Discs from 3.5" drives are perfectly safe. They are made of a majority of aluminum, with hints of platinum, palladium, and other precious metals (not a lot though — the Pt coating is only a few atoms thick).
Stay away from 2.5" drives though. Their platters are made of some sort of glass, and if you put too much pressure on them, they will shatter with razor-sharp chunks of glass flying everywhere.
Discs from 3.5" drives are perfectly safe. They are made of a majority of aluminum, with hints of platinum, palladium, and other precious metals (not a lot though — the Pt coating is only a few atoms thick).
Stay away from 2.5" drives though. Their platters are made of some sort of glass, and if you put too much pressure on them, they will shatter with razor-sharp chunks of glass flying everywhere.
If youre thinking "This post is a few years old, and these discs from my 2.5" drive really look like metal" you are wrong - they are glass. Do not test them, they will shatter and cut you.More
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I never opened a newer 2.5" hard disk, but I've read that these may contain glass platters.
However, I've seen and touched stacks of platters from old 3.5" hard disks - a friend of mine makes clocks from hard disk cases.
These platters have an aluminium core, on which another metallic layer, that serves as a kind of primer, and the magnetic material are applied by sputtering. The surface is covered by a protective polymer layer.
Platters have been drilled or cut in a lot of electronics projects, e.g. to make hdd clocks based on the persistence of vision effect. Apart from the usual safety rules for metal works (protect your eyes, don't touch the hot drill, etc.) one only has to make sure that the rotating platter is properly mounted and doesn't start flying around!
When the platters aren't mechanically altered and only painted, there is even less danger. The platters are not toxic and do not even have sharp corners - it is safe to keep them around in the living room.
On a side note, the magnets from these hard disks are more dangerous. These magnets are pretty strong and when playing with them, you can easily jam your fingers between them ;)
I never opened a newer 2.5" hard disk, but I've read that these may contain glass platters.
However, I've seen and touched stacks of platters from old 3.5" hard disks - a friend of mine makes clocks from hard disk cases.
These platters have an aluminium core, on which another metallic layer, that serves as a kind of primer, and the magnetic material are applied by sputtering. The surface is covered by a protective polymer layer.
Platters have been drilled or cut in a lot of electronics projects, e.g. to make hdd clocks based on the persistence of vision effect. Apart from the usual safety rules for metal works (protect your eyes, don't touch the hot drill, etc.) one only has to make sure that the rotating platter is properly mounted and doesn't start flying around!
When the platters aren't mechanically altered and only painted, there is even less danger. The platters are not toxic and do not even have sharp corners - it is safe to keep them around in the living room.
On a side note, the magnets from these hard disks are more dangerous. These magnets are pretty strong and when playing with them, you can easily jam your fingers between them ;)
I have opened my old HDD with many bad blocks. After opening it, I learnt about its workings, and then I took a pair of tongs, and then I tried to bend the platters... It just broke off like a glass (with very sharp edges, but so smooth thet you cant cut your fingers with it). The glass was so thin but hard that I thought it was just a strong metal. You cant break it by simply dropping it from 6 feet height. So I would say its not always aluminium plates...More
I think you're OK if they're just lying around.
Some drives, maybe only older ones, do contain nasty stuff such as beryllium, so I'd be wary of opening them up or crushing them in any way.
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/beryllium/healtheffects.html
https://www.seagate.com/au/en/global-citizenship/product-stewardship/
I think you're OK if they're just lying around.
Some drives, maybe only older ones, do contain nasty stuff such as beryllium, so I'd be wary of opening them up or crushing them in any way.
https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/beryllium/healtheffects.html
https://www.seagate.com/au/en/global-citizenship/product-stewardship/
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Discs from 3.5" drives are perfectly safe. They are made of a majority of aluminum, with hints of platinum, palladium, and other precious metals (not a lot though — the Pt coating is only a few atoms thick).
Stay away from 2.5" drives though. Their platters are made of some sort of glass, and if you put too much pressure on them, they will shatter with razor-sharp chunks of glass flying everywhere.
Discs from 3.5" drives are perfectly safe. They are made of a majority of aluminum, with hints of platinum, palladium, and other precious metals (not a lot though — the Pt coating is only a few atoms thick).
Stay away from 2.5" drives though. Their platters are made of some sort of glass, and if you put too much pressure on them, they will shatter with razor-sharp chunks of glass flying everywhere.
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I never opened a newer 2.5" hard disk, but I've read that these may contain glass platters.
However, I've seen and touched stacks of platters from old 3.5" hard disks - a friend of mine makes clocks from hard disk cases.
These platters have an aluminium core, on which another metallic layer, that serves as a kind of primer, and the magnetic material are applied by sputtering. The surface is covered by a protective polymer layer.
Platters have been drilled or cut in a lot of electronics projects, e.g. to make hdd clocks based on the persistence of vision effect. Apart from the usual safety rules for metal works (protect your eyes, don't touch the hot drill, etc.) one only has to make sure that the rotating platter is properly mounted and doesn't start flying around!
When the platters aren't mechanically altered and only painted, there is even less danger. The platters are not toxic and do not even have sharp corners - it is safe to keep them around in the living room.
On a side note, the magnets from these hard disks are more dangerous. These magnets are pretty strong and when playing with them, you can easily jam your fingers between them ;)
I never opened a newer 2.5" hard disk, but I've read that these may contain glass platters.
However, I've seen and touched stacks of platters from old 3.5" hard disks - a friend of mine makes clocks from hard disk cases.
These platters have an aluminium core, on which another metallic layer, that serves as a kind of primer, and the magnetic material are applied by sputtering. The surface is covered by a protective polymer layer.
Platters have been drilled or cut in a lot of electronics projects, e.g. to make hdd clocks based on the persistence of vision effect. Apart from the usual safety rules for metal works (protect your eyes, don't touch the hot drill, etc.) one only has to make sure that the rotating platter is properly mounted and doesn't start flying around!
When the platters aren't mechanically altered and only painted, there is even less danger. The platters are not toxic and do not even have sharp corners - it is safe to keep them around in the living room.
On a side note, the magnets from these hard disks are more dangerous. These magnets are pretty strong and when playing with them, you can easily jam your fingers between them ;)
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