• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Shipping 8" drive...looking for 8" floppy template

N

Nama

Veteran Member
Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
905
Location
New Zealand
I'm shipping an 8" floppy drive, and I'm looking for 8" floppy disk template, so I can make some cardboard cutouts to protect the internal mechanisms from damage during transit.
Does anyone know where I can find a template?

Thanks

Phil
 
Do you have any 8" disk laying around? One clever shipper just used a cereal box and traced a disk when they shipped mine. Worked fine.
 
Check if Bitsavers has a copy of the manual for your drive. It may include special shipping information like locking the drive heads in place. I remember some manuals include a sample template for the shipping blank which can be handy if there are any special tabs needed to keep the shipping blank from moving.
 
I've seen one in my vintage stash but more immediately I have the IBM spec dimensions of the 8" floppy:

Edges are 8.000 +/- 0.015 inches or 203.2 +/- 0.382 mm
The center hole is 1.500 +/- 0.001 inches or 38.1 +/- 0.025 mm (centered as 4.000 inches from the edges).

I was surprised to see a PDF in my floppy drive archives with the dimensions of the protective carrier cutout. I'll see if I can locate that. I have that computer offline for maintenance but I pushed backups elsewhere.
 
Last edited:
Don't get too wrapped up with protecting the heads. The truck drivers are pushed to squeeze every spare second out of their deliveries. The personnel in the sorting facilities likewise. Yes, they will throw your flat screen TV over the gate rather than make the trip up the drive to the house. The old iron we love to tinker with is at once very heavy and very delicate. Your drive is going to get tossed across the room to land on a pile of other people's stuff. My H27 arrived with the approved inserts in place. The heads are fine. Both drive doors are punched in 1/2 to 3/4 inch in the middle courtesy of United Parcel Smashers.
 
Hey, thanks guys,
That's some great info.
Unfortunately all my 8" floppies are still in transit.
What I may do is take JDalla's specs and draw a template up myself. Gotta be better than nothing.

Thanks again.

Phil
 
Hi All;
JDallas, "" -reference: Shugart, Format Manual, 8 Inch Floppy, December, 1981, Shugart, 475 Oakmead Parkway, Sunnyvale, CA, 94086
(a hardcopy from my days a SD Systems, but the document has so many errors its a disservice to release it to the vintage community) ""
I would ASK You to Release it anyway, Maybe some of Us could Help You get it back to descent shape.. I know I would be interested in it, no matter what shape it is in..

THANK YOU Marty
 
Nama said:
Hey, thanks guys,
That's some great info.
Unfortunately all my 8" floppies are still in transit.
What I may do is take JDalla's specs and draw a template up myself. Gotta be better than nothing.

Thanks again.

Phil
Click to expand...

Are they all the same? I have one for Tandon TM-848's but it looks pretty specific with cutouts and an extension to retract the head, etc.
 
The Tandon blank is shown at http://www.vintagecomputer.net/fjkraan/comp/divcomp/doc/info.html in the file called TandonTM848_ShippingCarton.pdf

Has other useful information as well so good download even for people not shipping drives.

I think other 8" drives came with shipping blanks with changed placement of tabs and holes and a past thread covered the Helios drive which was very different from other 8" drives. I had a DEC RX-02 but I completely forget what preparations were needed for shipping.
 
You don't have to use a shipping disk to protect the heads. The heads are lifted off the disk surface when the drive is not powered by the headload mechanism. all you need is something to keep the heads from clapping together in the case that the drive received a heavy shock. Better than a shipping disk is a floppy disk turned 90 degrees (sideways) so the slot in the jacket does not line up with the heads. The disk's jacket, the blanket inside, and the disk will cushion the drives head/s.

Some drives have a provision for a shipping screw that is screwed in after the drive door is closed. You just need a hole for the shipping screw (if your drive can use one).

You can also take a 8" square piece of cardboard and put a hole in the middle so the cardboard does not interfere with the spyder clamp. Does not have to be a precision fit hole.

To keep the door closed if you don't have a shipping screw, on drive that have a push in button/lever door release like Shugart SA-80X, 85X, and 90X, you can take a double thickness of cardboard, put a slit in it, and slide it under the door lease to lock the door closed.

Roll the head carriage all the way to the inside track.

To protect the outsides of the drive, roll the drive up in a piece of cardboard (like a burrito) sized to overhang the front and rear of the drive by at least 1" on each end. Tape the cardboard tightly so the drive cannot slide out. Get a box that leaves at least 2-3 inches on each side for packing peanuts. Do not try using air bubbles/bubble wrap, all they will do is pop due to the weight of the drive, leaving the drive unprotected.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top