5.25" floppy externalizing case or shell?

[ianoid]

Does anyone know of a CNC routed or 3D printed case or similar protective design for used with PC floppy disk drives? The drives I need this for are all half height.

I would like something that screws into the side holes and protects the exposed top and bottom the drive. It doesn't need to be powered. It just needs to leave the back and front open for connections. I looked at cases in the usual places (eBay, Amazon) and they are expensive and include unnecessary power supplies.

The reason is that I am using a drive with the Applesauce device for archival (as many probably do with other flux imaging systems) so I need to keep it outside a computer for prolonged periods of time.

Thanks,

ian

 

[zombienerd]

You might look for old external SCSI CD Roms or hard drives. Those cases are generally easily gutted and many would fit a 5.25 floppy perfectly.

I have several laying around if you can't find one cheap, just send me a DM here and we can probably work something out.

If you're the enterprising type, it would not be hard to make your own from an old computer case or new sheet metal from the hardware store.

 

[alank2]

I got an external floppy case off of eBay by ordering an external DLT/DLTe backup drive. It was $20 shipped. It arrived, I pulled the backup drive, and now I've got an external case with internal power supply and two 5.25" bays.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Another option, depending on your skill set and resources is to built one yourself. On YT there's a video of a guy showing how to build an external drive case out of hardwood. I've occasionally constructed them out of 5 mm thick acrylic sheet (model shops often do this as acrylic machines well). I constructed one house a 2.8" Mitsumi drive from cedar. If you're handy with a sheet-metal brake, a typical external case is nothing more than a U-shaped upper section and an L-shaped lower section with "ears" for screws. Used to be that external CD-ROM drive cases were cheap as dirt, but I guess that source has dried up.

 

[Hak Foo]

I wonder if something like one of the old Pentium III era "small form factor" PCs would be worth salvaging-- the FIC Book PCs or one of the Shuttle jobs? Many of them had basically 1x3.5 and 1x5.25 drive bay, and having a power supply built in is a convenience. Added plus if the mainboard is one of those shot due to capacitor plague, making it more likely headed for the dustbin anyway.

I'm sort of looking for the same thing for my Greaseweazle setup, would love to find a turnkey option that wasn't $100 or involving cutting up hardware that someone might need for legitimate vintage needs.

 

[bolex]

I've been buying Nortel software loaders to use as external drives. I've purchased quite a few for under $50.00. They're a great deal considering that they come with a TEAC FD-55GFR.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=nt6b9539

They have a strange spring clamp on the bottom of the drives, but they don't really get in the way. They're really ready to go out of the box for a greaseweasel.