Destroying hard drives

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Greetings all,I'm looking for some advice for a somewhat different application.I need to destroy computer hard drives and the commercial crushers are insanely expensive.  I did some welding way back in school, but it's been a while   Hard drives have an aluminum or steel cover (about 1/8" or less thick) and I believe the platters are aluminum-based.  Depending on the type of drive, my handy propane plumber's torch will either melt through the top of the drive or at least turn it red hot.  Given enough time, I can also heat the platters to the point that they melt.I realize that straight propane is not that hot and that it is intended for soldering, not cutting, but I did this experiment to better understand the material I'm dealing with.Essentially I'd like to get some gear that will rapidly slice through the top of the hard drive and the platters, or preferably melt/burn the platters completely.  I'm not doing large volumes, and I'd like to keep the cost down.Advice appreciated!
Reply:Welcome to the forum.I know a gasoline torch would work but be super expensive. I'm thinking lancing rods, or carbon arc gouge might work well if you can get away with just burning big holes thru the top. Oxy/acet cutting torch may also work, but may take a bit to melt the alum drive platters.You might even be able to get away with basic simple 6010 rods and a high amp setting.20lb sledge and a big anvil?
Reply:The drives I have taken apart have platters that are made of something heavier than aluminum...besides aluminum isn't magnetic and the medium requires magnatism, right?  in any case, I like the idea of a welding rod set to high.  I have used welding rods to cut in a pinch and they will do a good and nasty job.  Plasma cutters will slice them up...not too cheap, but you could rent...More fun, but less serious...If you really want to destroy the info, take them to a steel scrap yard and get the guy with the giant magnet to pick them up.Why not drill a hole in each one and fill with greatstuff...it might not destroy all the data, but it will make sure whoever wants to get the data REEEEEEALY wants it...you could even work it into a greatstuff sculpture.Three words...hard drive launcherIf you have kids, give them the tools and let them take um apart.  They have really strong magnets on the reader arm mechanism...the rest can be hammered into bits.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:BFH/threadThose that say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" just don't understand!Fast-Cheap-Reliable:  Pick two.
Reply:Welcome to the board!IMHO, take them apart, then use a flap disk or grinding wheel on the platters. not even the NSA can find the info then.even a charcoal fire would work... light a bag of charcoal, pile it around the hard drive disks (after removing them from the case) and they will probably melt, if not at least distort.if it were me, i would get the magnets out first (they are VERY powerful and very handy at times, then cut the @#$% out of it with a sawz-all, bandsaw, chop saw, etc... if you really want to make sure no one gets into them, destroy them, then distribute the parts between different trash cans. even put them into different cans over the period of a few garbage days.if you have a welder, just crank the heat up and lay some random beads and cover the plates, then weld the cover shut.just my thoughts.Later,Andy
Reply:Concrete slab and a sledghammer..I'll smash one that I have when I get home.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:I generally use my big sledge hammer. There's nothing recoverable after that. Another time I did three at a time with my 20 ton shop press. You really don't have to do much more than that.
