DIY Wind Chimes from Repurposed Hard Disk Platters
After tearing apart a number of old hard disk drives to make certain the data was irrecoverable, I wondered what I could do with the dazzling, mirrored platters that store data. I decided on a simple idea: wind chimes.
Assuming you have already disassembled the hard disk drives to remove the platters, this project is very quick and requires very few materials.
What You Must Have:
Drill with assorted bits
Needle-nose pliers
Scrap wood
Clamp
Assorted hard disk platters (I had 13)
Decorative chain
What To do:
Step One
Drill two holes at opposite ends of one disk platter. Use scrap wood beneath the platter to protect your work area. This platter will serve as the guide for the remaining platters. Choose a bit that makes a large enough hole to fit two chain links. Careful to leave enough space between the hole and the edge of the disk.
Step Two
Clamp all remaining platters together beneath the platter that has holes from step one. Use the holes for guides and drill through all the platters.
Step Three
Select one platter and drill two additional holes for a total of four holes each 90 degrees around the platter. This will serve as the top of the wind chime, and the twelve remaining platters will dangle from this one.
Step Four
Assemble the pieces. I used the following plan (which I didn’t draw until afterwards, so feel free to experiment and make your design work for you). Different chain links have different lengths, so test the relationship between links and platters to find a number that will create the best effect. I wanted the platters to hang at differing heights.
Needle-nose pliers easily open and close the decorative chain to attach to the drilled holes in the disk platters.
Begin with strands of four chain links from the top platter to a single link that will serve as the hanger for the wind chime. You can then either assemble each strand of links/platters or work your way down from the top.
I chose the top-down approach.
Step Five
Hang wind chime somewhere that will get both wind and sun. The platters ring pleasantly as they bounce against one another, and the sun reflecting from the mirrored surfaces of the platters is reminiscent of lights dancing from a disco ball.
Final Thoughts
Following my steps will leave holes in both the top and bottom of each platter, including those platters that are at the bottom of the chimes. These bottom platters don’t have anything to dangle from them which means the bottom holes are pointless unless you either omit the bottom holes on four platters or find an alternative item to dangle from them, like a decorative rock or something.
I have no idea how the platters will hold up to the elements. Right now they are pristine mirrors, but by next year? We’ll have to wait and see how the platters weather the heat and cold of Illinois. The chain I used will probably prove to be the greater liability since it was inexpensive.
After the chimes had been up for two days my wife told me, “You’ve gotta move that thing. I can’t stand it there. It shines in the house.” The light bounces from the platters into the bathroom window. The bathroom has a giant mirror and it reflects the light out into the hallway on the staircase so that the dancing lights appear all the way in the front hall of the house. Make sure to find a location that will not be disturbing.
Although this article focuses on repurposing the platters, hard disks also have very powerful magnets that can be removed and reused. You can see some of these magnets in the photos of the work bench.
If you look very carefully around the 13 second mark of the video of the chimes, you can see me taking the video reflecting from one of the spinning disk platters.
For the record, I have not done a single internet search to see how many thousands of people have already used hard disk platters to make wind chimes, or what sorts of cool designs they came up with. This post is simply a description of what I did in case someone else can adapt the idea.
If you find this post helpful, drop me a comment. I’d love to hear what you came up with, or how your chimes turned out.
