once upon a time when floppy discs were of the 5.25 inch variety (and therefore indeed floppy)
I had a floppy drive that failed at reading discs (and they were goddam £100 a disc drive back in 1984 but fortunately dad got a replacement) so natrally I took it apart to try and fix it. Behold! the stepper motor that actually spun the disc in its square sheath.

*thinks* I can make the disc spin by booting the floppy with "shift-break" on the BBC micro keyboard. So if I attach the stepper motor to a bobbin, a string to the bobbin, the other end of the string to the door handle, I might be able to open the door remotely by hitting 'Shift-Break' on my keyboard, from my bed. Imagine the majesty, a knock at the door and 'ENTER!' followed by the door silently gliding open. (well, this was my bedroom and I was 15 but still....one can dream).

I hooked it up (without thinking that I'm using £500 worth of computer and defunct disk drive to avoid having to get up on the very rare occasions anyone would ever knock at my bedroom door, aged 15) and experimented with it several times. Wizard!

8 times and it bust. DOH!
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Thu 20 Aug 2009, 21:16, Reply)