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Trying to make a DIY 5.25″ floppy (as a fun lunch break project) #Floppy
Nina Kalinina on Mastodon posts an interesting thread looking to create a floppy disk.
Let’s try to make a DIY 5.25″ floppy! (fun lunch break project)
0. Fe3O4 gives adequate results for audio tapes. Would it work as a drop-in replacement for magnetic medium in 5.25″ floppies? Probably not, but why not try!
1. Let’s measure the dimensions of the 5.25″ disk and print it out on top of a sticky A4 page
2. Cut to size, including index hole
3. Attach Fe3O4 powder to the sticky surface. Clean residue with a sponge
4. Find a damaged 5.25″ floppy for the experiments, and get it out of the pocket for the magnetic surface. You can see how different surface is in color – hint that 5.25″ floppy is mostly Fe2O3, not Fe3O4. It’s also covered in varnish.
5. Put the DIY floppy inside the pocket. It’s single-sided, but our floppy drive is also single-sided. Back of the disk is paper, which you can see if you look closely. It probably will affect how easily the floppy will rotate when head is engaged.
See the thread here for how well the DIY version worked. And did you know there is an open standard for floppies? ECMA-66.
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