Can i buy any equipment that can read data from a faulty or unworkable
hard disk? (no power to the disk or if power then the disk is not
detected by the computer at all).

This is to get data off a faulty hard disk that cannot be accessed by
plugging it into any pc or data recovery software does not work as it
cannot be detected by the pc. Can i buy something to do this? I run a
data recovery firm and looking for the equipment to do this.

Hello

The normal way would be to find out why the harddisc failed and try to
repair the hardware.
This can be done with relative simple eqiupment and mostly aviable
spare parts.
( However it still needs skilled People )

If this isn´t working or to risky ( head crashed ) the hardrive
usually gets directet into a clean room and eventually the platters
removed to read out the data.

Now this needs much more investment in tools. ( or you just can go on
trail & error by swaping parts )
Some from these tools are made by the companys who actuall produce the
drives so the best guess would be to contact them ( As for needed Tech
Specs & Manuals anyhow ).

At least they can point you to tool manufactorers.

A other way would be to work togehter with recovery companys who
allready have the equipment.
The fact is that physical damaged drives need much equipment and skill
and it will be a long way to see RoI.
After a physical reconstruction there is still lots of work to return
the datas to usable form.

Grüsse

Informative links:

http://www.geocities.com/thestarman3/asm/mbr/DataRecovery.htm#HARD
http://users.pandora.be/aldatillian/VARIOUS/Data%20Removal%20and%20Erasure%20from%20Hard%20Disk%20Drives.htm
http://datarecovery.ditmas.com/data8.htm 
http://www.tek-tips.com/gviewthread.cfm/lev2/66/lev3/68/pid/751/qid/519073
http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Hardware/Storage/Data_Recovery/?tc=1

If you're not willing to spend a lot of money on this problem, AS A
LAST RESORT you might want to try freezing your hard drive for a few
hours and then plugging it in again to see if it works.

This is only for when you have given up on any other method, though,
because while it will very often save a dead drive for long enough so
that you can get your important data off it, it could also mess it up
more, so that is why I advise turning to this solution only when you
have given up on any other method. There are a large number of reports
of success with this, however; for those desperate people willing to
try it, it can often be a miracle life-saver.

- bookface

Hi,

Thank you, I have torx screwdrivers and a clean room environment. I
believe i have the tools i need. You mentioned you take the plater(s)
out and read data form it, how can you read the data from this? I take
it that you need some hardware for this task.

Thanks for your help so far.

As for freezing the drive, i am familar with this and how it works and
under which cases where it does work. I believe this works when the
drive is stuck and the lubricant has dried up - this skrinks the drive
enough to spin up for about 20 mins then will heat up and expand and
then get stuck again, this time fatally.

Thanks for your help, at this stage i'm hopeing for any new technology
or hardware i can use to aid me.

Another information source:

http://www.datarecoveryfaq.com