[Coco] New CoCo Cartridge CAD Preview

[Louis Ciotti]

A home 3D printer is definitely on my "wish" list.  So may items I would
like to make a nice case for it.  Last time I looked into it, most place
that sold pieces to build them were out of stock or out of my current price
range... :(  My ultimate printer would be able print 19" rack front panels
among other things.


On Tue, Apr 16, 2013 at 11:24 AM, Joel Ewy <jcewy at swbell.net> wrote:

> On 04/15/2013 11:07 PM, jmlaw at iprimus.com.au wrote:
>
>> Hey Joel,
>>
>> Looks cool :) I had the same idea a while back but was looking at the
>> Cube 3D printer: http://cubify.com/cube/
>>
>> Like SHF, I couldn't justify the cost after I found a site online who I
>> could send the 3D files to and have it printed in various materials and
>> colors (including metal and stone options) with far more intricate detail.
>> Can't remember which site it was in particular, but there's many of them.
>> That said, having my own 3D printer to play around with is still very high
>> on my wish list. I'm with you in that if you already have one then heck
>> yeah, use it :) I'm sure once you have your own too, you'd start to think
>> if heaps more custom things to make with it. When they come down in price,
>> I'll be getting one too no doubt.
>>
>> Good luck with this project, sure to be a lot of fun :)
>>
>> JasonL
>>
>>
> Maybe you are thinking of Ponoko?  I did have an item laser cut with them,
> just to try them out.  I was pleased with the result, but it took a long
> time (like 3 weeks) to have it made and delivered (most of that waiting in
> the queue) and it was fairly pricey.  I think it ended up coming out to
> around $40 to cut their smallest sheet of clear acrylic into 1" hexagons
> with slots.  I haven't tried their 3D printing, but last I looked it was a
> lot more expensive per unit than using the Makerbot (with the cost of the
> machine factored out).  If I only wanted to make a few one-off things for
> myself, or wanted to make some parts that I couldn't yet make with the
> equipment I have, I would definitely use somebody like Ponoko or Shapeways.
>  In that case you definitely have to factor in the cost of the machine.
>  But if you intend to use it for many different things, that cost is spread
> over a much larger product base and a longer span of time.
>
> I've been thinking about desktop manufacturing for almost as long as I've
> been using the CoCo.  In fact, my first use of Telewriter 64 with a DMP-105
> printer on my upgraded TRS-80 Color Computer, around the same time my Dad
> was setting up a new/old Tree mill in the shop, is what first got me
> thinking about personal CNC.  So I'm committed to the technology, and I
> plan to make all kinds of things with it. It wouldn't make sense for one
> product, but I'm ultimately after a whole new way of living and working.
>
> You're definitely right that once you have one of these things, your whole
> outlook on the world changes, and you see all kinds of things that you
> could make.  And it changes the way you value mass-produced items as well.
>  On the one hand, it hardly pays to use a 3D printer to make cheap
> commodity items like cable clips.  It would probably take 45 minutes or
> more to run off a small batch of them.  On the other hand, how much time
> and gas is consumed if you get in the car and go to the store just to get
> one small item?  And if you could start printing them now you can get a cup
> of coffee and watch the machine (more interesting than 99% of what's on TV)
> or go work on another project while you wait.  Some of the "fundamental"
> equations are beginning to change.
>
> JCE
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>>
>>> I posted a screen shot of a preview of the CoCo cartridge housing I'm
>>> designing in OpenSCAD on my blog:
>>> http://8littlebits.wordpress.**com/2013/04/16/cartridge-**housing-cad/<http://8littlebits.wordpress.com/2013/04/16/cartridge-housing-cad/>
>>>
>>
>>  It isn't quite finished, and I haven't printed it yet, but this should
>>> give an indication of the basic design.  I have it so that the depth of
>>> the cartridge is parameterized.  As depicted in the screen shot, it is
>>> the same size as a game cart.  (I'm using Quasar Commander as my
>>> model.)  But by changing one variable, I can make a longer cart.  At the
>>> moment, the longest one I can make will be just a little over 100mm,
>>> which is in between a game cart and the vacuum-formed cart they put the
>>> DS-69 video digitizer in, which is about 112mm long.  I intend to build
>>> a RepRap printer, which I believe has a bigger build platform, so I
>>> could probably make something as long as a FDC or an RS-232 Pak with
>>> that.  Given that I have printed a case for my Raspberry Pi, I might
>>> just be able to fit one in a housing printed on the Makerbot, but there
>>> probably wouldn't be room for a whole lot else.
>>>
>>
>>  Next I just need to design cutouts for various connectors and whatnot.
>>> Then the housing could be customized for a wide variety of applications.
>>>
>>
>>  If you're working on a project involving the CoCo's cartridge connector,
>>> what would you like to see in a 3D printed housing?
>>>
>>
>>  JCE
>>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
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