4ever2600 Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 I know, I'm just messing. I figured everyone would get bumped and I know things will go quick once rolling. All good and take the time you need. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 5, 2019 Author Share Posted April 5, 2019 I've estimated that I could make around 5 boards a day, though I only have weekends to do it in. There are over 120 solder points on each board, so I'll build and send them in batches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefred Posted April 5, 2019 Share Posted April 5, 2019 I've estimated that I could make around 5 boards a day, though I only have weekends to do it in. There are over 120 solder points on each board, so I'll build and send them in batches. Please take your time, go for quality and not quantity and you will keep your sanity. Will you be giving an option to purchase more cartridge shells if you decide to include one with the programmer? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 5, 2019 Author Share Posted April 5, 2019 If I get these shells printing as I like then yes (will be experimenting more today). I'm also looking at another option for making shells, if that works out cheap enough I will offer it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 6, 2019 Author Share Posted April 6, 2019 I've gone with my own model for the cart, it's more or less what Karri's model is with some curved edges added, angled supports inserted for where the notch for the flash chip is and it has thicker sides for where the PCB goes. I'm still not 100% finished with the model, but it's looking pretty good so far. Takes about 1.5 hours to print. I hope when printing these 5 at a time that it will take less time per shell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 Ok so here is the final working shell that I've just printed. I'll be including one of these with each board. I'll have the STL available once I get around to cleaning up and publishing Eagle schematic and board files for the PCB. These shells are only compatible with Karri's slimline rewritable Lynx cart PCBs that have 128b - 2k EEPROMs and 512k flash. These are the PCBs that Karri is selling now. If anyone wants additional shells with their board I can also do that, not sure what a fair price for these is, any suggestions? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nop90 Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 (edited) not sure what a fair price for these is, any suggestions? Consider the cost of the material and make the price betwen 2 and 3 tmes it, so to be payed for the time you spent and the use of the 3D printer. This price should be considered "at cost", so if you want some profit you should add something more. This way the final price will not be cheap, but homemade projects are never competitive with mass production. On the other end, if you want only contribute to the small lynx community, charge for a shell the cost of the material and a little more to save funds for your next project. Whatever price you'll set, I'll order some of them with the programmer. I need them and I'm happy to contribute to your work. Edited April 7, 2019 by Nop90 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 Thanks for the feedback. The people that have the pre-production board already and some others I've talked to who looked at getting shells printed told me that the prices that 3D printing services charge are amazingly huge, in the order of 10EUR+ I'm going to aim at around 1/3 of this price, will need to run some numbers first to see if it all works out of course, but I want to make it as cheap as possible for people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nop90 Posted April 7, 2019 Share Posted April 7, 2019 in the order of 10EUR+ They have to pay for the building where they work, for adminstration employees, maybe for a lawyer if they have problems with some customers, and for taxes. And have to live with the remaining profit. It's not an high price considering everything. Running a business for living is very hard. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 7, 2019 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 (edited) Yeah I know and that's fair. Also a business would have to be able to print many different types of models, whereas for me I can configure my printer just for the shell and be done. Edited April 7, 2019 by necrocia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 9, 2019 Author Share Posted April 9, 2019 Another update - after some discussions I had with various people and as I thought more about how the final package should look like I've decided that I need to not only include a cart shell but an actual re-flashable cart. So I'm looking at the best way of doing this now that will not have an impact on the final cost of the board (or low enough impact that I will just absorb the cost). More cart PCBs can always be purchased from Karri of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordKraken Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Sounds like a great idea to have that in the package Make sure you don't lose money though!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 9, 2019 Author Share Posted April 9, 2019 I'll see what the costs come out as before I make the final decision. Also some bad news - turns out the Chinese customs rejected my PCBs during security screening. Not sure why but this happened almost two weeks ago and the PCB fabrication plant didn't bother to let me know. I've asked them to reship via DHL, so I hope the PCBs arrive next week, though they first have to be returned from customs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadest Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 Nice to add a flashcard and card shell. As LordKraken said, be sure to not lose money in it, the time you spend on it must be valuated too. Stupid question, would a "stackable" version be possible, in order to flash more than 1 card at a time (of course, with the same ROM) ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted April 9, 2019 Share Posted April 9, 2019 The problem with stackable programming is reading back the data. Every chip may return different data due to errors in programming, bad pin connects etc. So the short answer is - no. Writing could be stackable if there is enough of power to feed multiple chips from the data pins. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 9, 2019 Author Share Posted April 9, 2019 As Karri said and also writing a cart doesn't take too long. I think I can speed it up too, will find out soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 11, 2019 Author Share Posted April 11, 2019 (edited) Two lots of good news. My PCBs were resent via DHL now, so I should have them soon. Also I've been printing shells and am very happy with the results so I'll definitely be including at least a shell with each board. They come in any colour you want as long as that colour is white! Edited April 11, 2019 by necrocia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+karri Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 Is the quality better than the SLS print I sent you? It sure looks better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nop90 Posted April 11, 2019 Share Posted April 11, 2019 They come in any colour you want as long as that colour is white! I definitively want a white shell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 11, 2019 Author Share Posted April 11, 2019 I'll try and take some macro shots tomorrow during day time. The SLS print is much smoother on the surface and there are some spots where my prints have misalignment, the SLS print is perfectly straight everywhere. I like the feel of my prints better though, plus they are much smoother and little heavier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 12, 2019 Author Share Posted April 12, 2019 Update - the PCBs are on their way finally! I've also done the numbers and looks like if I included a fully assembled cart with each board I'd be making a huge loss, so that's off the table. I will still be including a cart shell with each board however. If you want additional shells let me know and I'll print them up. The cost will be 4.5EUR per shell. I'll be offering printed shells on a permanent basis too - in the process of setting up a shop on my website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 15, 2019 Author Share Posted April 15, 2019 I've got lots of photos to put up, just running a bit behind. At this point in time, the pre-order pricing is closed. Any new orders will be priced differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 Ok so here come some photos. First up is the SLS cart shell that Karri sent to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 Next is the PLA shell that I'm printing myself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Igor Posted April 16, 2019 Author Share Posted April 16, 2019 Here's a better view of the imperfections I'm seeing with the PLA prints. The sections where the ICs need to have a recess are slightly offset on the edge of the shell. This offset is minor but it is there. If I print at 0.13 resolution it's barely noticeable but this takes 2hrs per shell. Also I'm experimenting with printing black shells and the results are pretty good so far, so I can offer other colours that aren't white, as long as there is enough demand for a particular colour I can get that plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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