about cartridges, molds, colors etc.. etc..

[Andromeda Stardust]

If it's anything like Shapeways, the carts will cost $100+ and shed white or black nylon powder into the cartridge slots. You pay per cubic centimeter ($1.25 per CC) and you can save money by printing thinner walls (or adding "holes" to internal supports), but sub 1mm walls will have them feeling flimsier than chinese pirate junk. A good sturdy cart needs at least ~2mm walls which will increase the cost dramatically.

 

Also major post-production surface treatements and additional coatings will be necessary to get that classic gloss black look; the stock white powdery material that comes out of the Laser Stinted Nylon 3d printing machines has a rough finish similar in texture to sandstone. Lots of extra work on the homebrewers end to make them presentable.

 

Also depending on the orientation of the objects loaded into the printers which vary from one batch to the next, tiny ridges may be present within the material. Even if the cad design has the cartridge parts to lay flat, which would be optimal with no visible lines on the cart label or backside, the operator may load the files into the machine vertically or some other 90º orthagonal orientation. Tolerances will still be exact but the grain might be different from one batch to the next.

 

Lastly, while there are other materials available, some cheaper, others exotic including glass, ceramic, metal, etc... many of which have more attractive finishes, a "transparent" material, even a "full color sandstone" with RBG color graphics baked in, but most of those secondary materials are for decorative use only and unsuitable or too fragile to use in making functional devices like carts.

[retroillucid]

Here is the colors we will be able to supply (with a minumum quantity required)

 

 

Solid Colors (no transparencies)

 

- Black

- Green

- Blue

- Light Blue

- Yellow

- Red

- Silver

- Gold

- Milky

 

 

Transparent Colors (cost a bit much than solid colors)

 

- Smoke Black

- Clear

- Transparent Blue

- Tranparent Green

- Transparent Amber

Edited April 18, 2014 by retroillucid

[Andromeda Stardust]

One more thing, enjoy paying for $100+ for industrially printed homebrew carts. And forget homebrew printers like makerbot, etc, which use an extruder and while cheaper than commercial optiond, have nowhere near the spatial resolution to print an exact functional cartrige. They also have severe limitations as to what can be made to to each desigh requiring it's own support structure.

[Albert]

One more thing, enjoy paying for $100+ for industrially printed homebrew carts. And forget homebrew printers like makerbot, etc, which use an extruder and while cheaper than commercial optiond, have nowhere near the spatial resolution to print an exact functional cartrige. They also have severe limitations as to what can be made to to each desigh requiring it's own support structure.

 

This is why I said "in ten years".

 

..Al

[Albert]

Bumping this thread.

 

 

..Al

[lapetino]

Beautiful! Is that a proto, or a real thing? Very excited about these!

[jaybird3rd]

Looking good!

 

(That's a nice-looking 2600 console, too ... and I bet it's entirely free of Armor All!)

[Albert]

Beautiful! Is that a proto, or a real thing? Very excited about these!

It's a 3D printed prototype, which is why it's white. This is the third revision of the carts, as we've been tweaking them for fitment issues. Probably one more iteration before I can put them into production. Actual carts will be black ABS plastic, although I will get pricing for different colors as well.

 

..Al

[iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin]

Bumping this thread. ..Al

Cool!

[BDW]

Bumping this thread.

 

SNIP

 

..Al

.....boner achieved....

[+Trebor]

...we've been tweaking them for fitment issues...

Curious if there's been any testing on a (few different) 7800 (revisions)...

Just recalling a problem some people have experienced with some 2600 carts on some 7800's, that fit fine otherwise into a 2600.

Although I don't believe there have been any issue(s) with "standard" carts...If I recall correctly the problem is mostly Activision or Imagic type(s).

 

[Albert]

Curious if there's been any testing on a (few different) 7800 (revisions)...

Just recalling a problem some people have experienced with some 2600 carts on some 7800's, that fit fine otherwise into a 2600.

Although I don't believe there have been any issue(s) with "standard" carts...If I recall correctly the problem is mostly Activision or Imagic type(s).

Yes, the carts are being tested on 7800s as well. The 7800 and 2600 Heavy Sixers tend to have issues with cartridges being tighter, so I want to make sure these new shells work across all of Atari's systems.

 

..Al

[+Trebor]

Yes, the carts are being tested on 7800s as well. The 7800 and 2600 Heavy Sixers tend to have issues with cartridges being tighter, so I want to make sure these new shells work across all of Atari's systems.

 

..Al

Awesome...Thank you.

[Andromeda Stardust]

.....boner achieved....

I think my space shuttle just launched!

[+bcombee]

That looks pretty amazing. Sorry I wasn't able to get around to making any locally, I've just had very little time since my first attempts at putting a TechShop-ready mold together.

[Shawn]

Bumping this thread.

 

..Al

[+AtariNerd]

*grin*

 

Since the plastics are actually the less expensive part of the production, behind the molds, what you can do - is yes, give homebrewers first dibs on the cart shells, but also produce some extras for sale through the store, at a higher price. Maybe, have certain colors only available for a single run or two as collectables. If you want to be really silly, have themes around certain holidays, with clear or tinted clear shells, with led light-kits inside. This way you can recoup your costs a little faster, perhaps put them forward to other projects.

[Albert]

I will definitely make them available for sale, since it'll take me a while to recoup on the rather large investment to get them made. Any special runs of carts (such as those in different colors) will cost more, so not sure if/when those would happen. The focus right now is having a good supply of regular, black shells.

 

..Al

[mkiker2089]

I've actually been holding off on buying a few homebrews waiting for the new shells to materialize. This is a good thing. It's odd how the Vectrex, SNES, and even NES have shells available for them now.

 

If someone would just make a Sega Genesis cart mold the bulk of homebrews could be made with no donors required.

[Crazy Climber]

How much for me to have all my current brews sent to you and redone in white!! You could even do slick orange and blue atariage color labels, oh man thT would be cool:)

[Andromeda Stardust]

I've actually been holding off on buying a few homebrews waiting for the new shells to materialize. This is a good thing. It's odd how the Vectrex, SNES, and even NES have shells available for them now.

 

If someone would just make a Sega Genesis cart mold the bulk of homebrews could be made with no donors required.

There exists a repro Genesis cart shell. I bought N64 and GBA adapters for Retrode, the Powerbase Mini, and an Everdrive MD from Stone Age Gamer. All share the exact same Injection molded cart shell, with a slot cut from the side required to fit Model 1 Japanese Megadrives.

 

RetroUSB has in the past sold transparent NES cases, and Piko of Piko Interactive sells SNES shells...

[Andromeda Stardust]

I will definitely make them available for sale, since it'll take me a while to recoup on the rather large investment to get them made. Any special runs of carts (such as those in different colors) will cost more, so not sure if/when those would happen. The focus right now is having a good supply of regular, black shells.

 

..Al

Al, do you think you could also sell replacement adhesive labels of existing homebrews alongside the new shells, for those of us who want to "upgrade" our existing AA homebrews to the new shells?

 

Also, do the new shells have screwholes under the labels like the vintage carts, or is there some other way to open the game without peeling or poking the labels?

 

Thanks...

[hizzy]

Wow! Great looking cart! How did this all end??? Can we buy new shells? That is so cool!

[Andromeda Stardust]

Wow! Great looking cart! How did this all end??? Can we buy new shells? That is so cool!

This thread desperately needs a bump. Thanks!

[Zonie]

 

Ha