1200XL side case cover and bottom shielding needed.

[Gunstar]

Hey all 1200XL owners, I have a 1200XL that I'm piecing together. It was a motherboard I bought from Best or B&C quite a few years back as a back-up to my 1200XL. But after talking about it with @Timothy Kline a few years ago, he was nice enough to send me a 1200XL case that the mobo for was fully destroyed. So instead of a back-up mobo, I decided to make it a fully working 1200XL. Unfortunately the case Tim sent me (thank you very much again Tim) didn't come with the side cover. So I need one, also, I need the interior shielding, at least the bottom part, the top part wouldn't be needed as upgrades would require it to be cut or removed anyway, but I really could use the bottom part just for proper grounding of the motherboard.

 

So I thought I'd ask if anyone has either the side case part and/or bottom shielding before I venture into manufacturing my own. Which brings me to another question: Has anyone done a 3D printer design of the 1200XL side cover already? I'll be designing my own from scratch using the side cover from my other 1200XL if necessary, but if someone already has a .STL file for a 3D printer of it that would be great. I figure the chances of just getting a side cover and bottom shielding alone is slim, as generally people want to keep these parts with the others that go with them, but I figure it wouldn't hurt to ask before I move forward with my manufacturing plans for them both.

 

I could also use a new tinted clear plastic cover that goes over the top of the function keys if anyone has an extra of it too. The one I have broke in half, still usable, but a new one would be nicer. But that's not a main part I'm concerned with.

 

I'm pretty sure I checked with B&C (MyAtari) and Best E. a few years back about these parts and they were sold out. I'd just put this 1200XL on a shelf to worry about later, until now. Some of the other recent 1200XL parts postings made me decide to drag her out and see if I can get her fully restored/finished again.

 

I know @bob1200xl has stuff you've said, so I figure I'd tag you just in case Bob, but I haven't wanted to bother you directly as I suspect/assume you only want to deal with whole 1200XL's and not separate bits and pieces, but if you happen to have any of these as extra bits for some reason, please reply. Or if one of your ugly, damaged and yellowed 1200XL's is available for a reasonable price that include these parts, I'll take one.

Edited March 9 by Gunstar

[_The Doctor__]

3d printing of the parts sounds like a wonderful way to go! I bet you many people would love to see what you come up with!

[Gunstar]

2 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

3d printing of the parts sounds like a wonderful way to go! I bet you many people would love to see what you come up with!

Well, if no one else has, I guess I will do it. I'll just be taking my caliper and measuring all the dimensions of the 1200XL's side cover and using those numbers to input into something like FreeCAD or TinkerCAD.

 

What would really be cool is if I can figure out how to use the A8's ChromaCAD 3D and import it's models to an .STL or .obj file. Since ChromaCAD does the modelling in "slices" anyway, man, that would be cool to be able to use my Atari to design 3D parts for printing! Though I've barely started learning ChromaCAD as it is...maybe there is a way to export it's model files into something more standard. I guess I better dive into the ChromaCAD manuals and see if there is some resource within it do export the model files...

Edited March 10 by Gunstar

[_The Doctor__]

5 minutes ago, Gunstar said:

Well, if no one else has, I guess I will do it. I'll just be taking my caliper and measuring all the dimensions of the 1200XL's side cover and using those numbers to input into something like FreeCAD or TinkerCAD.

 

What would really be cool is if I can figure out how to use the A8's ChromaCAD 3D and import it's models to an .STL or .obj file. Since ChromaCAD does the modelling in "slices" anyway, man, that would be cool to be able to use my Atari to design 3D parts for printing! Though I've barely started learning ChromaCAD as it is...

I really love that idea... Imagine that software being adapted to output in a format the printer understands. Awesome idea.

[Gunstar]

12 hours ago, _The Doctor__ said:

I really love that idea... Imagine that software being adapted to output in a format the printer understands. Awesome idea.

Would that not be totally frickin' awesome? But after browsing through my ChromaCAD manuals, with my '91 versions and the lists of at-the-time available ChromaCAD software, it seems I'm missing only the Model Builder Cylindrical Coordinates disk set and various model disks filled with pre-made models. Though software including: General Utilities (just for copying and moving model files), TIFF file maker turning them into TIFF images for use elsewhere (but not model format conversions), model sculpture program (for reworking existing models) and high-res printer driver software were all still "on the drawing board" as of the '91 revisions, and if they were the latest revisions, then we are SOL.

 

So, from my information, no conversion programs for more standardized CAD file formats was ever released and I'm not sure if the stuff mentioned above was ever released either. I thought I'd read somewhere though that there were later revisions than the '91 ones? Like '93 editions or something? But if there were they seem to still be "lost" to the Atari internet archives. So, unfortunately, if I have the latest revisions, then a converter program would still need to be written by someone, and probably out of the question without source code anyway. It would be a perfect CAD system on the Atari for using with a 3D printer though, if a conversion program was available.

Edited March 10 by Gunstar