- The floppy disks were officially deemed obsolete in 2010, but persisted in surprising places for years
- Polymatt used CNC machining and pet film to develop a functional magnetic storage disk
- Iron oxide coating allowed the hand done by hand to store and recover basic magnetic data
Disclafts, formerly a must of personal and professional IT, have been deleted for more than a decade – but that technology was officially declared obsolete in 2010, some organizations continued to use it surprisingly.
The Japanese government only moved away from the format in 2024, while the German Navy followed by the same year. In the United States, the latest official use of 8-inch floppy disks for the coordination of nuclear launch ended in 2019, the San Franciso government, finally reducing links with floppies in 2024.
In this context of obsolescence, a youtuber known as Polymatt decided to recreate one from zero, using modern tools and consumer equipment.
Engineering a work flopping from zero
Polymatt started the project by measuring and causing the disc speaker carefully and the internal components using the Shapr3D and Makeracam software.
He then cut aluminum parts with a Carvera air CNC machine, guaranteeing precise tolerances for the mechanical structure.
For the surface of the magnetic disc, it has laser cut pets cut and has coated it with an iron oxide powder suspension, reproducing the properties of the material necessary for magnetic data storage.
After assembling the components, he managed to magnetize the disc and write to him.
Although the data processing capacities are basic, the fact that a functional magnetic storage environment is emerged from raw materials has marked a notable technical realization.
The process was not without difficulty, but the persistence and methodical experimentation allowed him to finish the construction.
Today, cloud storage services provide access to large amounts of data everywhere, without the physical limitations of the older media.
The SSDs offer high -speed and durable storage in compact formats, while an external SSD offers a portable capacity which was once possible with the floppy disks.
A single modern SSD can store millions of times more data than the recreated floppy disk, with speeds that make the older environment impassable by comparison.
Although Polymatt leisure is not used in practical applications, it demonstrates the sustainable attraction of practical engineering projects.
The construction of a floppy disk in 2025 serves more homage to a pivot era in computer science than a viable alternative to current storage methods.
For those who used to rely on them, the familiar Clunk of a reading reading disk is part of a technological heritage that has shaped modern IT.
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