ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 5 minutes ago, Mathy said: Hello Dr. Mercury Unless you put it in a plexiglas case. Sincerely Mathy And unless your XE spends more time open than closed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 6 minutes ago, Mathy said: Unless you put it in a plexiglas case. Where can I buy those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Mercury Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 Just now, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: Where can I buy those? You can buy a case at Plexilaser. https://www.plexilaser.de/shop/Acrylgehaeuse-fuer-ATARI-800-130-65-XE-Teilesatz With $70 it's not that expensive but shipping to the US will be around $40. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 11 minutes ago, Dr.Mercury said: You can buy a case at Plexilaser. ugh, laser-cut acrylic. Bad idea. Acrylic is way too brittle for that sort of application. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Mercury Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 6 minutes ago, ScreamingAtTheRadio said: ugh, laser-cut acrylic. Bad idea. Acrylic is way too brittle for that sort of application. Yeah that's the problem with acrylic. I'm looking for quite some time for a proper transparent case for one of my Atari ST but no luck so far. You can find non-acrylic transparent cases for Amiga and C64 but not for the Atari XE... which is a bit of a shame in my opinion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 1 minute ago, Dr.Mercury said: Yeah that's the problem with acrylic. I'm looking for quite some time for a proper transparent case for one of my Atari ST but no luck so far. You can find non-acrylic transparent cases for Amiga and C64 but not for the Atari XE... which is a bit of a shame in my opinion. approach those vendors and show them the competitions web site. It may just get something done. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share Posted February 14, 2023 ... and the Ponoko laser-cut plate showed up today as well: It's nice but frankly, the price difference isn't justified so I'll recommend the Al PCB. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted February 14, 2023 Share Posted February 14, 2023 Damn I'd love a CNC laser cutter. I have a plasma cutter next to my MIG/TIG, but it's hand controlled and cannot do fine detail like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 (edited) They are here... together with a long week-end to check everything works as expected. I checked the backlighting real fast... It works Edited February 17, 2023 by ScreamingAtTheRadio 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XL Freak Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenames99 Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 I will take a set. Where do I send money and when? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Stephen Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 Definitely want one of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 17, 2023 Author Share Posted February 17, 2023 15 hours ago, kenames99 said: I will take a set. Where do I send money and when? 8 hours ago, Stephen said: Definitely want one of these. The boards I have today are all destined for prototyping / testing. When I'm done with them I may sell them, but for now let's do this... If you want one or several boards, please fill the following form and send it to me by PM (do not answer this thread directly) and I'll give you an itemized quote. The idea is for me to do an initial small batch before I make a more official call for orders on a new thread. Expect a substantial delay, those will be ordered and assembled on-demand, and I have a day job If you want more than one, that's perfectly fine, just tell me how many. [ ] I have key caps ( ) They are vintage caps with the square style ( ) They are vintage caps with the circle style [ ] I would like a set of the new key caps [ ] I need an adapter ( ) FFC (flexible flat cable) ( ) IDC (IDE/floppy-style ribbon cable, takes more space) [ ] I need a cable ( ) FFC ( ) IDC [ ] I need switches (pick one of the low-profile options for vintage caps, MX for new caps) ( ) Gateron low-pro; specify color: ____ (blue are clicky) ( ) RedDragon low-pro; specify color: ____ (blue are clicky) ( ) Kailh Choc low-pro; specify color: ____ (teal are great clicky switches) ( ) Kailh Box (MX); specify color: ___ (pink are great clicky switches) ( ) Other MX switches, specify: ____ [ ] I want an aluminum plate [ ] I want a USB adapter [ ] Include a Pi Pico [ ] Please solder everything for me My shipping address is: ____ While we're talking about shipping stuff: [ ] I'm also interested in one of your JoyKey Atari-compatible direction pads that behave like a regular joystick and can plug directly into an Atari computer ( ) 4 direction keys and one fire ( ) 4 direction keys, three fire buttons and two paddles 2 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 18, 2023 Author Share Posted February 18, 2023 Addendum to the above form if you want new key caps... The new key caps are a little different in layout (shorter space bar with control and break around it, ISO return key, wide delete) but fit in the XE case's keyboard outline. You have an additional choice on color: you can have them in: ( ) White (clean look - comes with gray letters) ( ) Beige (stock look - comes with gray letters) ( ) Graphite (Atari Falcon030 look - white letters) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Mercury Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 Do you have some photos how the new key caps look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 18, 2023 Author Share Posted February 18, 2023 9 minutes ago, Dr.Mercury said: Do you have some photos how the new key caps look? Here's the photo of the white and beige versions that I uploaded a while back. Imagine that with ISO return, and small differences such as control to the left of space and caps where control normally is. I don't have a photo of the graphite yet. