Making A Laser Projector From An Old Hard Drive

I absolutely love creative re-use of old computer hardware. Maybe it’s because I’m a very cheap person. maybe it’s because I have fond memories of the more hacky old days of building computers. Whatever the reason, projects like this DIY laser projector using an old hard drive really catch my eye.

In this video Ben Makes Everything created a very cool laser projector out of an old hard drive. As you probably already know, hard drives with physical platters in them (as opposed to SSDs) are packed full of useful items like the shiny platters themselves, super strong magnets, and tiny motors.

Instead of just harvesting the fun parts for other things, Ben used the housing and motor in place as the drive system. Adding a sensing system and a lot of smart thinking, he created this slick little hacked projector.

One thing I really think is interesting is how the mirrors, which create the vertical rows, are locked in place. To increase the resolution of this thing, he could in theory just make a spindle with more mirrors!