tuf Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Thanks to Brad at Best Electronics (he dug through many ruined printer heads till he came across a (mostly) good one. The characters are still well formed and fairly solid. The alpha numeric characters that had fallen off have now been glued back on and I'm going to try and make a casting of it tomorrow. The 1027 shall live again! (I hope)... David Milsop NICE! Keep after it, I have a 1027 brand new unopened in the box just waiting for one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangentAudio Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I have a couple of 1027's that have been in storage with my Atari equipment for over 20 years now. One of them is my original from childhood, circa 1985 or so. I dug them out the other day after finding this thread and the print heads have disintegrated on both of them. If it's any help to making mold pieces, I have access to an 80W laser cutter, a professional Z-Corp ZPrinter 450 (plaster and resin based) 3D printer, a professional MCOR paper-based 3D printer, a few different hobby-grade FDM 3D printers, and a Tormach CNC milling machine. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I wonder if any of the SLA printers out there have the resolution for this. Some can print elastomers directly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I have a couple of 1027's that have been in storage with my Atari equipment for over 20 years now. One of them is my original from childhood, circa 1985 or so. I dug them out the other day after finding this thread and the print heads have disintegrated on both of them. If it's any help to making mold pieces, I have access to an 80W laser cutter, a professional Z-Corp ZPrinter 450 (plaster and resin based) 3D printer, a professional MCOR paper-based 3D printer, a few different hobby-grade FDM 3D printers, and a Tormach CNC milling machine. If I send you some EPS (Adobe) and CRD (Corel Draw) files would you be interested in looking at them? I'm working on the castings as we speak (type). David Milsop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangentAudio Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 If I send you some EPS (Adobe) and CRD (Corel Draw) files would you be interested in looking at them? I'm working on the castings as we speak (type). David Milsop I can take a look at EPS files anyway, but I don't have Corel Draw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mytek Posted March 28, 2017 Share Posted March 28, 2017 I can take a look at EPS files anyway, but I don't have Corel Draw. Corel Draw 15 Day Trial - Michael Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 I have a couple of 1027's that have been in storage with my Atari equipment for over 20 years now. One of them is my original from childhood, circa 1985 or so. I dug them out the other day after finding this thread and the print heads have disintegrated on both of them. If it's any help to making mold pieces, I have access to an 80W laser cutter, a professional Z-Corp ZPrinter 450 (plaster and resin based) 3D printer, a professional MCOR paper-based 3D printer, a few different hobby-grade FDM 3D printers, and a Tormach CNC milling machine. The files actually belong to Stefan Both. As soon as he gives me the ok, I'll post them to you. By the way everybody, my first attempt at getting a mold for the character side of the print head didn't go to well. Some of the characters evidently weren't glued down very well and came loose into the silicon mold. I had to very carefully dig them out. I'm going to try again this weekend. And thank you Michael for the Corel post! David Milsop 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Both Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 (edited) Dear David, dear Tangent, you may use the files the way you want. There is no copyright, no ownership. I'm sorry I have less time for our hobby so I can't support our community making new tests with a laser. But I can help in converting the files the way you want. So if you prefer a different file format, no matter if bitmap or vector oriented, just drop me a note. The single letters are transformed into "path /vector" anyway. The font file is lost long ago... Stefan Edited April 1, 2017 by Stefan Both 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted April 1, 2017 Share Posted April 1, 2017 Dear David, dear Tangent, you may use the files the way you want. There is no copyright, no ownership. I'm sorry I have less time for our hobby so I can't support our community making new tests with a laser. But I can help in converting the files the way you want. So if you prefer a different file format, no matter if bitmap or vector oriented, just drop me a note. The single letters are transformed into "path /vector" anyway. The font file is lost long ago... Stefan Thank you Stefan, Here are the files that he sent me. I noticed that there is an error in the TIFF file on the first column on the left. The 8th and 14th figures are the same. The 8th character is correct but the 14th should be the other was around "less than and not greater than" I hope this helps, David Milsop 1027_Typen.zip 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 After several more attempts I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to buy a degassing chamber to make the mold. I keep getting many small air bubbles in the mold. Some of the smaller holes have been filled with a combination of fine sawdust and super glue, then sanded down. I'm still working on this project, but slowly. Anyone else having any success? David Milsop 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 dave a decent plexiglass box and a vacuum pump is all we used for potting the pump being close enough to vibrate at the same time pulls all air and gasses out 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 dave a decent plexiglass box and a vacuum pump is all we used for potting the pump being close enough to vibrate at the same time pulls all air and gasses out I'm not sure which way I will go. I saw a 1 gallon chamber and pump on ebay for $108.00. That might be the fastest and easiest. Then I won't have to worry about hoses or connections. But then I really like working with acrylic too. That's a good idea. Thanks, David Milsop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 (edited) Thanks to Brad at Best Electronics (he dug through many ruined printer heads till he came across a (mostly) good one. The characters are still well formed and fairly solid. The alpha numeric characters that had fallen off have now been glued back on and I'm going to try and make a casting of it tomorrow. The 1027 shall live again! (I hope)... David Milsop Fantastic! I have a 1027 that needs some repair, but I never bothered since the head was crumbled. Now that I may be able to get a new head, that old 1027 may live again along with everyone else's here! That is probably a near miracle that an old head could