USB memory thumb drive fix or hack a new one

Most new thumb drives seem to be quite big, and i recently bent a 16gb stick! thankfully the break did not affect the drive as you can see the actual drive is tiny while the case was over an inch long. (the original facet case was binned weeks ago) the actual working bit was hardly bigger than the metal housing that goes into the computer

You can use this hack to shrink a similar drive (use caution)

time: 10 mins

rating: Easy

cost: 5 pence (over estimate as i already have everything, you probably do too! reduce reuse recycle)

for this hack you will need scissors or craft knife balsa wood (i used a 1 mm thick strip) or maybe card or plastic (the strip was 90p locally but its for another project so its an off cut)

4 Jaffa cakes

glue (mine is Hi-Tack all purpose glue) 3 tiny drops

maybe a plastic coated paper clip or something else thin for the last step.

the usb memory and if you want, the metal housing (it works without but is fragile)

Step 1: Part One

My memory stick was in bits as i broke it, so if you are taking it apart be careful and post how u did this in the comments below.

Cut a section of the balsa strip and the trim to match the size of the memory stick do this twice as u need about 2 mm thickness (the balsa gives a little so is nice and tight when finished)

Once they are the same size use a drop of glue to laminate them together
as you can see i forgot to cross laminate my strips so i re-cut the 2 pieces one across the grain one with it, so they are stronger.

Now use another dot of the glue to attach the memory to the laminate balsa let them dry for a while, make sure the 4 lines of contact face up or you just made an expensive plastic n wood rectangle! now go off make a nice hot cup of Earl Gray tea and relax.

Step 2: Part Two

welcome back now you have a stack of wood and plastic

now place the stack in the metal housing it shouldn't come out of the back as there are 2 tiny wings that stop it. pop it in the usb port to check it all fits.

yes? good take out the stack and pop that last bit of glue on the bottom wood surface and slide it back in the the metal housing. with something thin maybe a plastic paper-clip poke into the slit above the plastic and press down so the wood is flush with the metal. set it aside to dry. (i put mine in an external usb port to dry but I was sure there was no excess glue so it didn't stick)

Step 3: Part Three If It Didn't Work!

no? too thick? too thin? trouble shoot it make it thicker or thinner, fine sandpaper to thin it let me know in the comments below if you couldn't figure out what went wrong! or if you figured it out let others know in the comments below

Step 4: And Finally..

All done. Easy yes?

if you have some polymorph (thermoplastic see ebay) you can mould a cool new case on the wing end to make it easier to take out of the device. please post pics below. you could use another slither of the balsa at the back of the topmost plastic bit to close the rear hole. its up to you. but it will require more glue!

mine will live in my eepc as it has a HackitOS linux distro a browser based OS which is fast and free www.hackittoday.org will be the place to get a copy when we launch it, so i will leave it as it is for now and pop it in its new home

Instructable made for

HackIT : break make repete

www.hackittoday.co.uk