Floppy Disk Pen/Pencil Holder

by mattp1133 in Circuits > Reuse

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Floppy Disk Pen/Pencil Holder

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Got some old floppies lying around?
Then this is the is for you.
I am basically making a pen-holder out of old floppy disks.
I am aware that there are some very similar instructables out there, but I thought this up on my own, before I every saw those instructables, and I did this slightly differently, so here it is. 

Materials

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For this instructable you will need:
. two 3.5" floppies (pretty colors preferred, you may want an extra in case you break one)
.back panel from floppy dirve
.wire (Cat5e wire is good, but any copper wire should do)
. glue (epoxy, weld glue, etc)
. tin-snips
. dremel (optional)
. drill (w/ bits) 
. pliers/clamps/vice grips

Break Stuff!

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You need the floppies in two pieces.  Mine were already snapped apart, but to break a floppy just put a flat screw driver in the seam and twist. (Safety glasses recommended). 
keeps both halves, the rest of the bits are not necessary. 

You can also pry the back  off a floppy drive (it just pries off the drive), or bend some sheet metal to have dimensions matching those of a floppy disk (3.5") make sure to include a 1cm lip around all edges.
Then drill holes in the floppy halves. Make sure whatever wire you are using will fit through the holes. Drill one in each top corner. The floppy may have some holes in the right place already.

Design

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this is pretty much a layout of what it will look like, very Self Explanatory 

Glue

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Just glue one floppy on each side of the back panel. The notes explain it.

Tie It All Up...

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using a short length of copper wire, tie each side to the next using the drilled holes.
Twist the wire.
You could solder it if you really want to, but a drop of glue is fine.

Cut

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If you used the floppy back panel, you will need to cut the excess metal off. Tinsnips do a decent job, but going over it with the dremel would make it look better. ( I did not bother doing this because if this was not crudely cut out of old computer parts it would not match my desk.)

Finished...

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Thats it. Be sure to fill your pen holder with random crap!