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3D-Printed Objects

techknight

Well-known member
Speaking of 3D printed object, I would like the little screw covers that go into the Performa road apples. the 5XXX series. I think there may be other models that use them too. 

 

Byrd

Well-known member
Just finished printing the Mac Portable battery box (5 hours 5 mins on CTC3D printer 20% infill with raft, but probably didn't need that), many thanks 360alaska.  Am fixing up two Portables, one a recapped unit I did a few years ago - never got so far as the first 10 seconds before shutting down ... obviously a battery issue.  Hoping it'll fire up with a new battery.  The second Portable my brother just purchased and will need a full overhaul.  

The casing of your design is great how it hugs the battery so snugly.  I have some copper pieces to slot into the little wells, what did you use to glue down yours?

Thanks

JB

 
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360alaska

Well-known member
the Mac Portable battery box /  I have some copper pieces to slot into the little wells, what did you use to glue down yours?
I hot glue the copper strips into the spots in the plastic. I have designed a better battery box:

IMG_1057.JPGIMG_1059.JPGIMG_1058.JPGIMG_1055.JPGIMG_1054.JPGIMG_1053.JPG

portabattery30.stl.zip

 

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FacnyFreddy

Well-known member
Oh... I gotta get back into CAD and build up an STL for a port replicator for the Pismo with readily available cables/connections on fleabay.

I'll get something going over Christmas break.

 

danpoarch

Well-known member
Is anyone 3D printing Quadra 6x0/Power Mac 61xx feet?
I would love to. I have two 660AVs with maybe two complete feet between the two of them.
But I don't have a printer. Or resin. Or know where to start.

I have a 2-4K budget and want to get a 3D printer that can print bezels, feet and other Mac plastics. Does anyone have direct knowledge of what make/model(s) I should look at?

As well, what plastic should I use? I plan to eventually come up with a nice match for Beige/Platinum through research and trial and error. However, I want to get off the ground so I need some guidance on which resin to use for basic prototyping.

I know what I want to do. I used to run imagesetters so I have a decent mindset for getting through the learning curve. I would love some pointers on where to start my research... feel free to PM me to keep from clogging up the thread (pardon the pun...).

 
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Westinghouse

Well-known member
Here are .stl files for the tray.

This is a little different than the one i printed off; it's got a lid with through-holes to secure the lid to the tray with screws & nuts.

I haven't run this modified one off yet myself; still using the prototype tray.

This is made to use brass strips to make the battery cell contacts, and to make the connection to (and form) the battery contacts which connect to the internal laptop circuits.

My local hardware store sold brass strips in these sizes.

I had intended to use six off-the-shelf NiMH cells here, but the voltage was a little too high, so I use five, and span the empty battery location with the wires from a thermal fuse, and rest the fuse head between two cells.

I use the sliding battery cover from my original PB battery, but it's not connected to the printed battery tray; the tray has two spacers which contact the inside face of the sliding battery cover, holding it in place. These spacers are bevelled to provide fingerholds for removal of the battery.

This isn't the greatest - it's really skeletal so that I can print it off at the local library within the time limit given to users. If you're printing it at home, this might serve as a starting point; I think filling in the voids would make for a more robust battery tray.

PB TRAY.zip

 

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Trash80toHP_Mini

NIGHT STALKER
I'm loving this thread! It's great to see the theoretical threads of the past laid down in real life. The only part I can think of offhand that hasn't been mentioned is the rear latch on the Portable's base plate for removal of the back cover. Thanks for the outside links on technical aspects, parts and larger printers becoming affordable, keep those coming!

+1 for 610/6100 feets.

edit: I think printing some accessories might be a good idea once one of the larger printers comes online. The Kensington(?) vertical stand for the Macs II-fx in samurai-j's avatar come to mind:

MacIIstand.jpg

 
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techknight

Well-known member
I am not that good at CAD (outside of PCB CAD), or I could find all kinds of uses for that stuff. 

PB1XX battery tray like mentioned here, with the guide rails so I can put the original slide cover back into place, 

And then the PB Duo battery, make a tray for that as well as the slide rails for the front cover piece. 

Bunch of other battery housings, Latch/hinge covers, etc... 

Heck with a 3D Printer big enough, maybe even replicate whole case parts? Or at least the elusive Q9XX CDROM cover. 

 
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Westinghouse

Well-known member
A Duo battery tray would be a good new project, complete with new sliding cover - in my experience, the plastic on the original sliding cover is really brittle these days.

 

Rajel

Well-known member
I just printed up a pair of the PB 1xx trays, and they came out really well. 3D printing replacement plastic bits is a great thing, and Westinghouse is a dang prodigy with the design.
The trays even have freaking rounded edges! I wouldn't have thought to incorporate that had I designed the tray myself.

 

Trash80toHP_Mini

NIGHT STALKER
Oh... I gotta get back into CAD and build up an STL for a port replicator for the Pismo with readily available cables/connections on fleabay.

I'll get something going over Christmas break.
If you need one to model for the project, I've got the BookEndz/Pismo in hand. It's a bit large to print out of whole cloth, but doing the dirty on the back end mounted to laser-cut clear plexi docking sled bits would work great.

@Westinghouse: I've got the BookEndz/1400 for modeling if you'd like to take a shot at it. I'll throw a 1400/somethingorother reconstituted from the 1400Stack into the pot for you if you'd print me a few replacement battery holders. Don't need to do the BookEndz at all, that's just a whim. But sending the original 1400 batpack back with the replacements nets you that 1400/xxx if you're without and even more street cred. [:)] ]'>

Gotta get a power boffin into the mix here to do the circuitry for a current bat tech replacement pack for the PB100's SLA tech mess. Are SLA cells even available today in PB100 scale?

 

olePigeon

Well-known member
Just got a new thermal tube and nozzle for our 3D printer.  If this doesn't fix the overheating, don't know what will.  The new thermal tube has fins on it like a heatsink instead of just a regular tube.  Hopefully this will keep the filament from melting inside the tube.

 
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