Reply:Having 30 years experience in servicing computers and data processing hardware, this item really caught my eye.There are some things you DO NOT want to do to destroy computer disks. One is to remove the disks from the case and then try to physically destroy them in front of your face by bending, chopping, cutting, melting or welding.  Some of the disks are made from mirrored glass and will shatter spraying shards in directions you don't want shards to go!  The prefered methods are to crush the drive assemblies whole without first dissassembling them.  A 20Ton shop press is real effective.  Slice the whole assembly with a metal-cutting bandsaw or chop saw is also very effective.We would not recommend using any sort of flame or fire because there are substances in there that will create noxious if not poisonous fumes when exposed to fire.  The circuit boards have all sorts of nasty stuff in them.  The magnets inside, though powerful, are very small (unless you are talking about the old 1980's vintage drives from Magnetic Periperals, etc... which have a 20lb voice coil magnet that will stop your watch within 10 feet!) and generally not worth the trouble of taking the drives apart to get them.  But if you insist then destroying the data surface with a flap-sander is very effective.  So is using the disks for skeet... just don't miss and you will never need to worry about the local constabulary finding all your favorite pictures!  If all you want to do is destroy the data on the surfaces of the disks, just leave the drives on top of your Tombstone AC welder for a month or two.  That should do enough damage to keep them from being read. (but not always, it depends on how sensitive you consider the data stored on them!)BTW: The disks make great mirrors...  I have three of them on the wall of my cubicle at work arranged so I have a wide-angle view of the aisle.  I can see adversaries coming even before they get to my cube!  You could even frame one and offer it up as a make-up or shaving mirror as a special occasion gift!   Looking into one's reflection with that big hole in it make you resemble a donut and reminds you of your dieting plan.  They make cute little clock faces, too!-MondoLast edited by Mondo; 05-08-2008 at 10:42 AM.Reason: the usual typo corrections.Member, AWSLincoln ProMIG 140Lincoln AC TombstoneCraftsman Lathe 12 x 24 c1935Atlas MFC Horizontal MillCraftsman Commercial Lathe 12 x 36 c1970- - - I'll just keep on keepin' on.
Reply:They go bad, SO easily ,by themselves , that I say the ZAPSTER  is right . A couple wacks with a sledge and it's (life) is history . I myself have computers all over my house , but I never put anything private or secret in mine . Another thought, why not just erase them , if they are still in good working order ? Writing zero's in all of it effectively erases it , so good that it would take the N S A type money to get the info out .You can download, from the drive manufacturer, for free , a program for erasing (writing zero's . )[SIZE="5"Yardbird"
Reply:use acid H2SO4 or HCL and pour it on the disc after dismantle... burn... nah... there is a german company that can recover burn disc...Unit in my fab shop dept:my good hand and team that trust me...A lone welder make art... a village full of welder make Miracles...
Reply:Originally Posted by Roy Hodges... Writing zero's in all of it effectively erases it , so good that it would take the N S A type money to get the info out...
Reply:drill through the hard drive in three or four places with a 1/4 inch drill bit.done.in reality your only making yourself feel good . identity theft is not that a big of a problem, 80 percent is perpetrated by a family member. of the other 20 percent something like 18 percent of it is simple credit card fraudulent usage that is about as an easy a fix as anything else since of that 18 percent 99 percent comes from overseas. place a block on your cards to refuse any charges originating outside of the USA. there are very few cases of the horrifying stories they glamourize on the news.oh it also helps to not own or use any paper checks.  i have two business and three personal checking savings account and not a single check book for any of them.now if your destroying child porn , i wont share the absolute 100 percent destruction method that NSA and other government agencies use when they get subpoenaed for records to erase their drivesinsert thoughtful quote from someone else2000 Thermal Arc 300GTSW 3.5 hours1946 Monarch 20 x 54 Lathe1998 Supermax 10x54 Mill2004 Haco Atlantic 1/2" Capacity Lasernot mine but i get to play with it
Reply:I destroy hard drives all the time for the company I work for. For me this is easy as I run a large solid fuel boiler. I just throw them in and they come out in little blobs of molten crap.Miller DVI2Lincoln Precision Tig 225Thermodynamics Cutmaster 38Everything else needed.
Reply:I submit for your approval..1 Hard Drive..1 Maul..After maul meets hard drive..Let'em try to get anything from this..Only took 5 mins.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:might i add that the "BFH" method is a GREAT anger management techniques. lol... did you have fun Zap?Later,Andy
Reply:If you own a firearm data protection can also make for a fun time at the range...My personal favorite for the job is .40S&W and .223 FMJ (see avatar...) But anything above .22 should do the trick. Also a good AC magnate will do the trick.Me!
