Re: Paper tape carriers and paper tape

2016-11-12 Thread John Labovitz 
On Nov 12, 2016, at 2:24 PM, Paul Koning  wrote:

> There are lots of paper manufacturers and lots of grades and thickness of 
> paper.  The thickness we're talking about is one that shows up in a couple I 
> looked at.  So it wouldn't surprise me at all if suitable paper could be had. 
>  The matter of cutting it to the correct shape is a different issue, 
> admittedly.  

It may not be all that difficult. Perhaps the right method here is a die-cut, a 
common method for doing custom cuts of paper — often far more complicated than 
punch cards. The basic idea is that you build a form up with steel rules that 
define the edges you want cut. These rules essentially act as a blade. Then you 
mount this on a press, and run through a stack of paper as if you’re printing, 
but in fact you’re just cutting.

Here’s a basic overview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1NKLPYS0Vo

A few years back, while photographing letterpress printers (see 
http://johnlabovitz.com/projects/letterpress), I met a fellow (Rob Barnes) in 
Denver who specializes in die-cutting. Like most die-cut operators, he uses 
mid-20th century Heidelberg letterpress printing presses. I have no idea if 
he’s interested in a retro-punch card project, but it might be worth contacting 
him.

http://www.vintagepressworks.com

Frankly, I think the harder task is to find a good stock of appropriate paper.

Best,
—John

Re: Old Epson printers

2016-11-12 Thread Tony Duell 
On Sat, Nov 12, 2016 at 10:59 PM, Jules Richardson
 wrote:
> On 11/09/2016 11:27 PM, Tony Duell wrote:
>>
>> Incidentally I am looking for any manuals for the HI-80.
>
>
> Did I send you scans at one point? Perhaps that was someone else...
>

Not that I remember.  I certainly can't find them if you did.



> One of these days I'll revisit making some pens for mine (the originals* had
> dried up, of course) - I remember doing some experimentation, but it was
> difficult to find anything that would flow correctly (the mechanism doesn't
> apply as much pressure as a good old mk1 hand naturally would).

Yes. That is also a problem with mine. I must take the carriage apart and
see just what the pens are like. I remember them being quite large in
diameter.

-tony

1993 Mt. Xinu calendar

2016-11-12 Thread Alan Perry 


In a box of my old stuff, I found a copy of the Mt. Xinu calendar for 
1993, the last year that they did a calendar, and scanned it. Some of 
you may fondly remember the Mt. Xinu calendars so I am hosting what I 
scanned so folks can download it. It can be found at: 
http://wildwestrally.org/afp/IMG_20161110_0001.pdf.


Enjoy,

alan

Re: Paper tape carriers and paper tape

2016-11-12 Thread Paul Koning 

> On Nov 11, 2016, at 7:16 PM, jim stephens  wrote:
> 
> ...
> Hollerith card info (via Wikipedia)
> 
> Card size is exactly 7 3⁄8 by 3 1⁄4 inches (187.325 mm × 82.55 mm). The cards 
> are made
> of smooth stock, 0.007 inches (180 µm) thick. There are about 143 cards to
> the inch (56/cm).

I found another description of the specs in an old card reader/punch peripheral 
manual.  It also lists weight (0.534 lbs per 100 cards).  It gives tolerances 
(length +/- 0.005 inch, width +0.007, -0.003, angle between the sides 90 
degrees +/- 5 minutes, sides straight +/- 0.003 inches).  And, very 
interesting, it mentions that the orientation of the paper fibers shall be 
parallel to the long side.

There are lots of paper manufacturers and lots of grades and thickness of 
paper.  The thickness we're talking about is one that shows up in a couple I 
looked at.  So it wouldn't surprise me at all if suitable paper could be had.  
The matter of cutting it to the correct shape is a different issue, admittedly. 
 

paul

Re: Alps key switches.

2016-11-12 Thread Santo Nucifora 
I asked Daniel.

