Floppy Disk Notepad

Have you ever had way too many unused floppy disks and needed to write something down at the same time? Yeah. All the time. I know.

Here is a solution that solves both of those problems at once: a miniature notebook made with floppy disks. Geeky and stylish!

You don't need much for this project, and what you do, you should already have.

You will need...

6-8 Sheets of Paper
Something to cut the paper with
A Pen or Pencil
Drill with Assorted Drill Bits
Two Floppy Disks
Clamps
Stiff Wire or small Chain Links
Soldering Iron (Only necessary if you're making your own chain links)

Unless you have floppy-disk-sized sheets of paper readily available, you'll need to cut your own sheets of paper. Now, this is not as tedious as it sounds, so you can stop freaking out about cutting out 30 sheets of paper one at a time.

First, we need a template. Lay the floppy disk on one sheet of paper and trace around it. Draw a couple of lines inside the template on the left and right sides, about .5cm in. Do the same for the bottom, too, then cut it out. This is so the paper is just a little smaller than the floppy disk, you don't have to do this unless you don't want the paper coming out the sides.

Stack 6-8 sheets of paper on top of each other, lay the template on top, and cut away. Cut out as much paper as you like, but just know that the more paper there is, the bigger the chain link has to be. I cut just enough for it to be like a cheap little notepad. I won't run out of paper soon, but when I do, I can simply cut more paper and put it in.

Once you have all the paper you would like, lay one floppy disk face down. Put your paper on top of it, then the second floppy disk, face up. Place the top edge paper close to the top edge of the floppy disk.

Mark where you are going to drill the holes, and put a some small marks there. Put the clamps right below the drill spots, to reduce vibration and provide a cleaner hole.

With everything in place, drill some small holes in the designated spots, through the paper and all. Then take a bigger bit, and drill a hole big enough to give your chain links just a little room to move around. The purpose of the smaller hole is to act as a "pilot" hole, and make sure that when you drill the big hole, the drill bit goes where it's supposed to.

If you have pre-made chain links that are the right size, great! Stick 'em in, bend the shut, and you're good to go! For the rest of us, though, we'll need to make our own chain links.

Cut two pieces of wire a few centimeters long to become the chain links. You'll need more if you have more paper, but always try to get a little more that you think you might need. You can cut some off, but you can't cut it back on. (That'd be strange.)

Bend the wires into circular shapes, but leave the gap big enough so you can put them through the floppy disks and paper.

Put the open chain links through the whole thing. It'll be easier if you leave the clamps in place to hold everything together.

Bend the wires shut and shape them so that they are more circular. Solder the wires together, and you're done! Try not to have the chain links too big, or everything will move around too much, and don't make them too small, or nothing will move very well.

Now use it. Draw a keyboard inside. Take orders at the Geek Cafe. Or show it off to all your friends. Just have fun with it!

If you run out of paper and you don't want to make a whole new notepad, just cut some more paper, desolder or unbend the rings, and add the paper.

Thanks for reading! Why don't you leave a comment? I really enjoy those. ;-)