Just a thought :

Yes you can... It takes time and a little knowledge to do that !
I know a lot of repair shop who ask money for that.

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Lemmy

For this I have to consider well the problem of responsibility. I have tought that I could try to say to "clients": if it's a mechanical problem that needs professional tools you don't pay nothing and I'll suggest you a professional clean room dotated DR, instead if I can reach the recovery you'll pay max tot$$. But someone says that cloning an unstable disk can ruin the disk, so if I take money I get a responsibility on these data.

For know I recovered data for free successful from about 10 disk with reallocated and pending sectors. Disks that the owners dropped.

If it's so (cloning can ruin an unstable disk), according to the Murphy's Law, my first paid recovery could be catastrophic.

How many gurus here have started DR activity simply cloning what can be cloned and outsourcing other cases?

I'm thinking to start something at right prices. Here where I live I have heard story like this:

User: I have this disk, how much is it data recovery for this?
IT Store: Depends. ( this seems a professional answer )
User: Can I give you the disk to receive a quotation?
IT Store: No, say me about the disk. Can you see the drive letter in Windows?
User: Yes, but Windows wants to format it.
IT Store : Ok. You have to pay minimum 300€ for this. If it goes fine.

Now, I think that I can do better than this. Professionally and for the user. Maybe I am wrong, but I'd like to read some opinion.

P.S. User is a friend that gave the disk to me (I warned him about danger and responsibility). Anyway, it was just a filesystem problem.