ianoid Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 I have a nice 800 that has a few key caps that are loose enough that if you turn the system sideways, they fall off. Does anyone recommend a solution short of glueing them on to make them more likely to stay in place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ACML Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, ianoid said: I have a nice 800 that has a few key caps that are loose enough that if you turn the system sideways, they fall off. Does anyone recommend a solution short of glueing them on to make them more likely to stay in place? See the attached thread. Look at post #8 of that thread. Edited July 19, 2019 by ACML Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 I've sent off a couple of 800 Hi-Tek plungers to a 3D scanning company and I now have good stp and jgs files that I will be using when I get a 3D printer in a few months to try and start making new plungers. David 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 4 hours ago, DavidMil said: I've sent off a couple of 800 Hi-Tek plungers to a 3D scanning company and I now have good stp and jgs files that I will be using when I get a 3D printer in a few months to try and start making new plungers. David Would you care to share the models with the rest of the community? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 8 hours ago, toddtmw said: Would you care to share the models with the rest of the community? Sure. But I don't have an app to display them in a 3D view. David Keyboard plunger_v3.igs Keyboard plunger_v3.stp Keyboard plunger_v3.X_T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 @DavidMil How many do you need? (PM me your address and I can print them and send them to you.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianoid Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 I could use 5, and I'm happy to pay for them and shipping. Please PM me if you can make some for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 I can print them, but I cannot guarantee they will work. This is an untested, unproven scan that @DavidMil had created. I cannot offer to print them or share them without his permission. Let me print one and play around with it in my Atari 800 first. I'll post pictures later today. -Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 Unfortunately, my .4mm wide/.1mm layer height printer is unable to print these with the level of detail needed. (I think the issue is more around the .4 than the .1...) Also, I've, apparently, never taken one of these keyboards apart, so I'm unsure how to even test it. I just imported the model into Tinkercad. The wall thickness is .7mm. Since I can only print multiples of .4, that causes an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugarland Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 The decaying plungers are a real issue for many 800 keyboards. Would like to proactively replace all plungers on mine. Could any 3d printer make them? The plastic is thin and needs to be smooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 How do I get to the plunger on an 800? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wt808 Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 See this thread 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 57 minutes ago, Sugarland said: The decaying plungers are a real issue for many 800 keyboards. Would like to proactively replace all plungers on mine. Could any 3d printer make them? The plastic is thin and needs to be smooth. or the line/grooves need to go from bottom to top vertically like flagpoles or picket fence... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 13 hours ago, toddtmw said: @DavidMil How many do you need? (PM me your address and I can print them and send them to you.) I put these file out there because I was hoping someone could print them. The 3D imaging company that made these files for me said that it would take a special 3D printer to make them. If anyone can make them I ask that you only charge for the material used and shipping. The idea here is not to make a profit but to keep our connection to the past alive and well. To answer your question toddtmw, I need about 40 of them for my three 800's. DavidMil 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 On 8/5/2019 at 2:56 AM, DavidMil said: I put these file out there because I was hoping someone could print them. The 3D imaging company that made these files for me said that it would take a special 3D printer to make them. If anyone can make them I ask that you only charge for the material used and shipping. The idea here is not to make a profit but to keep our connection to the past alive and well. To answer your question toddtmw, I need about 40 of them for my three 800's. DavidMil I got a couple of samples back from the 3D scanning company and they fit into the keyboard fine. The problem is that the plungers are too thick and the key caps won't fit into the plungers. They are about .2mm too thick. Trying to force the keycaps in caused the plunges to crack! I'm working with the company to fix the problem and I'm going to order a few to test with. I'll let everyone know how it goes. David 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 6, 2019 Share Posted September 6, 2019 17 minutes ago, DavidMil said: I got a couple of samples back from the 3D scanning company and they fit into the keyboard fine. The problem is that the plungers are too thick and the key caps won't fit into the plungers. They are about .2mm too thick. Trying to force the keycaps in caused the plunges to crack! I'm working with the company to fix the problem and I'm going to order a few to test with. I'll let everyone know how it goes. David Looking forward to hearing your progress. I have a friend here locally who has some pretty nice 3D printers as a hobby/side business, including one that does very high-resolution resin printing (look at the buttons on this 5200 controller case he designed). If the resin is tough enough for use on a plunger, it might be ideal. Probably expensive though, but maybe worth it. Note the surface finish on the (resin) buttons, and the detail on in the printed-in numbers as compared to the more usual PLA used for the majority of the shell. