26 Aug
2011
26 Aug
'11
5:44 p.m.
On 26/08/11 20:35, Ethan Dicks wrote:
So is there anyone here who has the CAD skills to draw
a gear, or at
least sufficient skills as a machinist to completely and adequately
describe the critical parameters for someone else to work from? I
think it could be inexpensive to do a run of a handful of gears
through Shapeways. Because of the strictly functional nature of the
part, there should be no worries of trademark or other IP
infringement, to head that discussion off.
Well I'd be interested in a few of these to keep as spares -- I have a
Sharp CE-series plotter which is basically an Alps plotter mech bolted
onto a Sharp controller board. CE515P or something like that.
... But what I'd REALLY be interested in are a few of those blasted
pens! I can probably machine some adapters and so forth on the lathe,
but I've never -- not even once -- seen a pen refill which was short
enough to fit in the holder.
I suppose the ideal would be something like a Rapidograph nib mated to
an ink reservoir, but those things seem to be prone to blocking if you
leave them open on the table.
Though that said, if Laszlo Biro managed to make a ballpoint pen in
1938, it should be possible to produce something similar with modern
machine tools. Getting the viscosity of the ink 'just right' might be a
bit of a pig though.
Cheers,
--
Phil.
classiccmp at philpem.me.uk
http://www.philpem.me.uk/