He pointed me to this:  https://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKFF_series

These are Alps SKFF series switches.  At first glance, I through they were
a strange version of the SKCC series here:
https://deskthority.net/wiki/Alps_SKCC_series

I knew he would know for sure.
Santo

On Sat, Nov 12, 2016 at 11:48 AM, Al Kossow  wrote:

> https://deskthority.net/wiki/Category:Alps_switches
>
> you should let Daniel Beardsmore know about these. They don't look like
> anything I've seen before
>
> On 11/12/16 8:31 AM, Mattis Lind wrote:
> > I found Alps key switches at a small Swedish electronic surplus seller.
> The
> > resembled some switches I have seen before so I took a chance and bought
> > some. The price was the equivalent of 2 USD for ten switches.
> >
> > I took a few photos in case someone could identify them:
> >
> > http://i.imgur.com/L5agnfc.jpg
> >
> > Could be interesting to know if they are used in some known machine.
> >
> > The part number might be 58990003 and 58990002 which was the number
> > mentioned in the catalogue.
> >
> > The company selling them is Belganet Data Elektronik and their catalogue
> is
> > at:
> >
> > http://www.bde.se/skat11_1.pdf
> >
> > /Mattis
> >
>
>

Re: Alps key switches.

2016-11-12 Thread Al Kossow 
https://deskthority.net/wiki/Category:Alps_switches

you should let Daniel Beardsmore know about these. They don't look like 
anything I've seen before

On 11/12/16 8:31 AM, Mattis Lind wrote:
> I found Alps key switches at a small Swedish electronic surplus seller. The
> resembled some switches I have seen before so I took a chance and bought
> some. The price was the equivalent of 2 USD for ten switches.
> 
> I took a few photos in case someone could identify them:
> 
> http://i.imgur.com/L5agnfc.jpg
> 
> Could be interesting to know if they are used in some known machine.
> 
> The part number might be 58990003 and 58990002 which was the number
> mentioned in the catalogue.
> 
> The company selling them is Belganet Data Elektronik and their catalogue is
> at:
> 
> http://www.bde.se/skat11_1.pdf
> 
> /Mattis
>

Alps key switches.

2016-11-12 Thread Mattis Lind 
I found Alps key switches at a small Swedish electronic surplus seller. The
resembled some switches I have seen before so I took a chance and bought
some. The price was the equivalent of 2 USD for ten switches.

I took a few photos in case someone could identify them:

http://i.imgur.com/L5agnfc.jpg

Could be interesting to know if they are used in some known machine.

The part number might be 58990003 and 58990002 which was the number
mentioned in the catalogue.

The company selling them is Belganet Data Elektronik and their catalogue is
at:

http://www.bde.se/skat11_1.pdf

/Mattis

Re: Paper tape carriers and paper tape

2016-11-12 Thread jim stephens 



On 11/12/2016 5:54 AM, Dave Wade wrote:

I e-mailed them and got no reply...


>Christian

Maybe if more people email, we might make them think there is a market.

http://www.hummel-print.com

looks like their main business from the web site is printing boarding 
pass stock, which be a little light for Hollerith cards, but certainly 
the size isn't a stretch.


Ralf Kunkel is director of marketing, sales.

rkun...@hummel-print.com

Thanks
Jim

RE: Paper tape carriers and paper tape

2016-11-12 Thread Dave Wade 


> -Original Message-
> From: cctalk [mailto:cctalk-boun...@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Christian
> Corti
> Sent: 12 November 2016 13:33
> To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
> 
> Subject: Re: Paper tape carriers and paper tape
> 
> On Fri, 11 Nov 2016, Al Kossow wrote:
> >>> No one is making new 80 column punched card stock either.
> >>
> >> No stock, or no cards?  I would think that one of the paper
> >> manufacturers would be putting out postcard stock of the right
> >> specifications.
> >
> > This has been discussed for several years here. No one is making paper
> > stock to IBM card stock specifications.
> 
> I think that Hummel in Magstadt still makes punched cards. We had an
> inquiry a few years ago when we wanted to have cards with our custom logo
> and layout. I think the price was 40 Euros per box of 2000.
> 

I e-mailed them and got no reply...

> Christian

Re: Paper tape carriers and paper tape

2016-11-12 Thread Christian Corti 

On Fri, 11 Nov 2016, Al Kossow wrote:

No one is making new 80 column punched card stock either.


No stock, or no cards?  I would think that one of the paper 
manufacturers would be putting out postcard stock of the right 
specifications.


This has been discussed for several years here. No one is making paper 
stock to IBM card stock specifications.


I think that Hummel in Magstadt still makes punched cards. We had an 
inquiry a few years ago when we wanted to have cards with our custom logo 
and layout. I think the price was 40 Euros per box of 2000.


Christian