bigmessowires
Well-known member
Oh man, this is good! You're looking at the first DB-19 connector to be made in the 21st century:
Most of you know that the DB-19 disk connector found on vintage Macintosh and Apple II computers was an obscure part, and you've heard me whine and moan about how impossible they are to find. Nobody has made them for decades, and I pretty much bought up the entire world's remaining supply of new-old-stock parts. So I finally took matters into my own hands, found a willing Hong-Kong factory, spent a big pile of money, and this is the result. Soon to be joined by 10000 more just like it!
Assuming Floppy Emu sales continue apace, I'll eventually make back my investment some years down the road. If not, it'll at least make a good story! Some early NeXT and Atari ST machines also used the DB-19 connector, so I was able to share the cost with a few other people and reduce my risk somewhat. But I'm definitely breathing easier after having the first piece in my hands, and confirming that it actually fits Apple's hardware.
So here's the thing - how do you go about having something like this made? I had no clue, and it took me over a year. All of the US-based manufacturers that I talked to blew me off, or wouldn't even talk to me at all. I knew I probably needed an Asian manufacturer, but had no idea how to go about it. I ended up going through Alibaba listings for companies that made DB-25 connectors, and contacted several dozen of them to ask if they could make a DB-19. Only a few replied, and only two said they could.
Then they wanted mechanical drawings and specifications for the part. Umm... apparently telling them "just make it like a DB-25 but with fewer pins" wasn't enough. They asked for information from my "engineering department". Finally I found a mechanical drawing of a DB-25, and I photoshopped that sucker, and that was what they used for the very expensive mold-making process. I'm still kind of stunned that this actually worked. 8-o
Let the retro-hardware celebration begin!
Most of you know that the DB-19 disk connector found on vintage Macintosh and Apple II computers was an obscure part, and you've heard me whine and moan about how impossible they are to find. Nobody has made them for decades, and I pretty much bought up the entire world's remaining supply of new-old-stock parts. So I finally took matters into my own hands, found a willing Hong-Kong factory, spent a big pile of money, and this is the result. Soon to be joined by 10000 more just like it!
Assuming Floppy Emu sales continue apace, I'll eventually make back my investment some years down the road. If not, it'll at least make a good story! Some early NeXT and Atari ST machines also used the DB-19 connector, so I was able to share the cost with a few other people and reduce my risk somewhat. But I'm definitely breathing easier after having the first piece in my hands, and confirming that it actually fits Apple's hardware.
So here's the thing - how do you go about having something like this made? I had no clue, and it took me over a year. All of the US-based manufacturers that I talked to blew me off, or wouldn't even talk to me at all. I knew I probably needed an Asian manufacturer, but had no idea how to go about it. I ended up going through Alibaba listings for companies that made DB-25 connectors, and contacted several dozen of them to ask if they could make a DB-19. Only a few replied, and only two said they could.
Then they wanted mechanical drawings and specifications for the part. Umm... apparently telling them "just make it like a DB-25 but with fewer pins" wasn't enough. They asked for information from my "engineering department". Finally I found a mechanical drawing of a DB-25, and I photoshopped that sucker, and that was what they used for the very expensive mold-making process. I'm still kind of stunned that this actually worked. 8-o
Let the retro-hardware celebration begin!
