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Post by madtronix on Dec 1, 2013 22:16:52 GMT -5
Finally I have a simplistic "order" page up: madtronix.com/en/order.htmlUse it to place orders or to let me know if you're interested in something. Nedless to say there's a lot to do and the page will gradually grow to something nice. (and so will the madtronix range;-)) If I remember right it is on the left or right inside of the visor on a roughly 5cmx3cm white sticker. the first numbers were starting at #01 I think. some of the later ones had a longer format. I will do some research and will gradually add this information to the website. The prototypes looked quite badass;-) here's a picture from the side, will have to add some more of my prototype to the site some time. If i remember right it was Alex Nicholson who in his nice British way suggested me changing the design:-) The motors are slightly better (5% of the old imager models had quite loud motors), the technique used to mount the motors on the pcb is more shock resistant, the cable is mounted more solid, the pcb is mounted more shock resistant in the visor-frame and the pcb looks slightly better (imho). I get a new batch of visors next week and expect them to look slightly different. If you didn't already do si, just drop me a note through my website. I also just finished a simple temporary order form you can find here: madtronix.com/en/order.htmlYes:-) Looking for a less time consuming way to produce them though. Right now it's lots of work. Uh I'm really sorry for that I repair all old imagers free of charge, should one break. I'm at the eurocon once a year. |
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Post by TrekMD on Dec 1, 2013 23:05:06 GMT -5
Fantastic! My wallet is in danger!
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Post by jasonbar on Dec 2, 2013 13:05:10 GMT -5
Yes:-) Looking for a less time consuming way to produce them though. Right now it's lots of work. When you get time, let's talk. I've been too swamped to wrap up my 3D Imager color wheel reproductions. I've got material that works, CAD models, a working prototype, etc. In terms of the wheel itself, I just need to get clean drawings & DXF files together to send to the laser cutter to zap up a bunch of wheel segments. This approach might not work for you, because my repro color wheels are attached to a plastic hub, while your color wheels are simply a flat annulus of multi-colored plastic, so you might not be able to assemble side-by-side wedges to make your wheels...unless you add some support rings or lamination or...? Thanks, -Jason |
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Post by madtronix on Dec 5, 2013 5:41:43 GMT -5
Manufacturing the wheels boiled down to lots of trial and error. I thought updating the website in the next week with the whole story of how i tried manufacturing the wheels and how I ended up manufacturing them.
I used an inkjet printer to print ink on transparent film. I used the epson C64,C66,C86 series printers but the other epson should work fine aswell. The ink is a very critical point, as the original epson inks don't work for that purpose. Canon seems to work fine though. HP original ink not either. Then i would laminate them in pouches and cut them out with a circle cutter by hand.
While using inkjet technology keeps me very flexible (special wheels/colors, small quantities) it is also very time consuming. Time is the big factor here: The lowest I would earn in a low wage job for untrained people in this country would be something around 14 EUR/ 20 USD. So I'm really looking for outsourcing the wheel manufacturing as I cannot reach that wage at the current prices. It's undoubtedly more fun than washing dishes though (another of my professions;-) )
Inkjet transparencies, printer (settings), ink, laminating temperature are all variables that need to be tuned to reach the best results.
I always wanted to get the wheels printed by a screen printer or probably get screen printing equipment myself. you can do really cool stuff with screen printing. Same technique has been used by various scene made overlays. I think Kristof Tuts was the first one to use screen printing. If the printer can also cut out the overlay/wheels, that would be best. While my last repro overlays where really strong in colour and could do better resolution than screen printing (look at Spikes Circus overlay for example, I even got a white ink printer for that). Alternatively I'm still looking for a tool to cut the whole wheel at once instead of fiddling around with these circle cutters by hand.
I'm very curious about your lasercutting approach. I got a 3D printer myself and already have Vectrex projects planned that incorporate 3D printed objects. If you're interested I can send you some wheels to disassemble or custom wheels for testing with your 3D clips.