be salvaged at all! A project to save the 1027 just in the nick of time! Edited April 9, 2017 by Gunstar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivop Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 (edited) Has anyone dumped the firmware yet? Mine says: ATARI 1027 A 0 83.8.5 It seems that by running the program/verify waveforms from an Arduino (for example) should be able to retrieve the data inside. NEC8749.pdf Edited April 9, 2017 by ivop 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLund1 Posted April 9, 2017 Share Posted April 9, 2017 Good thread!!! I have been wondering how to get the 1027 back in action too. But I have not seen anyone show that 3D printing of the belts can't be done. There are files here, I bet they can somehow be translated to 3D print files. Then it is just a matter of finding the right print materiel. There are many, many formulations out there. Though 3D printing is beyond my skill level, I am aware of their capabilities. Some have scanners built in, so you would just have to put a belt in it for a scan, then print new. But whatever process that is used to get new belts, it will be greatly appreciated by the whole community.!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idavis Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 b) the vertical alignment of each printed character was so eradic due to poor design tolerances that it looked like you typed the document on an old mechanical typewriter with an extremely worn-out mechanism. Funny story about my 1027 and letter quality. It was purchased because I turned in an assignment that I had printed on our dot matrix printer. My teacher not only failed me for the assignment but basically accused me of cheating since I had dared to use a computer. My Dad who had encouraged me to use the computer was livid. So mad in fact that he researched it and purchased a 1027. Every assignment after that was done on the Atari and printed on the 1027 and that teacher was none the wiser. One question guys, why are you spending all this time trying to mold an original? Why not get it scanned in, or a 3D model made. Then you can 3D print some masters to make your molds from. That has to be better than trying to mold a piece that's falling apart. And scanning one in should be less destructive to the original. Just a thought. Worse case scenario is just starting from scratch and creating the model from there. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangentAudio Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Funny story about my 1027 and letter quality. It was purchased because I turned in an assignment that I had printed on our dot matrix printer. My teacher not only failed me for the assignment but basically accused me of cheating since I had dared to use a computer. My Dad who had encouraged me to use the computer was livid. So mad in fact that he researched it and purchased a 1027. Every assignment after that was done on the Atari and printed on the 1027 and that teacher was none the wiser. Wow, I had an eerily similar experience in 5th grade (1985ish). I, too, was failed on the assignment because the teacher somehow deemed it cheating to use a computer. I was using a 1027 all along, too! I boggled years later, when I heard the next generation of kids was required to use a word processor to do their school reports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 I sent of requests for scanning, and was shocked when I got the quotes back. That and the fact that I could not guarantee the print head would arrive in one piece; put a serious damped on that idea. It's VERY rare to get one that is all together. A simple bump or a gentle touch with a finger will dislodge pieces. Trying to pull the head out of the printer with damaging it is impossible. Besides all this, I'm retired and have a lot more time than money now. It keeps me busy and out of the refrigerator! David Milsop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted April 17, 2017 Share Posted April 17, 2017 Good thread!!! I have been wondering how to get the 1027 back in action too. But I have not seen anyone show that 3D printing of the belts can't be done. There are files here, I bet they can somehow be translated to 3D print files. Then it is just a matter of finding the right print materiel. There are many, many formulations out there. Though 3D printing is beyond my skill level, I am aware of their capabilities. Some have scanners built in, so you would just have to put a belt in it for a scan, then print new. But whatever process that is used to get new belts, it will be greatly appreciated by the whole community.!! If someone wants to send me the finished 3D files, I'll be glad to take it from there with the material search. I did find a company in upstate New York that will make the plates for half of what anyone else wanted. David Milsop 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idavis Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 (edited) Not sure when you priced scanning in the heads, but it seems that there are new options like this scanner you can make and use your cell phone and some software to compile the 3d model. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1762299 My point was not to print the heads using a 3d printer, rather print out a repro that you could then use to make your mold where you wouldn't have to worry about the piece falling apart as you have experienced. I don't have a 3d model of this, nor do I have the time at the moment to take on that project, but maybe some people have worked on it in the past. Maybe Stefan's files could be converted into something a 3d printer can use. Edited April 18, 2017 by idavis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Both Posted April 18, 2017 Share Posted April 18, 2017 I could save the files as dxf or dwg. But that's only 2D Cad Files. No idea, if its possible to wrap it around a cylinder. (by the way, not sure if it was a cylinder... maybe the inner core was a prism?) Stefan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 Might this be useful? eBay Auction -- Item Number: 252969236541 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 I've been saving money (not easy to do after you're retired) to buy a $599.00 table top USB 3D scanner. Here is a picture of the drum that the rubber print head wraps around, and the casting I've made of it. If you look closely you can see a few indentations from air pockets in the casting material. I just ordered a degassing chamber to remove the air from the molding material before I make another cast. David Milsop 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Both Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 Looks wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLund1 Posted June 8, 2017 Share Posted June 8, 2017 Great!! A bit of a move forward. Good News.!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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