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 20 hours ago, DavidMil said: I got a couple of samples back from the 3D scanning company and they fit into the keyboard fine. The problem is that the plungers are too thick and the key caps won't fit into the plungers. They are about .2mm too thick. Trying to force the keycaps in caused the plunges to crack! I'm working with the company to fix the problem and I'm going to order a few to test with. I'll let everyone know how it goes. David Here are a couple of pics showing the original on the right and the new one on the left. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 20 hours ago, DrVenkman said: Looking forward to hearing your progress. I have a friend here locally who has some pretty nice 3D printers as a hobby/side business, including one that does very high-resolution resin printing (look at the buttons on this 5200 controller case he designed). If the resin is tough enough for use on a plunger, it might be ideal. Probably expensive though, but maybe worth it. Note the surface finish on the (resin) buttons, and the detail on in the printed-in numbers as compared to the more usual PLA used for the majority of the shell. Are those numbers recessed, or a different color? David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted September 7, 2019 Share Posted September 7, 2019 They appear recessed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 (edited) On 8/3/2019 at 9:58 PM, DavidMil said: I've sent off a couple of 800 Hi-Tek plungers to a 3D scanning company and I now have good stp and jgs files that I will be using when I get a 3D printer in a few months to try and start making new plungers. David Brad at Best Electronics was kind enough to send me a couple of Stackpole plungers. I'll be sending them off to get scanned too. Below is a couple of pictures of Stackpole (yellow) and Hi Tek plungers (white). David Edited September 17, 2019 by DavidMil 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddtmw Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 @DavidMil you might want to see if you can find someone with a resin printer that can print this. They actually aren't that expensive, but it looks to me like the resin they use is more toxic than PLA printer filament. I know now very little about them, but looking at the specs, it looks like they can print things that are much finer than a filament printer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 17, 2019 Share Posted September 17, 2019 1 hour ago, toddtmw said: @DavidMil you might want to see if you can find someone with a resin printer that can print this. They actually aren't that expensive, but it looks to me like the resin they use is more toxic than PLA printer filament. I know now very little about them, but looking at the specs, it looks like they can print things that are much finer than a filament printer. See my earlier post above. My friend’s resin printer could probably do this, assuming the resin is tough enough in service to handle the years/decades of key banging. I still intend to discuss the idea with him but haven’t had time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMil Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 On 9/17/2019 at 3:35 AM, toddtmw said: @DavidMil you might want to see if you can find someone with a resin printer that can print this. They actually aren't that expensive, but it looks to me like the resin they use is more toxic than PLA printer filament. I know now very little about them, but looking at the specs, it looks like they can print things that are much finer than a filament printer. I had never heard of a resin printer before you mentioned them. I looked them up and they are very different. They use a light beam to activate the resin and cause it to solidify to a surface that is continually raised. A light beam can certainly be made much smalled than a extruder nozzle. Very interesting! They must be more expensive because all the sites that I looked at want you to call for a quote. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 20 hours ago, DavidMil said: I had never heard of a resin printer before you mentioned them. I looked them up and they are very different. They use a light beam to activate the resin and cause it to solidify to a surface that is continually raised. A light beam can certainly be made much smalled than a extruder nozzle. Exactly. That's why I posted the picture of my 5200 controller and its buttons above - the large shell is conventional PLA; the buttons and their inlaid buttons are one-piece resin prints. Again, note the incredibly smooth surface finish and the detail in the numbers/characters. They come out of the printer this way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 you can get resin printer worth having in the 560 to 1280 range... but the resin involved can be quite brittle when done, you need to make sure the room or cabinet is plenty warm and make sure you choose a more flexible resin formula... one trick is to carefully try the fit on each piece before it is completely cured or dry... depending on the resin and whether it is UV set/hardened. the small amount of spread will help deal with the slight shrink that can sometimes occur. Resin is beautiful smooth detailed but difficult to find a non brittle formula... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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