WTB: Aluminum Trim

[Omega-TI]

Does anyone know if any one of the major TI Seller's has any NOS aluminum trim pieces for sale? 

[Omega-TI]

... if no one does... I wonder how much it would cost to get a couple of dies made and a run of 2 or 3 hundred... assuming others might be interested in restoring their TI's to 'like new'.

[RickyDean]

12 minutes ago, --- Ω --- said:

... if no one does... I wonder how much it would cost to get a couple of dies made and a run of 2 or 3 hundred... assuming others might be interested in restoring their TI's to 'like new'.

A lot. having a machinist background, I have made dies for stamping purposes and it is not cheap. That being said, it could be possible to form metal using wood, like oak to create some, but it would probably not be feasible for 2-3 hundred. My opinion.

[Omega-TI]

31 minutes ago, RickyDean said:

A lot. having a machinist background, I have made dies for stamping purposes and it is not cheap. That being said, it could be possible to form metal using wood, like oak to create some, but it would probably not be feasible for 2-3 hundred. My opinion.

Bummer.  I mentioned a high number because I suspected as much.  I figured at $20.00 a set, getting 200 hundred sets would be about $4,000.  But if that is not enough to cover the plates, yeah, bad idea.  Considering how much people are asking on Ebay for a TI these days, I figured $20.00 (I'd pay that) to restore one to new looking would be a steal.  My idea was for a 'group buy/commitment' type of thing.  Too bad a guy could not ask to his boss, "Hey boss, can I use the machine after work tonight?"

 

Thanks for the wake up, not all my ideas are feasible. 

[wierd_w]

You have a hydro block press laying around? A 3axis mill to cut the two halves of the press dye?

 

Perhaps a cmm probe to make sure your run is good, or have a good point cloud scanner, and know somebody that can reverse the cloud into a proper digital model? A water jet to cut the flat patterns?

 

Because that is the kit you will need to make a few hundred stamped parts.

 

(Used to work in aerospace.)

 

I "might" be able to do the reverse engineer work, but I would do a substandard job designing the press dies.  I was a draftsman, not a tool designer. That's black magic voodoo shit. The die needs to be the right draft angle for the exact aluminum formulation, so the springback results in the correct geometry after it releases. (Or you have to press at a specific temperature to get the stiffness parameters of that formulation when pressed)

 

There's industry secrets, hard earned experience, and formula work involved.

 

Then there's heat treat you have to conside after pressing. What condition do you want the metal to be taken to after forming?  Any surface treatments?

 

This is not at all straight forward.

 

[Omega-TI]

Like I said, not all of my ideas are good or feasible.  😜

[+chue]

Buy an untested/ non-working TI off ebay that still looks good.  Much easier to take the trim off an old TI.

[Keatah]

What about restoring existing trim?

[Mehridian Sanders]

Not sure if this helps but I was trolling through ebay and found these.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Texas-Instruments-Top-Shell-Outer-Frame-Silver-Chrome-1039020-for-TI-99-4A/383032808612?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Texas-Instruments-Bottom-Shell-Outer-Frame-Black-1039021-for-TI-99-4A/383033269320?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

[Omega-TI]

5 hours ago, chue said:

Buy an untested/ non-working TI off ebay that still looks good.  Much easier to take the trim off an old TI.

I'll make an admission here, I'm a picky SOB when it comes to this project as it'll probably be the last TI I'll ever own.  I want Jedimatt42's keyboard interface in it as well as the F18 MK2 when it hit the market.  So with the amount of money I'm going to dump into this, I don't want as much as a scratch on it.

5 hours ago, Keatah said:

What about restoring existing trim?

Yeah, it's possible, but it never looks the same and sometimes the logo and lettering get obliterated.

4 hours ago, Mehridian Sanders said:

Not sure if this helps but I was trolling through ebay and found these.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Texas-Instruments-Top-Shell-Outer-Frame-Silver-Chrome-1039020-for-TI-99-4A/383032808612?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Texas-Instruments-Bottom-Shell-Outer-Frame-Black-1039021-for-TI-99-4A/383033269320?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

Good idea, I looked at the image, but while the seller say's "very good condition", it does not quite come up to the level I'm looking for this project.

[Tursi]

If I was buying a new trim, I'd want something more solid than the thin aluminum and a mirror finish.

 

Someday I'll do that mirror finish...

 

[Omega-TI]

41 minutes ago, Tursi said:

Someday I'll do that mirror finish...

Someday you'll say, "Look at all those fingerprints on my TI!"

[Mehridian Sanders]

Someday you'll say, "Look at all those fingerprints on my TI!"

That's what I said when I openned my TI LOL

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[krslam]

Well, you could switch to using a beige model  (*runs for cover*).

[Tursi]

1 hour ago, --- Ω --- said:

Someday you'll say, "Look at all those fingerprints on my TI!"

Oooh, you think people will be allowed to touch it?

[JB]

9 minutes ago, krslam said:

Well, you could switch to using a beige model  (*runs for cover*).

The stylish solution, if ever there was one.

 

I stand by this statement.

[Mehridian Sanders]

Oooh, you think people will be allowed to touch it?

So my son who cannot stand or sit still was doing his little dance near the TI. I told him to move or he would be moved. I love him dearly but I see the klutz in me, in him.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[+chue]

How about some vinyl wrap?

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D1NWZNJ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_ogvIDbF3K0MVN

[Omega-TI]

8 hours ago, chue said:

Buy an untested/ non-working TI off ebay that still looks good.  Much easier to take the trim off an old TI.

Just bought one that "looks good", although the auction did not say anything about it working, but it did NOT say as-is, so now I should have a console for...

 

1) Jedimatt42 Keyboard Enhancement

2) An F18A MK2 when released

3) And the (hopefully sooner than later) Power supply replacement board that works with the Mean Well external power supply. 

 

This should 'modernize' and make up-to-date my 'final TI'.  Sometimes you have to put the cart before the horse.

[+OLD CS1]

Gold.

[+chue]

27 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

Gold.

They do make vinyl wrap in that color

[Omega-TI]

I'd like to see how you use that stuff on the air vents by the cartridge port.

[GDMike]

What about Lacquer paint.

with metaflake

[wierd_w]

1 hour ago, OLD CS1 said:

Gold.

 

Obtainable with successive washes of metal salts.

 

Wash 1) Cupric sulfate.  This will cause a replacement reaction of the aluminum with copper. Only dip it just long enough to make the surface turn reddish, remove, rinse in ammonia and distilled water, then polish with polishing cloth.
Wash 2) Silver nitrate.  This will rapidly replace the copper with silver. Once the surface turns lustrous white, remove from solution, neutralize with ammonia and distilled water, then gently polish with soft cloth.

Wash 3) Auric chloride.  This will replace the silver with metallic gold.

 

The coating will be very very thin. Cover with a nice clear coat.  It WILL however, be a true metallic gold coating.

 

 

More interesting and probably more durable--

 

Vacuum electrostatic coating with titanium nitride ceramic. (TiN)  Not as lustrous, but very nice gold color, and VERY durable. Would not need a surface protectant.

 

 

[GDMike]

Can't it also be dipped in those vats like the way you rechrome stuff? Or is that a way to quickly disolve the whole piece? Ooops....

Edited September 24, 2019 by GDMike