u s patent application ser no 10 435 360 entitled u201c method of merging two disks concentrically without gap between disks u201d publication no us 2004 0016214 filed may 9 2003 and u s patent application ser no 10 435 161 entitled u201c w patterned tools for transporting handling pairs of disks u201d publication no us 2003 0209421 filed may 9 2003 each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as if fully stated herein all of these applications are commonly owned by the assignee with reference to fig1 16 the load lifter 16 includes a main body portion 32 with a disk contacting surface 34 the disk contacting surface 34 is curved to correspond with the radius of the disks the disk contacting surface 34 further includes a series of grooves or channels 36 formed by wedges or teeth 38 as the disks resident in the cassette 30 are in a contact merge orientation the width of each groove 36 corresponds to approximately the thickness of two disks each groove 36 is formed between the sloped sidewalls 40 of adjacent wedges 38 the sidewalls 40 join at a top ridge 42 the distance between adjacent ridges 42 is 0 25 inches as illustrated in fig1 15 and 18 positioned above the load station 22 is a demerge tool 20 in illustrative embodiments the demerge tool has a main body 46 with a disk contacting surface 48 curved to correspond with the radius of the disks the disk contacting surface 48 also includes a series of grooves or channels 50 formed by a series of triangular teeth or wedges 52 these wedges 52 are spaced in a predetermined manner to align with the interface 44 between the l side surfaces of each pair.