I would like to know how to remove the platters from a hard drive
which is not spinning, and swap them into one which works.  I know
that this can supposedly only be done in a clean room by
specially-trained technicians, but I'm willing to risk my old platters
and my new drive trying. I would just like some instructions  from
someone who knows how.

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 10 Feb 2006 21:27 PST

patrick...

I'm afraid it's not that simple, per this article from Action
Front Data Recovery Labs:

"Physically disassembling a disk drive and 'randomly' removing
 the platters from the spindle is a highly effective form of
 protection. Despite claims to the contrary, technology does
 not exist to remove the platters (without extensive control
 measures) from one device and read them back with another
 machine.

 At the time of manufacture, control signals (servo information)
 are written to every drive after is has been assembled. Any
 attempt to recreate or read back these signals once the exact
 alignment and relative positioning of the platters and the
 head stack have been altered is virtually impossible.

 Commercial data recovery companies (including ourselves) have
 invested heavily into research to overcome some of these
 problems. At Data Recovery Labs, we have been successful in
 many forms of platter transplants - but in every case - the
 removal of the disks must be done with exacting measurements
 to maintain the positioning in relation to the spindle that
 they are mounted on. If the platters are removed - without
 strict engineering methodologies - the surfaces are useless
 for data recovery purposes."
http://www.actionfront.com/ts_dataremoval.asp

While I'm confident this answers your question, though in 
the negative, I won't post it as an answer given the 
current price on the question. If you want to reduce the
price of the question and accept my input as your answer,
this page by skermit-ga offers guidelines for doing so:
http://www.christopherwu.net/google_answers/answer_guide.html#changing_price

sublime1-ga

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Clarification of Question by patrickd-ga on 11 Feb 2006 05:32 PST

I am fully aware that the "pros" say that this cannot be done. If my
question remains up for awhile with no contrary answer I'll accept the
researched answer (i.e., can't be done) at a reduced price. Thanks.

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 06 Mar 2006 13:01 PST

patrick...

The question has 4 days left before expiring. Are you going to
reduce the price so I can post the researched answer, as you
stated?

sublime1-ga

May I add, I believe that hard disk platters are specifically designed
for the model that they are installed in. Even if they may be all 3.5"
in casing, the platter size and density may even differ, even the axle
joints may differ, so I doubt platters are transferable to other hard
disk models.

Unless you could afford to open one and find out yourself...

techtor -- I have the same model drive to transplant to, so in this
case that would not be a problem.
patrickd

HERE IS YOUR ANSWER
 http://www.hackaday.com/entry/1234000840067578 this is a very very good tutorial.
 More simple than that you couldn't find :)
 I wish you success

I had an  A+ instructor who swore you could freeze a hard drive in a
zip lock bag, overnight, and then have about an hour to retrieve data.
I've yet needed to try it, but when the day comes, I plan to try.

There are many sites devoted to freezing hard drives - here's one:
http://www.ozzu.com/ftopic32802.html