any interest in 3D printed DEC front panel toggle switches?

-----Original Message----- From: cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Ethan Dicks Sent: 05 February 2012 21:41 To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts Subject: Re: any interest in 3D printed DEC front panel toggle switches? On Sun, Feb 5, 2012 at 3:26 PM, Richard <legalize at xmission.com> wrote: factory if you about how I haven't come out of the woodwork, but I've built and operated multiple hobby-grade Fused Filament Deposition printers, I run the 2+-year-old local Makerbot and RepRap user group, and I speak at conventions on the technology. I also own PDP-11s and PDP-8s with front panels and would like to find a new source of toggle handles. With that, I don't think FFD will make very "nice" toggles. Among other things, there are limits to the hobby-grade machines, including not being able to do overhangs (including hidden pockets) over 45 degrees. This affects how one designs the shape and in what orientation one attempts to print. Higher-end printers do "support material", as will the just-released-weeks-ago Makerbot Replicator (where PVA support material experimentation is in its infancy). Also, the injection-molded DEC toggle handles have their own molded pivot pins (which do occasionally break off), which are so small that they would not be strong enough with any 3D printing technique. There are alternatives (like piano wire pivots), but it complicates the effort. I have yet to see anyone post an STL file of the toggle handle shape (with or without pivot pips, with or without a hole for a metal pivot wire). If somone who has CAD skills (not me - I make printers not object designs) wants to tackle the shape, I can evaluate it for printableness. It's not "impossible", but in my experience of working with 3D printers, low end printers will have problems making that shape with sufficient fidelity and strength and high end printers will produce nicer results at a substantially higher expense (potentially multiple dollars per toggle). As a cost comparison - someone recently wanted to see how much it would cost to use stereolithography (liquid resin) versions of parts to make a Mendelmax printer. A company in Colorado sells an entire FFD part set, ready to use for $85. The bid for stereolithography for the same parts was $1500 ($800 of which was the resin). Nice parts cost money. One can bang out something that will probably work on a cheap printer. It will not look as nice as a molded part. It will not even closely match color unless you want to pay for a 25lb custom run of color filament (at $15/lb). You can make many thousands of toggle handles from 25lbs of plastic, but you still have to make them one at a time (though you could split the spools of filament amongst multiple printers for volume). Any other questions? -ethan