Wednesday, January 17, 2007

For those of you bored

Just in case your work was closed down, the kids schools or daycares were closed down and you find yourself at home, climbing the walls with the kids... here is something you might find interesting or just to distract you from the bellowing of the kids in the background.... "I'm bored"!!!!! Or for those moments of boredom, especially if you are the only one that showed up at work here in the Texas area.




Me? I'm at work, I forged on at my normal time 5:55 am. I did see some accidents on my way in, there are some idiots that just feel they can drive in any weather condition. I also saw some roads closed off until they got sand laid out. I drove like a Grandma... (Ok, a grandma that shouldn't be on the road... Don't want to offend those women out there that are grandmothers and still very capable of driving. No, I'm not a grandmother yet!!! I repeat Yet!!! I'll be there some day.)
Floppy disks are becoming somewhat extinct now that we have the options to save data, pictures, etc... on CD's, Flash Drives.... Well, here is a use for the floppy disks that you have formatted and don't know what to do with.
Floppy disks are a thing of the past. However, that doesn't mean you have to toss them in a garbage can. Pay a tribute to another thing of the past (or, the future?)--The Starship Enterprise--and you can reminisce and recycle at the same time!
  • Steps


  1. Find an old floppy disk. You've got them somewhere at the bottom of a dusty drawer. For this project, it has to be the kind with the metal shutter - not plastic.

    *An old floppy disk


  2. Take the old 3 1/2" floppy disk and break it apart so you can use the metal shutter and the hub of the magnetic data disk.

    *The dust cover and magnetic disk of an old floppy disk



  3. Snip the tabs of the opening of the shutter on the wider side of the two sides of the opening.






  4. Fold the wider portion of the shutter at 90 degree angles to just above the shutter opening.



    5. *The dust cover, bent to form the warp nacelles


  5. Fold a portion of these pieces back up (again at 90 degrees, but opposite the original folds) to form the warp nacelles. (Note: For more realistic looking nacelles, place a no. 2 pencil on the edge of the dust cover and roll the metal around it instead of bending it at a 90° angle. This will create a tubular shaped nacelle. Slide the pencil out of the metal tube and repeat on the other side.)
  6. Make little snips halfway through the narrow sides of the shutter to facilitate placement of the disk hub (the saucer section).
  7. Place the hub on, putting the neck up through the hole closest to the edge of the hub, and inserting the edge of the hole in the hub through the slits you made.
  8. Fold the portions of the neck protruding through the hole in the hub down and around the hub to secure.

Tips

  • With a little patience and extra love, your Enterprise will look a lot better than the one you see here.

  • To give your Enterprise the genuine "floating" appearance, use the spring that held the shutter closed to fashion a nearly invisible stand that will amaze and confound your peers.

  • Use a various color sharpies to add markings to the nacelles and the saucer such as "NCC-1701", lights, etc.

  • Hum the theme song to the original Star Trek as you build your model to help pass the time and to take this geek project to the next level.

Warnings

  • The edges of the metal dust cover and disk hub are extremely sharp. You can cut yourself on them, so be careful.
  • Doing this will destroy all data on the disk.
  • Do not attempt to place your new model into a floppy disk drive.

Things You'll Need

  • An old floppy disk with a sliding metal dust cover. Say "goodbye" to your data.
  • Scissors or sheet metal snips.

Related wikiHows

Labels:

posted by a faith bigger than fear at Wednesday, January 17, 2007