Projects for Old CDs

So you have a stack of old AOL CDs? Or maybe it was that mistake of an MSDN subscription? Or perhaps the "stale donuts" of a product that didn't quite get off the ground? Well, you can do something besides just tossing those shiny bits of plastic into the public landfill.

CDs make neat shingles

It takes a lot of old CDs, but you can add nice effects to your home and other yard structures: CD's work as shingles. Since they are round, you have to overlap them a lot, and there's a nice fish-scale result when you're done.

CDs are incredibly brittle; trying to nail or staple one to the side of a tree house is a Bad Idea^tm. But Liquid Nails^(R) work very well, and the results you see here are now over three years old. Cutting them is tricky in the field, since they shatter and leave little shards on the ground. Scoring them helps, and I suspect a knife blade in a soldering iron would work well.

CDs make neat toys

If you have kids, or if you are still a kid at heart, it's fun to come up with things to do with CDs. Kids, left on their own, will usually do the obvious: throw them with abandon about the yard like little Frisbees^(R). But that's no fun to clean up, and they make a mess when eaten by the lawn mower.

You can still throw them, in to things like buckets or through hoops, but the temptation remains to heave them. CDs make nasty little dings in the wallboard.

Instead, go for fun, indoor projects of a mellower, scientific bent. CD hoverpucks are easy and cheap to make. The parts:

• CD(s)
• plastic soda bottles, with caps (as many as you have CDs)
• hotglue and gun (though silicon sealant might work well too)
• sharp knife
• sandpaper
• large balloons (at least as many as you have CDs)
• hammer and nail

Assembly is simple:

• Cut the top off the plastic bottle(s). Be careful, since the resulting edges are sharp. Leave 1/8"-1/4" of a lip before the clear flange.
• Recycle the bottom of the bottle; since it still has the UPC, machines may still accept them for redemption.
• Remove the plastic ring between the flange and the threads (it was part of the safety seal of the cap).
• Sand the cut-edge of the neck (part with the threads) so it's not so sharp. That will save your hands and be gentler on the balloon.
• Stretch the balloon out, and blow it up once or twice. Then stretch the open end over the sanded side of the threaded neck part.
• Take a 10p or 16p nail and drive the point through the center of the cap; leave the rubberish liner in place. You may need to tune this hole with your knife for optimal air flow.
• Run a thin bead of hotglue around the circumference of the flat portion of the cap and afix it to the CD. I keep the logo up.
• Blow up your balloon through the threaded bottle neck. Pinch it between your fingers and screw it on to the cap, then put it on a flat surface and let go.

Go further...

I may take William Beaty's lead and try building a solar furnace or piece of "solar art". Pictures will be posted...