leave them near CRT Monitors, you will completely DESTROY them.
I am not held responsible for any accidents or personal damage.
After you clean everything out, your almost done!
Step 4: Conclusion and Tips
So, heres the end to my instructable made by accident.
It was my first one, so leave some comments and some criticism, I love that kind of stuff.
To finish off this "safe", I screwed back in one of the corners screws so it swivels around like a hinge. This gives me easy access to the objects inside.
Thats it, pretty straight forward guys.
Make sure to comment, and to salvage the plate and the magnets for other upcoming parts, just throw them in a drawer, you never know when you're going to need them.
Adios amigos!
PS:
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84 Comments
14 years ago on Step 3
"BE CAREFUL. DO NOT leave them near CRT Monitors, you will completely DESTROY them." That is actually not correct... the magnets magnetise the crt tube and the electron beam deflects due to the incorrect magnetic field in the screen but many screens hava a feature that takes all the charge out of the crt tube and that usually fixes them.
Reply 11 years ago on Introduction
is that why when magnets rolled against the side of my laptop screen went black? and then it came out normal? :P
Reply 8 years ago
no thats actually because there is a magnet in the top halrf of the screen and a switch that turns the screen off when the magnet comes near it aka closing the lid also LCD screens in laptops arent affected in the sdame way as CRT Monitors
Reply 14 years ago on Step 3
Of course, its a simple degauss feature, but just for safeties sake, I don't want any problems, haha.
Reply 12 years ago on Step 3
nice save
9 years ago on Introduction
I did this with an old IDE optical drive. Nice idea!
11 years ago on Step 4
I'd put the drive back into my old tower. No one would look or steal a tower in the back of a closet. Everyone wants laptops. I'm trying to think of a clever way to make an old tower into a safe, this one is a bit too small, but very useful for cash or small jewelry.
Reply 9 years ago on Step 4
I made such a thing!! For the old computer place I worked for, we had it hooked up to make it look like it was a functional computer! Just a fan on a flip switch, grafted to a 9volt bat, and a red LED light... was amazing! We took an old, metal computer tower, it was square. Gutted it... we used some left over metal parts, from the tandy boxes we were throwing out. We took the metal case lids, and a case nibbler... and made some custom metal ramps, for cash and checks. Kept the floppy drives face places, mounted... but they were hollow. We used that a a big bill 50's 100's dump. The 50's spot was labeled DISK 5, the 100's & Checks was called CHK100. They each dropped down into their own little dived space, in the bottom of the case... got the idea looking at how atms work. We went one step further... this case had a functional barrel lock, that locked a door- that gave access to the hard drive area. Well, we had removed that. BUT, we used that old hard drive area, to mount a hasp lock to the inside of the case, to hide the lock, that locked the side panel from sliding off... we took great effort to make it look like just a store computer. Even to label the tower with masking tape, and calling it, "Store Back Up Unit." It looked like a really old, used computer... totally low budget... PERFECT! Little did they know, at one time there was about $35,000 cash in that thing! From assorted checks, and cash. Over the course of three mos! We also made a safe, for a party store based on the same idea... out of an old Dell OptiPlex. That was a work of ART...
9 years ago on Step 4
HI. Might I add an idea. Why not, keep the screws you removed from the HDD... cut off the threads, but keep the heads. Place them back in their holes, with some metal bonding glue. There by adding the look, all the screws are in solid? making certain all of the screw heads fit, but still there is enough clearnace to open the swivle.
9 years ago on Introduction
What are those two white soft objects?
14 years ago on Step 4
You know those magnets you found? Well, im collecting them so eventually i can use them to let me climb up smooth metal surfaces. i have 8 and i need about 20... just one can hold up my entire toolbox and i also need 6 more hard drives
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
You have to post a video of you climbing on metal surfaces when you get to do so...
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
they tried on mythbusters, it failed
Reply 11 years ago on Step 4
it worked but it was really hard to be undecteded for them also it was hard climbing up aswell
Reply 14 years ago on Step 4
You could just buy a few broken hard drives on e-bay. They always have deals on those, and they are usually pretty cheap. I like the idea though.
Reply 14 years ago on Step 4
oh, yeah, i already bought a bunch of powerful NIB magnets from someplace online. Im currently working on them. They total in 600 lbs of holding force, just enough to safely hold up 150 lbs of human meat. :P (600/4 = 150)
Reply 11 years ago on Step 4
thats a good idea but the problem is moving them up the wall you would have to pull with 600lbs of forse to get them off un less you used an elactromagnit but i dont know how much they ca hold but its a good idea that you got
Reply 13 years ago on Introduction
got to your local dodgy computer shop, somewhere small will have boxes of dead hard drives.
11 years ago on Step 2
I had a camera like yours :D but broke -___-
11 years ago on Step 4
You could shear the thread off of one of the bolts and use as a drop in pin to hold the cover in place. or maybe carefully remove the thread leaving a few turns at the top of the shank so to open it you can just unscrew with a thumbnail