How to make DVD/CD cases using a 5.25" floppy disk

CDs and DVDs are a part of our computing and entertainment life. For some, its become quite a pain to store so many disks, especially when you are buying them by the spindle in the 10's or hundreds at a time.

Many storage holders for CD cases are expensive and always seem to fill faster than you anticipated. DVDs are even worse. Many times you think you've come up with a good plan like putting your DVDs and CDs into a CD portfolio only to realize that you often need some sort of information (serials, tables of contents, etc) with the disk... so its back to the jewel cases again... which stack up and up and it seems no matter what you do it always looks like shit.

Well, fear not!
Heres a cheap alternative for CD/DVD storage thats as retro-stylish as it is practical.

Now that DVDs and CDs have become the standard for storage media and left floppy disks in the dust, why not capitalize on the fact that old 5.25" floppies can be bought for less than a penny these days... or you may have a few boxes laying around as I do. I admit it, Im a hardware pack rat. I have 14.4 modems and RDRAM floating around here somewhere too... but never mind that.

Heres how I store many of my DVDs and CDs and how you can too:
1. Get a hold of some 5.25" floppies.

Once out of the box they look like this:

2. Locate a sharp cutting utensil. Yes, we will be doing some minor surgery. Its no big deal just make sure you dont lose a finger or something. If you're young or an idiot, do this under adult supervision.
I suggest using a pair of scissors but in this instance I couldnt find them so I used a knife. I dont reccomend it for a variety of reasons.
A. Its dangerous.
B. You can leave burrs in the disk that can potentially scratch the DVD/CDs.

3. If you've taken my advise and gotten the scissors, cut along the right corner of the disk. (the part of the disk with the single notch cut in the side, otherwise known as the "write-enable slot") Only cut a strip about 1/16". You may want to use a ruler or straight edge for this. If you're using a knife, put the blade into the notch (blade up) and carefully slit the disk along the edge until you reach the top.

4. Once you've done that, flip the blade over and again insert it into the notch. Using caution, precision and common sense slit the disk to the bottom... unlike the method used in this pic. I didnt need that thumb anyway.

5. Once the disk is split, you should be able to open it like so:

You'll notice a round piece of what looks like plastic inside. Thats the actual disk. Feel free to pull that right out.

6. Now insert your CD or DVD into the disk case. Note with interest as it fits right in as if it were made for it, then note the nice smooth surface inside the disk that will help keep it from scratching...

Ask yourself why you never thought of this before, then note the big hole on the bottom of the disk (thats called a stobe hole) which leaves the disk succeptable to scratches... Well, nothings perfect.

Dont worry so much about the hole because you're going to re-insert the disk with the DVD/CD back into the paper case it came in, anyway.
The final product looks like this:

Just for the record, heres the difference between a knife job and a scissor job. Given, I went a bit overboard with the scisssors on this one (you can tell from the lack of the write enable slot) but it works just fine for its purpose.

Whats neat about doing this is that there is plenty of room to write on the case and even insert a piece of paper with info in the case with the CD (table of contents, etc) which also protect it from scratching if you position it to fill the strobe hole. Whats also neat is the look you get from people when you hand them one. Errr... I dont have anything to read this with. Oh yes you do. How cool are you now? About +2 on the nerd cool scale. Thats right. Awesome.

Hope that helps you clean up and organize your mess.