Month: September 2013

A 14-Inch Hard Drive Clock

A 14-Inch Hard Drive Clock

While clocks made out of dead hard drives area wonderful use for discarded hardware, here is a much more interesting hard drive clock brought to us by [Bob Alexander] and a 1970s era Honeywell computer.

In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, computers didn’t have small removable hard drives like we do today. Instead, the hard drive was an entirely separate unit that contained large platters – 14 inches across in the case of the Honeywell 200 he used in his youth. In a fit of nostalgia for his younger years, [Bob] bought two of these 14 inch platters on the Internet to turn into clocks.

Homebuilt RC Hovercraft

Homebuilt RC Hovercraft

With parts that could have been used to build a remote control jet, ScratchBuiltAircraft on Instructables managed to make something even cooler: a remote-controlled hovercraft.

The body of the hovercraft is made of foam board, while the plastic ‘skirt’ around the bottom is just a simple heavy-duty garbage bag. Where the build gets really interesting is in the electronics. The thrust for the hovercraft is provided by an electric ducted fan powered by a LiPo battery. This fan also pushes air into the skirt of the hovercraft thanks to a duct located directly behind the fan.