Introduction: Reusing Old Hard Drive Magnets

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Old hard drives have a way of hanging around past their useful life. Recently, I found I still had a lot of 2 to 30 GB drives in a box, so I decided to take the magnets out and reuse them. The magnets are great because they are very strong Neodymium that will hold anything firmly in place. These magnets are usually mounted to some sort of metal bracket with holes which will help you mount them and gives strength to the brittle magnets.

To take apart hard drives you need a few small Torx drivers, usually T6, T7 and T8. Usually there are a few screws that are hidden under the stickers. Feel the tops of the stickers to see if there is a screw underneath and run a razor around the outline to expose it. Once the lid is off, you usually have to take the read/write heads off to get the magnets off. Careful with these magnets, they are very strong and will probably pinch your fingers if they get between them.

Step 1: Fish Tape Retriever

I find new uses for this thing all the time. Originally I made it to pull a fish tape out of a wall when it wouldn't come near the opening. It worked great for that so I wrapped it up and stuck it to my tool box. Since then I have used it to pull seat belts through poorly designed child car seats and retrieved a nail punch that got stuck inside a door jam.

The dental floss is great because it doesn't really knot up and its incredibly strong for how light it is. It also wraps up really tightly and doesn't unravel unless you want it to.

Step 2: Special Tool Holder

My table saw has a nice storage spot for blades and the tools to change the blades. Unfortunately, you only have so much room to store more blades. I plan to add a stacked dado set to this collection soon. Since my next purchase will probably max out the space I have left, I decided to maximize the space by epoxying magnets to the underside of the table top. This way I can store a few more blades and the tools never get in the way when you are fumbling through the stack of blades.

I used plumber's epoxy putty for this because its easy to use and doesn't require a bowl to mix it. You just kneed it together in your fingers and stick it to something before it starts to set up. Once I was done with that I traced the outlines of the wrenches on the tabletop so I wouldn't forget where I put them. These magnets hold the wrenches tightly in place and I don't have to worry that they will fall off.

Step 3: Special Tool Holder 2

I built this cheap router table for my radiator cover Instructable and I decided to do something similar to my table saw tool storage. Because the top is made of wood, I used the holes in the magnet's bracket to attach another magnet to the underside of this table top. I traced the outline of the router's wrench on the table top so I don't forget where it is. Now I have a neat place to store my router's specialty wrench.

Step 4: Worklight Cabinet Mount


I have this rechargeable LED work light that comes with a magnetic holder to clip it to a toolbox.  I decided to mount it over my workbench to give me a little extra light and store it where I could keep it charged. I could have used a piece of sheet metal, but I wanted to really secure it in place under the cabinet, so I used another hard drive magnet.

Step 5: Recycle the Rest

After I take the magnets out, I take the remaining hard drive parts to the recycling center and drop them in the e-waste dumpster. New Jersey has made it a state law that all towns have to accept electronic waste for recycling.

3rd Annual Make It Stick Contest

Participated in the
3rd Annual Make It Stick Contest