If anyone has an Idea of how to cut out circles from 400µm plastic discs, let me know:-) I was thinking of buying blade stencils but have no experience in this field yet.
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Post by gliptitude on Dec 6, 2013 19:30:18 GMT -5
If anyone has an Idea of how to cut out circles from 400µm plastic discs, let me know:-) I was thinking of buying blade stencils but have no experience in this field yet. I don't KNOW how to do this, but do have some "idea". I didn't see it mentioned yet, so I'll just tell you that DIE CUTTING would probably be the standard process for this. .. This is also how the Vectrex overlays by Tutstronics and Vectrexmad were cut, (and it sounds like your color wheels are almost identical in thickness and material). I think for a simple reference of how this works, you can compare to the common HOLE PUNCH device that you might have in your office. Basically there is a precisely engineered steel peg that perfectly mates with the hole in the corresponding plate. In your case you will probably need a custom die, which would be used on a larger mechanical press. .. Many professional screenprinters will have this equipment, and know how to use it. (and many others will not, if all they do is T-shirts and posters) .. I had looked into this A LITTLE BIT in the past, when I was communicating with a local printer about making Vectrex overlays. At the time I had gotten a free quote from some online company for a custom die. If I remember correctly they quoted something like $175 USD. To me this seemed low, but the printer said it seemed a bit high to him. |
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Post by jasonbar on Dec 7, 2013 0:46:40 GMT -5
Ditto to die cutting for large quantities. You can even set up a punch or die on a simple benchtop arbor press or bench vise. Or, laser cutting, depending on tolerances, quantities, etc. I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you say you want to cut circles from discs. What shape is your material as received, & what shape after cut? Are you referring to your wheels as shown in this pic, essentially a circle within a circle, roughly like a CD? vectorgaming.proboards.com/post/9407/threadThanks, -Jason |
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Post by darrin9999 on Dec 7, 2013 11:28:38 GMT -5
Fantastic! My wallet is in danger! Same here! Can not wait to get one!! |
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Post by gliptitude on Dec 7, 2013 11:48:05 GMT -5
I missed the cutting "from..discs" part, so I'm also confused now.
.. Another note though, on the die cutting: If there is a little bit of tolerance in your design as far as the size of the disc, you might be able to find a print shop that has already cut circle shaped stickers, and has a die that would be adequate.
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Post by kokovec on Dec 9, 2013 15:21:30 GMT -5
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Post by hcmffm on Jan 14, 2014 17:14:54 GMT -5
It got a bit quiet here in the forum regarding Madtronix and the imagers, but have a look what's happening in Sweden: madtronix.com/en/PS: My guess is that the parcels with the stamps will become a Vectrex collector item, one day. ;-) |
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Post by TrekMD on Jan 14, 2014 20:44:36 GMT -5
Looks like it's been anything but quiet over in Sweden!
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Post by darrin9999 on Jan 14, 2014 21:37:55 GMT -5
Mine is on its way!
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Post by VectorX on Jan 14, 2014 21:57:01 GMT -5
^What'd you order?
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Post by darrin9999 on Jan 14, 2014 23:18:43 GMT -5
3D Imager and next payday I`ll order some games |
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Post by madtronix on Jan 16, 2014 11:56:43 GMT -5
PS: My guess is that the parcels with the stamps will become a Vectrex collector item, one day. ;-) Hehe if the solution with the stamps wouldn't cost 2.50 EUR more I would stick to them. Since today the online shipping label printing works again (It didn't work for 15 days after some cables burned int the Swedish posts datacenter), so I guess I just use the remaining stamps and then switch to boring online labels. I could add it as a fun option for the future though;-) I still have to answer some more complicated emails, but I'm really happy that even though the Swedish post was not working for so long the maximum waiting time for orders between payment and shipment was ~11 days. I guess I will need 2 more weeks till everything is settled and the website nice looking. then I'll be more active here. It has been a great pleasure so far! |
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