7 Apr
2005
7 Apr
'05
2:12 p.m.
From: "Heinz Wolter" <h.wolter at sympatico.ca>
Do you really have access to plastic injection molding
equipment
to make pdp8/11 handles? Might be possible to pour acrylic or resin
but they might be to fragile.. the moulding is the tough part unless
one can make a breakaway plaster mould from positive masters....
where do place my order for switch paddles;) 5-7$ a pop sounds fair;)
No, but the strength of the poured ones is adequate, once they have cured.
(When they first come out of the molds, they are still too flexible.)
The silicone rubber molds give a pretty good result. The hard problems are
getting the color right and the air bubbles out.
So far, I haven't been satisfied enough with the results to show them off.
(The paddles are functional, but don't look enough like the original
equipment.)
Price is a good point; I have about $150 into materials for the experiments,
now.
I recently completed a mold for 14 paddles, so I have a fair shot at making
matching sets of paddles, even if I never get the colors to match DEC's.
(By making 14 of each color, you'd get enough to do an entire switch panel.)
So far, all my work is based on 8/e/f/m/l paddles. (I don't have any PDP-11
paddles to use as masters.)
Vince