Reply:I worked with computers while I was in the Army and when we got removable hard drives our old drives had to be destroyed. Keep in mind that back then if you could afford a hard drive at all it was about 10 megs, no not gigs, I had a gig but it took two huge drives to do it and they weighed about 100 lbs each. I can't go into any details, but to unlock the doors on my secure hardstand in garrison (8 ft fence, triple strand razor wire, cypher locks, etc.) I had to have two persons per system with loaded M-16s. The only method of destruction I could get approval for was to separate the platters and take a wire wheel to them until they were bright and shiny. Floppy disks and tapes we degaussed and then burned under two man rules. If blowing a hole through it is all that is needed get some 6010 or 6011, crank up the amps and stick it through it. Much less labor than the zap method. I don't like any hammer over 3lbs and don't particularly like those.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.
Reply:If I need anything distroyed all I have to do is give it to my 7 year old and tell him to play nice with it.
Reply:make up a batch of thermite. iron oxide and aluminum powder.
Reply:Zap, I didnt realize your old. Five minutes???Airco 300 squarewaveMig welding center...Powcon sm300/LN 25Powcon sm200/PD lHypertherm PM 1100Miller AEAD 200LE W/LN25 FCand now another sm200 pd l combo.
Reply:Originally Posted by rsilvermake up a batch of thermite. iron oxide and aluminum powder.
Reply:Mondo, I think you might be confusing the idea of "deleting" versus overwriting the data.On all modern operating systems, when you "delete" a file, all that actually happens is that those blocks are marked as "free".  This is why "undelete" software sometimes works -- if you haven't written a bunch of new files to the disk, there is a good chance that those "free" blocks haven't been written to again, and you old data is still intact.However, if you write zeros to the entire disk (ie, in linux one would "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda"), you are overwriting the data.Once you overwrite the data, it is impossible to use the drive itself (and thus any software method) to recover the data.However, if you have the right equipment, you can take the drive apart and start scanning the chaos "inbetween" each of the tracks on the drive.  maybe you'll get lucky and get something useful, but its going to require very expensive equipment (I seem to remember reading that it takes a tunneling electron microscope to get something useful), and a lot of time to sift through whatever signal you pick up and try to turn that into useful data.basically, unless your disk falls into the hands of the NSA, you will be fine with simply overwritting the data.
Reply:I use my AK47...makes quick work of them!Miller Syncrowave 200MillerMatic 180 AutoSetHobart Airforce 500iVictor O/A (80cf)
Reply:Any good metal chop saw should cut through one in about a min or less.
Reply:Originally Posted by zapsterI submit for your approval..1 Hard Drive..1 Maul..After maul meets hard drive..Let'em try to get anything from this..Only took 5 mins.....zap!Well if they are willing to spend all that $$$$$ on what is found in the dumpster..Good luck to them....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:From the looks of that drive off the shuttle it survived pretty well. I think it is pretty safe to say that if the platters were burned there would have been nothing to recover. Physical destruction of the platters will do it. Breaking them into pieces will do it for all but really deep pockets. But then we do know where our tax dollars go...Airco 300 squarewaveMig welding center...Powcon sm300/LN 25Powcon sm200/PD lHypertherm PM 1100Miller AEAD 200LE W/LN25 FCand now another sm200 pd l combo.
Reply:This thread title amused me,because I work with PCs for a living,but weld for fun.After growing angry at a hard drive,I discovered that a SMAW unit using 6011 rod at about 225A will actually arc successfully through the aluminum case of most hard drives,and the resulting aluminum,steel, mixed up,slaggy puddle is extremely destructive.Only do this is a very fireproof,outside environment with LOTS of ventilation,and good protective gear. I wouldn't recommend it as a production method of destruction,but it is satisfying!
Reply:This reminds me of one of my favorite movies, "Office Space." Attached ImagesLincoln AC/DC 225/125 Stick Linde HDA-300 MillerMatic DVI MIG Miller Dynasty 200DX Hypertherm Powermax 1000
Reply:"i believe you have my stapler...""i will burn this place down. i'll do it".. that mvoie reminds me of my life... how would someone go about destroying a poorly-constructed, plastic water cooler? Later,Andy