There is this for ideas… https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Paper-TapePunch-Card-Maker-and-Reader/ Sent from my iPhone On Jun 5, 2023, at 12:29, Anders Nelson via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: This is an awesome idea, please make it. How great would it be to load a receipt-paper roll (made of heavier stock of course), lase the holes and pass the paper over a vacuum slot to suck the chads. I was trying to come up with a mostly 3d-printable, cam-driven punch myself but of course it will never get done. Happy to provide any hardware/embedded help if wanted! -- Anders Nelson On Mon, Jun 5, 2023 at 2:19 PM Robotguy via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: For various reasons (including, but not limited to, insanity and obsessiveness*) I am building a diode laser based tape punch. It's not specifically for a classic comp, but I'd like to stick with standard format so that it'd be useful for making custom tapes for members in the future. I will probably need to make dozens of tapes so using actual, vintage rolls is out of the question. Does anyone know if 1" tape is used for anything else and where I might find some new? Otherwise I may have to add paper-slitter to my project list and make my own. *I've had the idea of a lost-media ARG stuck in my head for years.

I think paper-slitters are pretty common. That is to say, if you go to anyone manufacturing adding machine rolls they will have the capability to make custom widths in rather small job lots. It's an industry comparable with printing (and often combined, for when till rolls with custom printing is desired). So it may be that although paper tape is no longer available from computer stationary suppliers, it can very easily be made in quite small MOQs.

On Jun 8, 2023, at 12:21 PM, Adrian Godwin via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: A slitter is a wide paper feed system with sharp-edged pulleys over which it passes. There are quite a few videos of this on youtube, it's surprisingly well documented. Because slitter manufacturers are selling to mom-and-pop outfits. I think the tape is supplied unpunched and the tape punch makes both feed holes and data holes. I could be wrong.

I've seen mylar tape used in a tiny loop where it controlled the movements of a printer platen. I don't recall now whether it was used for horizontal or vertical space - my recollection was the latter but it was a long time ago.

On Thu, 8 Jun 2023, Chuck Guzis wrote: All form control tapes I have are normal "paper" tapes. I have not seen such a mylar tape, yet.

IIRC the Centronics 101 printers did this. It was for vertical spacing - you could put different loops in for different form lengths. I used to service them (mostly replacing heads) but never operated :-) cheers, Nigel On 2023-06-08 13:18, Adrian Godwin via cctalk wrote: wrote: on a movements horizontal tape company. punched -- Nigel Johnson, MSc., MIEEE, MCSE VE3ID/G4AJQ/VA3MCU Amateur Radio, the origin of the open-source concept! Skype: TILBURY2591

movements of a printer platen. I don't recall now whether it was used for horizontal or vertical space - my recollection was the latter but it was a long time ago. character set is dedicated to print head control. I think a different tape had to be installed to match the program that was being run. The machine was used for accountancy in about 1975, It was a bit like a large LA120 (but included the calculating part) and made by the french Logabax company. Many line printers used a "VFD" tape (vertical format definition?) which is a 12-channel tape with one row per line on the paper. The idea was that you could tell the printer "skip to channel N" and it would advance the paper until a hole in that channel was seen. By convention, channel 1 marks the top of the page, and in fact typically that position was punched all the way across so a skip to an "unused" channel would not produce runaway paper. Channels other than 1 would be used for custom forms, where it would save time to skip across part of the form rather than advancing line by line to the desired spot. If you only ever used regular size paper this stuff wouldn't be obvious, but an operator who had to handle other forms, like checks or label stock or anything else that wasn't just plain 60/66 line pages, would have to change the paper along with the matching format tape. Some printers had small local memories that could be downloaded with the form definition tape data, avoiding the need for the operator to switch the tape manually. paul

On Jun 9, 2023, at 7:06 AM, Christian Corti via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: On Thu, 8 Jun 2023, Adrian Godwin wrote: 6 and 7 channel tapes should be the same width, i.e. 22.2 mm. The LGP-30 for example natively uses 7 channel tapes (was also common in the former GDR) but punches only 6 channels.

On 6/8/23 08:52, Adrian Godwin via cctalk wrote: to printing How does one, using modern equipment, both slit and perforate (feed holes) blank tape?  Color me curious. --Chuck

I think paper-slitters are pretty common. That is to say, if you go to anyone manufacturing adding machine rolls they will have the capability to make custom widths in rather small job lots. It's an industry comparable with printing (and often combined, for when till rolls with custom printing is desired). So it may be that although paper tape is no longer available from computer stationary suppliers, it can very easily be made in quite small MOQs.

On Jun 8, 2023, at 1:05 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk <cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote: On 6/8/23 09:51, Martin Bishop via cctalk wrote: That would figure in why I occasionally see tapes with irregularly-spaced feed holes. That clears that mystery up.

Instead of plain paper tape, is there any objection to Mylar- or Mylar-coated tape? I note that several manufacturers recommend it.