[Coco] Sacrificial carts - opinions?

[Joel Ewy]

On 06/04/2014 03:42 PM, John Guin wrote:
> I'm not exactly sure if this question makes sense, but could someone who
> know how 3D printers work (?!) upload the design for one of these carts?
>
> At least that way folks with the right hardware could just make more.
>
> And if anyone does know the details, about how much would it cost to print a
> cart at today's rates?
>
> John
I have designed a first draft of a CoCo cartridge housing for 3D 
printing.  I made a partial test print that failed due to an extruder 
clog that I think shouldn't be a problem anymore if I keep the dust off 
the filament.  I just last night upgraded the firmware in my 
Thing-O-Matic and haven't had a chance to test it yet, but the Sailfish 
firmware is supposed to significantly increase the speed and print 
quality.  The material cost to print it would be minimal -- it's just 
the machine time and the overhead that might make it cost more than the 
injection molded ones.

On the other hand, they can be completely customizable.  I could easily 
add mounting posts, holes, vents, et cetera to the basic design.  I 
could make it to fit a Radio Shack cartridge PCB with the hole in the 
middle, or something of your own design.  I could make it accommodate a 
Raspberry Pi or an Arduino, or a custom PCB.  On my machine, I should be 
able to build something from the size of the RS game carts to something 
around the size of the DS-69 video digitizer, but not as long as the 
full-length FDC or RS-232 Pak -- at least not without gluing together 
multiple parts.

JCE

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Coco [mailto:coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com] On Behalf Of Mark McDougall
> Sent: Wednesday, June 4, 2014 7:58 AM
> To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts
> Subject: Re: [Coco] Sacrificial carts - opinions?
>
> On 4/06/2014 1:51 AM, Mark Marlette wrote:
>
>> I do have over 200 of the full length cases, originally from Tandy.
> Would it be possible for you to send/link a photo, and measurements? What is
> an example of a Tandy full length case - the floppy controller? Are they
> plastic?
>
> TIA
> Regards,
>