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 18, 2023 Author Share Posted February 18, 2023 Quick little video of the stabilizers on the new boards: 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XL Freak Posted February 18, 2023 Share Posted February 18, 2023 (edited) CUSTOM KEY CAPS ============ If you want your kit to include custom keycaps for the standard Cherry MX style key switches, you have some options... You can see each of these in the three included photoshopped pictures. Sorry, but there are no final production keyboards to take pictures of yet. Pls cut and paste the 2 questions option form below and send to @ScreamingAtTheRadio with your order. Pls note that all custom keycap orders come with the Red Ghost and Gray Ghost to change out with the Esc key, a red-lettered Break key to change out, and both an Inverse logo key and Atari logo key to choose from. Please note that on the production cap sets, the left Shift key will be normal sized 2.25U, instead of the small one and the blank key beside it that the pictures show. Apologies for the oversight. If you want to use switches that don't use the standard Cherry MX stems, you will have to procure your own keycaps, or use stem adapters. At this point I'm not sure what he's going to do about the function keys (Help, Start, Select, Option and Reset). Until he comes out with an update, just assume you'll have to use a short switch with an adapter on your stock keys. Kits will include all the correct switches and stems adapters. Or, if you want to order your own set, there are SVG print files you may use in the git repository to have your own printed at WASDkeyboards. If you want to customize these, feel free. I used Inkscape, but you can also use Adobe Illustrator (but you'll have to start from scratch in Illustrator because the files are different). IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF YOUR WASDKEYBOARDS ORDER, YOU MUST SPECIFY A 2.25U LEFT SHIFT KEY, or they'll send the little one. If you want a different keycap manufacturer, please feel free, just be advised it will be expensive. Color: [ ] White (clean look - comes with gray letters) [ ] Beige (stock look - comes with gray letters) [ ] Graphite (Atari Falcon030 look - light gray letters) Graphics characters (cannot be front printed like stock, sorry) [ ] None [ ] Bottom Left (except for [.] [,] and [;] ) [ ] Bottom Right White Beige Graphite - Atari falcon themed - these look great! enjoy!!! - jesse Edited February 18, 2023 by XL Freak 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 Today I printed some adapters for the 2 non-Kailh low-profile switches (Gateron and RedDragon). Here's what they look like, both Atari types are present, circle and square: They work great, but are about 2mm too tall still, as should be obvious on the Fn keys. I'll modify the model and do another round tomorrow. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 21, 2023 Author Share Posted February 21, 2023 Better. That'll do. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XL Freak Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 looks to me like it comes fwd bout 2 mm too far?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 21, 2023 Author Share Posted February 21, 2023 Just now, XL Freak said: looks to me like it comes fwd bout 2 mm too far?? Yeah, I was checking height here, no effort was put towards alignment in other directions, which always requires some padding and adjustments. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XL Freak Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 sorry lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScreamingAtTheRadio Posted February 21, 2023 Author Share Posted February 21, 2023 I also experimented with injecting paint into resin-printed function keys, and it works pretty well. It does take a lot of time though, so I'll leave that as an exercise to the end-user for future batches. Basically you use capillarity to get the paint to go into the legends, remove the excess and repeat until it looks decent. This is white acrylic normally used for airbrushing, which is about fluid enough. Obviously I went for the most accurate resin I have, not for one that would fit the case and other caps. I don't yet have a solution for this (you can see the terribly off color of the grey resin I own on the left). Also clearly visible here: the height of the model is not yet right. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XL Freak Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 actually the red would look b!+chin if u did all the caps that way 😁 can you say, "shine-thru!" baby? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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