Food Living Outside Play Technology Workshop

hard drive spin coater

by seilgu on November 22, 2014

Table of Contents

hard drive spin coater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: Hard drive spin coater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Motor modification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 2: Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Step 3: Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

http://www.instructables.com/id/spin-coater/
 Author:seilgu author's website
hi

Intro: Hard drive spin coater

A spin coater made from hard drives.

Image Notes Image Notes

1. speed control knob 1. vacuum tubing glued to the modified motor

Step 1: Motor modification

To hold the sample in place, a vacuum pump is connected to the bottom of a modified motor.

The hdd motor is drilled through its axis, which is made of hardened steel, and requires the use of a carbide drill bit.

A O-ring is fitted on the rim of the motor.

http://www.instructables.com/id/spin-coater/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. the o-ring. 1. bearing oil will come out during the drilling and during the first pumping of
2. motor axis vacuum

Step 2: Assembly
ESC handles the control of the motor.

Arduino converts the knob position to PWM and controls the ESC.

Knob position is displayed on the LCD display.

http://www.instructables.com/id/spin-coater/
 Image Notes Image Notes
1. ESC motor controller 1. LCD display
2. arduino 2. LCD contrast
3. 74LS595
4. Arduino Pro Mini

Step 3: Conclusion
1. Depending on the ESC, you might be able to set different operating modes, breaking on/off, fast/slow startup for the motor.

2. If balanced well, small slides could spin to max speed, which is roughly 8500 rpm for this motor.

3. One should be able to design a better chuck using a larger O-ring and giving more suction.

4. For the first few runs and during drilling of the motor shaft, some bearing oil will spill out due to the heating during drilling or the pressure difference, but it didn't seem
to matter to the operation. The suction force is enough to bend a cover slide to the point of breaking.

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Comments
3 comments Add Comment

petercd says: Nov 22, 2014. 9:24 AM REPLY

It looks interesting, what are you using it for?

seilgu says: Nov 22, 2014. 10:04 AM REPLY

Don't know yet. :p Any suggestions?

petercd says: Nov 22, 2014. 11:02 AM REPLY

LoL

Usually folk build things because of a why. I had to go to google to find out what they're for, getting a nice thin even coating on a silicon wafer. I
thought maybe you were building your own solar cells. :)

http://www.instructables.com/id/spin-coater/