MP 1,1-5,1 Looking for a drive caddy for my 2006 1,1, one with newer hole standard.

[Juicy Box]

I need a drive caddy with the newer hold standard for the 2006 Mac Pro 1,1.

The only one I can find is from OWC and it is for the newer Mac Pros:

OWC Hard Drive Tray / Sled / Bracket for Mac Pro (2009, 2010-2012)

OWC Hard Drive Tray / Sled for Mac Pro (2009, 2010-2012), compatible with all 3.5-inch drives, including 6TB-18TB drives with new (2014+) screw mount standard.

eshop.macsales.com

Anyone know of any place that sells them? I can't find any.

 

[mikas]

I don't think there are any for sale for 1,1, 2,1 or, 3,1, but you can print those if you hace access to a 3D printer. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2771531

You can find some earlier discussions on the forum, like a post from Zeke D

I am still to buy my first 3D printer, so I haven't tried this myself yet.

 

[Juicy Box]

Thanks, I saw that online, and was the only thing I could find for the early Mac Pros.

I don't have access to a 3D printer, but I was looking up services to have stuff printed. My public library has a 3D printer, but they are currently closed until the Corona Virus stuff is over.

I fashioned something to use the drive in my Mac Pro 1,1 and it seems to be holding up so far, but I want a more permanent solution.

I might just use on of the 3D printing options I have seen online.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I need a drive caddy with the newer hold standard for the 2006 Mac Pro 1,1.

What's wrong with the current drive caddies?

 

[jbarley]

What's wrong with the current drive caddies?

The screw mounting hole locations have been changed on some drive models and no long match the hole pattern of the Mac Pro drive caddy.

Where did the screw holes go? 8 and 10 TB hard drive mounting issue

So you’ve got your shiny new Seagate IronWolf or Western Digital Red Pro 10 TB hard drive and your’re itching to install it in your MacPro or NAS appliance. You pull out the drive tray…

computer-answers.ca

 

[Juicy Box]

I am thinking of doing a mod on my current drive, maybe using countersunk screws with a spacer on the HDD side of the caddy.

The thing is, those OEM caddies are expensive on ebay, unless I experiment with one of my original caddies, I might as well just use one of the 3D printing services.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I am thinking of doing a mod on my current drive, maybe using countersunk screws with a spacer on the HDD side of the caddy.

The thing is, those OEM caddies are expensive on ebay, unless I experiment with one of my original caddies, I might as well just use one of the 3D printing services.

Can't you just modify the current caddy to fit the new drive?
Cut a strip, then use a small hammer to sink the caddy, then drill and tap it for screws, perhaps?

I have a 8TB WD Gold, too.
But it's inside a HP 800 G1 SFF used as a NAS.

 

[Juicy Box]

Can't you just modify the current caddy to fit the new drive?

Yes, I just mentioned doing a mod in the post above yours:

I am thinking of doing a mod on my current drive, maybe using countersunk screws with a spacer on the HDD side of the caddy.

The only issue I worry about it damaging/breaking the caddy to the point that it would be unusable, which is why I would like to have a spare to do it. The issue with getting a spare is that they are really pricey on ebay, and almost as much as using 3D printing services to have the one from the second post made for me.

I might just risk it and do it on one of my existing caddies.

I only need one modded at the moment, as I just got a really cheap 14TB HDD that was on sale at Best Buy. I am only using the drive as a back up drive from my Plex server, as well as a back up of the Mac Pro's boot drive. I made a few more partitions that I am using to keep old OS versions on my Mac Pro incase I need something that isn't available on El Capitan, such as SW RAID GUI in Disk Utility.

The drive is currently on one of the caddies, being held by two mounting screws, and I did a MacGyver solution using the mounting screws on the side of the drive and kitchen twine.

It is clearly just a temporary solution until I come up with something more permanent.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

The only issue I worry about it damaging/breaking the caddy to the point that it would be unusable, which is why I would like to have a spare to do it. The issue with getting a spare is that they are really pricey on ebay, and almost as much as using 3D printing services to have the one from the second post made for me.

I might just risk it and do it on one of my existing caddies.

It's easy to buy an extra. 1 set of 4 cost 30 pounds, in case you ruined yours. But I doubt it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Apple-Mac-Pro-1-1-2-1-3-1-Hard-Drive-Carrier-Caddy-Sled-Set-922-7728/

 

[Juicy Box]

An update.

I ended up finding a cheap caddy for the early Mac Pros on ebay that I planned to mod. It was about half the price of the 3D printing services.

I got it in the mail yesterday, and I did it last night. I was kind of in a hurry, as my wife wanted to watch The X-files which I use my Mac Pro for my Plex server and I had it disconnected to do the work.

The mod didn't take long, and the measurements were pretty close to perfect. An issue I ran into was totally my fault. I was in such a hurry to get it done, I started countersinking the wrong side. I was almost finished too.

Luckily, I had enough metal left to countersink the correct side, it just made the hole slightly bigger than the other side which was perfect.

I had some #6-32 screws around that I had to cut to length, and for spacers, I got .140 x 5/16 x 1/8 nylon washers that were a perfect fit to fill the gap.

There was a bit of scraping noise when inserting the drive in the Mac Pro, probably due to the very slightly raised head of the messed up countersink side, but overall a success.

I now have an extra caddy that I will probably mod, but take my time and get it right.

It would be nice to be able to just purchase one with all the correct screw holes, but modding the caddy was not hard, and if I end up needing more, I will probably just mod them over getting 3D printed ones.