Repairing dents on MD units [MiniDisc Wiki]

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====== Repairing dents on MD units ======

<WRAP center round important 60%>
=== WARNING ===
===**DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK** ===
</WRAP>


This is a repair guide that is physical, and is not guaranteed to fix your dent(s) fully. I was not 100% successful, but I am okay with moderate blemishes on my units. If this dent damages the internals, that is a whole //other// repair guide.

=== What you will need ===

Some of these are optional, depending on your handiness and risk analysis of the procedure. **Again** this is a general guide that may or may not help or work for you. **Please** read through at least a couple of times before doing this.

{{  :guides:repair:00_needed_bits.jpg?400|90% of the needed bits}}

  * **Dented MD unit**; this guide will mostly focus on //metal// MD unit casing, though could work for plastic, again YMMV
  * Some kind of **buffer/medium** to actually hammer upon. You don't want to damage the casing, so you sandwich it between two pieces of wood, in my case (from another project test). You'll probably want it to be larger than the area of the dent, and properly sized for your application. This can be thick cardboard or wood.
  * Depending on the size of the medium and the dented part, you might find it useful to have some kind of **clamp** to hold it all together (and possibly save your fingers). There are plenty of options from the simple metal clamp shown, to wood sliding clamps.
  * **Screwdriver and appropriate bit(s)** to remove the casing piece, and any electronics that may be attached
  * **Hammer:** I used a decent metal claw hammer (not pictured), but depending on how hard you want to hammer, or the material, you could substitute it with some kind of rubber mallet.

=== General procedure and photos before ===


<carousel>
<slide>{{:guides:repair:01_dent.jpg?400|Dent detail}}</slide>
<slide>{{:guides:repair:01_dent_3.jpg?400|Dent detail}}
</slide>
</carousel>



Above are two photos of the dent on my MZ-2P, it was purchased this way, but in no way fouls with the operation of the unit (as far as I can tell).

{{  :guides:repair:02_prepare.jpg?400|Preparations}}



You want to place the two pieces of medium on opposite sides of the dent. One on top (you choose which is 'the top' that you will be hammering back out), one on the bottom. Clamp if necessary or desired; you don't want this setup to move enough for you to hit directly on the casing. I did not for this example, just held it in place on the floor by hand.

I do not have any photos of the hammering bit, but it took a good minute or two, to figure out the correct speed/weight/force to start to flatten the dent back out. 

=== Finishing Up ===


<carousel>
<slide>{{:guides:repair:03_ymmv.jpg?400|Dent mostly done}}</slide>
<slide>{{:guides:repair:03_ymmv_02.jpg?400|From above, barely noticeable}}</slide>
<slide>{{:guides:repair:03_ymmv_03.jpg?400|From an angle}}</slide>
</carousel>

After a few hits, you should check your efficacy, and adjust as necessary. You should only do maybe 5 hits at a time, and check.

Once you are satisfied with the results (or as close as you can get; eventually this will no longer push the dent out), you can admire your results, and additional character of your MD unit!