Make a Floppy Disk Wall Clock

by tmallos in Circuits > Clocks

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Make a Floppy Disk Wall Clock

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Items Needed:

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Materials
1 Craft Clock Mechanism
17 Floppy Disks (Cool colors, fun labels etc) Used in layers of 5, then 4, then 8
Craft sticks or equivalent

Tools

Drill and bit (not shown, sorry)
Hot Glue Gun and glue sticks
Side Cutters (or equivalent tool to cleanly cut craft sticks to length)
Scissors or Screwdriver
Pencil




Layer 1 Layout and Drill Hole

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Choose the 5 disks that will form the first (front most) layer of your clock. 
The clock post and hands will be mounted through your center of the center floppy so make it one with personality!
Preview the layout your first layer with four floppies around the fifth and center floppy.
Using your Drill and bit, drill a hole through the middle of your center floppy. (see video)



Assemble Layer 1

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Using hot glue, attach each of 4 disks to the 4 sides of your center floppy.
I used a single bead of glue along the connecting edge of each outside floppy.
This sticks them together, but this layer is prone to bending at the glue at this stage, so handle it gently.

Layout and Assemble Layer 2

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Select the four floppies you want to use for the second layer.

In the layout I chose, I used 3orange and a red floppy.  I built my clock and then thought to do this instructable. I recreated my steps, but was fresh out of orange floppies, so in the example images I show tan floppies.

The second layer mounts to the back of the first layer.  This layer uses only 4 floppies because the center must be left open to allow room for the clock mechanism behind the center floppy and post hole.

Layout your 4 floppies around the outside of a 5th temporary floppy used for spacing.
Using your side cutters or similar tool cut 4 pieces of craft stick approximately 1.5 inches in length.

Using hot glue, attach the small paste stick pieces diagonally to attach the corners of the 4 floppies of your second layer. I glued the diagonal pieces on what would be the back, closest to the wall. Said another way,  I glued the diagonals on the side of the floppies that would not be facing forward.

This Take care not to glue anything to the center floppy, it's just there to allow the proper spacing of the other 4.


Attach Layer 2 to Layer 1

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I simply rotated layer 2 forty five degrees from layer 1 and glued the layers together where the parts of the floppies overlapped.


Layout and Attach Layer 3

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Layer 3 could be looked at as being 2 different layers of 4 floppies each.

Each floppy of Layer 3 is arranged to show in the spaces between the floppies of Layer 1 and Layer 2.

To fit, every other floppy in Layer 3 has to be over lapped. 
I used more pieces of craft sticks to build up level glue points as needed .  For the sticks I have, two paste sticks stacked on the flat edge roughly equal the thickness of a floppy.


Attach the Clock Mechanism

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Assemble your clock mechanism into your clock.  While all clock kits go together essentially the same way, see your packaging for specific instructions.

The instructions for the clock mechanism I had are shown.


Structural Reinforcement

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Now that the clock mechanism is in place you can add reinforcing craft stick bracing with confidence.
Don't forget to add a craft stick paralell with the 'top' of your clock to act as a bar for resting on a nail to hang your clock.  I used a lot of glue on this piece as it will carry the full weight of the clock   ( I'm guessing about a pound).


Enjoy!

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Congratulations! You now have a nostalgic bit of computer memorabilia.
My finished clock measured just over a foot in diameter.

Thanks for checking out this instrucatable!

Tim