[TriEmbed] Anyone know a good way to get access to a vacuum forming machine?

Sat Dec 24 22:19:54 CST 2022

Rodney,
Just a few years after MIT's was on a cover there were Many uP
(microprocessor) SBC and Systems.
I had many of them and programmed them in assembly and many HLL.
It was a great time to be growing up concurrently with retail technology
release.
Learning about uPs got me my start at IBM and a 30 year career. Great
timing (for me).
These are all great memories!
BTW, along with SBC for many uP. I chose the Exidy Sorcerer (Z80) and then
Atari and Amiga as growing up Systems.
I skipped TRS 80 and Apple for many reasons. Amiga turned into the ARM team
(or Atari) and was connected to many future trends.
I used many 8085 and industry versions a uP and also some TI DSP which
sprung from my early TI SBC.
They didn't have ARM RISC yet (when I started to play) But my IBM
department got one of the 1st RISC machines which became IBM's Power
Series.
Oh, and before it all (at IBM) I worked with an IBM 5110 which was an
emulated 360 running Basic and APL without OS. :-D
I'm not looking backward, I think TriLUG has a PDP guy come in with an
emulator and I just chuckled to myself Why! :-D

On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 9:51 PM Rodney Radford <ncgadgetry at gmail.com> wrote:

> I have an IMSAI and SOL S100 bus system and an Apple IIe. Pet 2001 and
> many other old systems I like to tinker on and play with but do not have an
> Altair... maybe someday
>
> On Sat, Dec 24, 2022, 9:44 PM Mike Lisanke via TriEmbed <
> triembed at triembed.org> wrote:
>
>> Paul,
>>
>> <3 that there are people who could hang on to cool stuff in their past.
>> Reminds me of tell a Group Theory professor at FAU about my start in
>> computing in middle school;
>> I'd been reading about the MIT's Altair 8800 (or some title) in Popular
>> Electronic.
>> At that point in my story my math professor tells me he still has his on
>> a shelf in his garage.
>> I went to his Christmas party that year and got my 1st look at a DIY
>> Built MIT's Alair from 1976!
>> [image: image.png]
>>
>> Anyway, I'm very happy you still have your Vac-u-form; One of the best
>> toys we had had as a kid! :-D
>>
>> On Wed, Dec 21, 2022 at 9:55 AM The MacDougals via TriEmbed <
>> triembed at triembed.org> wrote:
>>
>>> I have a Mattel Vac-u-form machine if you want to try it out.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --->Paul
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From:* TriEmbed <triembed-bounces at triembed.org> *On Behalf Of *Scott
>>> Hall via TriEmbed
>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 20, 2022 11:13 PM
>>> *To:* Mike Lisanke <mikelisanke at gmail.com>
>>> *Cc:* SplatSpace <durham-makerspace at googlegroups.com>; Triangle
>>> Embedded Computing Interest Group <triembed at triembed.org>
>>> *Subject:* Re: [TriEmbed] Anyone know a good way to get access to a
>>> vacuum forming machine?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Charles (& Mike),
>>>
>>> Jeff Crews at SplatSpace has built a vacuum-forming machine from
>>> scratch.  I cross-posted this message so that he might see it and respond
>>> to you.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Dec 20, 2022, 9:56 PM Mike Lisanke via TriEmbed <
>>> triembed at triembed.org <triembed at triembedorg>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Charles,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hope everything is going great for you and yours.
>>>
>>> I recall as a child using this..
>>>
>>> https://www.ebay.com/b/Mattel-Vacuform/727/bn_7114054425
>>>
>>> much later in life but still years ago, I've watched DIY Youtube videos
>>> on vacuum forming.
>>>
>>> I was interested in the tech and was surprised that a great number of
>>> vacuum draw holes was Not needed.
>>>
>>> But still it all depends on the size and requirements of the product.
>>>
>>> Your product idea seems to fit in the vacuform size and pin spacing.
>>>
>>> as I recall (after very long time) it had a great number of tiny
>>> pinholes in its forming platen.
>>>
>>> I held thin plastic sheets in a metal frame which is held against a
>>> heater (opposite of the forming platen)
>>>
>>> which is then swung into place for vacuum pump down.
>>>
>>> Anyway, I hope the story helps.
>>>
>>> I haven't worked on implementing my own (yet) because there's so much
>>> manufacturing tech to look at/choose!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Tue, Dec 20, 2022 at 9:31 PM Charles West via TriEmbed <
>>> triembed at triembed.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hello!
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm kinda all over the place project wise (apologies Paul), but one of
>>> the things I am working on right now is a Phase 1 STTR grant from NASA for
>>> a new solar sail material.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> As part of that, I'm trying to figure out the barriers to implementing a
>>> new solar sail design called a "space tow".  It's composed of a bunch of
>>> little solar sails all strung together like sled dogs to pull on something.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> As part of that, I am trying to see whether it's possible to form
>>> corrugations in a thin plastic sheet (1-5 microns thick) so that it has
>>> some rigidity and won't need reinforcement to stay planar.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> As part of that, I would like to try vacuum forming one of the sheets
>>> and see if that can produce the desired change in shape.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ... as part of that, I need to find, make or buy a vacuum forming
>>> machine and give it a go.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> TL;DR:
>>>
>>> Does anyone know where I could find a vacuum forming machine that I
>>> could use or about their experience homebrewing one?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Charlie
>>>
>>>
>>> Triangle, NC Embedded Interest Group mailing list
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Best regards,  Mike
>>>
>>>
>>> Triangle, NC Embedded Interest Group mailing list
>>>
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>>
>> --
>> Best regards,  Mike
>> _______________________________________________
>> Triangle, NC Embedded Interest Group mailing list
>>
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>>

-- 
Best regards,  Mike
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