Any use of old CD ROM drives?

[transfrank]

Hello,
I have a ton of CD ROM drives and was just wondering if anyone ever used them for a small DIY project? Personally, the surface area that I would plan to use is pretty small (in the order of 3"x4").
Frank

[RiseUp]

I made a VERY small XY table out of two a while back as a rainy day project. They only give 1.5-1.7" of travel, but they're fun to play with. They've got small tin can bipolar steppers in them. Used it for all of 30 minutes,then tore it apart for reasons unknown.

[hemsworthlad]

Diy door stop. .

[transfrank]

One thing I have noticed is that the ones I have don't have any stepper motors. they are all one the variation of one DC motor driving gears to the pinion and rack for the CD tray, one to spin the CD directy and one with a gear system to change the rotational axis by 90 degrees to do the mmovement up and down the CD tracks.

Did you use the drive system for the tray or the one for the CD tracks?

[RiseUp]

Originally Posted by transfrank One thing I have noticed is that the ones I have don't have any stepper motors. they are all one the variation of one DC motor driving gears to the pinion and rack for the CD tray, one to spin the CD directy and one with a gear system to change the rotational axis by 90 degrees to do the mmovement up and down the CD tracks. Did you use the drive system for the tray or the one for the CD tracks?

I used the linear system that moves the laser head back and forth. Instead of ROMs,try cd or dvd players.

[transfrank]

I guess they are not really popular because the useful travel sizes and torques are small. Did you work with the CD Rom drives just to test out an idea, or did you get an application totally working?

[RiseUp]

Originally Posted by transfrank I guess they were not really used because the useful travel sizes and torques are small.

Yes to the small size,but as far as small torque, I had a small inrunner brushless motor for a spindle and I used it to route small PCBs. Im pretty sure foam and balsa wouldn't be hard, and If you were in a REALLY good mood,maybe use the laser to engrave/cut. It's only strong enough to cut paper slowly or engrave balsa,but it would sure be fun to make.