@trevorflowers@machines.social
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

trevorflowers

@trevorflowers@machines.social

I make tiny art machines.
Tiny dogs run my life and I'm OK with it.
#machining #electronics #miniatures
#neurospicy #anxiety
#seattle #retrocomputing
#cadcam #3Dprinting #CNC #lathe #mill

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trevorflowers, to random
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If I land a commission for a mechatronic dragon I will of course use wyrm drives.
https://youtu.be/lmpB1K5L6tI

trevorflowers, to random
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The speed of progress from walking to parkour amazes me.
https://youtube.com/shorts/HH9B0SK2coQ

trevorflowers, to mechanicalkeyboards
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

So, I'm designing a system to produce 1:4 scale keyboards that are as close as possible to the look, feel, and sound of the full scale originals. The first version will be used in miniature VT100 terminals and I hope to reuse much of the work for other designs and scales.
This is the head of a threadlog about my process, goals, mistakes, and progress.

/cont

trevorflowers,
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My process usually starts with months of daydreaming about the end result, identifying aspects that are essential, and futzing around with tools, materials, and processes that might be involved. For this keyboard project I spent time with a variety of retro keyboards to feel out what motion, tactility, and production tricks I could use. I work alone in a small workshop so there are many constraints to consider.
I completed this stage last week.

trevorflowers,
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

I'm currently in the stage where I sketch on paper, make lists of parts and open questions (AKA stuff I don't know how to do) and run small experiments like hand building a single key assembly to check tolerances, resin and adhesive curing times, as well as potentially part-scraping steps. I expect to be here for at least a few weeks. The goal is to have the information I need for the next step: making a look and feel prototype with a production plan and schedule.

trevorflowers,
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One nice aspect of starting with the VT100 is the large number of people who have shared information about it. Check out this amazing teardown!
https://www.oldcomputr.com/digital-vt100-1978/

trevorflowers, to random
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Oh, goodness. They made a PiDP-10.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7sv9mpItPo

trevorflowers, to random
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A cutter, when broken, becomes stock.

trevorflowers, to random
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It's fun to imagine this person dropped on a desert island with a generator, four angle grinders, a pallet of metal stock, and a bucket of hardware.
https://youtu.be/-39fu5ZoYxs

trevorflowers, to random
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

Well, it finally happened.
I'm wearing a pouch.
After years of carrying my mech pencil clipped to my undershirt collar I decided to try this newfangled #EDC the kids keep talking about. An onion on my belt, if you will.
This little unit slips into what is meant to be a phone pocket on the right thigh of my usual Carhartt shorts.
I already want to mod it.
But let's be honest with each other, I'll eventually sew my own design.
As one does.

trevorflowers, to random
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

Today #OnTheBench is a smol Cray 1 that the buyer wants with the four color panel pattern just like Seymour's.
https://communitymedia.video/w/tKNdyg8WgZJfkoYEMcZkJV

trevorflowers, to random
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No, no, no.
I will not think about filming with miniatures.
🤦‍♂️
(too late)
https://youtu.be/NKwziV9zLWk

phranck, to 3DPrinting
@phranck@chaos.social avatar

Dear friends, I have a little problem. This is the base of my Display mini (scale 1:2). How would you print such a part on an printer with minimal support?

Do you have any ideas?

video/mp4

trevorflowers,
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@phranck The various ribs on NeXT devices are a pain for FDM. If you're willing to tweak the shape a bit, adding fillets and angling the sides of the ribs might do the trick without support. For strength I think you have to print it on its side.
What printer are you using?

trevorflowers,
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@phranck I might try printing the stand separately from the ribs and then glue them together. With the X1C they can be precise and accurate enough to have the seams mostly hidden.

trevorflowers,
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@phranck I highly recommend adding registration features like bosses and sockets so that assembly is not annoying.

trevorflowers, to random
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Groggy morning thought: Homelab, but retro-minis. The usual home rack devices but (re)packaged to look like ensmolled minicomputer components like PDP-11/70s, reel to reel drives, big platter disks, etc.
Check out this build and imagine it as a retro-mini rack. Fun, right?
https://linuxblog.io/home-lab-beginners-guide-hardware/

A PDP-11/70 in a rack with a couple of mass storage units.

trevorflowers,
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I'm imagining that the racks, mounts, and other core infra would be made to an open spec with copylefted design files so folks can more easily repackage their own devices like modems, UPSes, etc.
Open-mini-minicomputers, if you will.
#omm

trevorflowers, to random
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

Goodness. The makerspace in this video is quite different then the spaces I've visited which have generally been slacker hacker run, messy and mellow. I wonder about their build cost and what their monthly nut turned out to be.
https://youtu.be/chVbnWbps_I

trevorflowers, to random
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

Dang dang dang. First shop injury in a good while and of course it happened after I thought I was done with the dangerous steps during a machine tool move. I'll put an injury description in a CW'ed reply but the short story is I'll be sore for a few days but no permanent damage. Thankfully.

trevorflowers, to random
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

Here's a fun spelunk into the old hdd of a prototype Mac portable used by an Apple district manager.
https://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2024/03/an-apple-district-managers-macintosh.html

attoparsec, to random

The end panels for the spice rack arrived! And now my fingertips are shredded after several hours of filing!

trevorflowers,
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

@attoparsec Forgive me if this is an annoying sort of unsolicited advice but I really like the Maxiflex nitrile coated gloves. After one too many palm cuts I wear them any time I handle new stock. They're flexible enough for a first pass of filing, too.
https://a.co/d/gCAUpyO

trevorflowers, to random
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

If you enjoy this fun video about precision and accuracy as a function of social effort then I suspect that you'll enjoy "The Perfectionists".
#machining
https://youtu.be/azATqKEBGUg

trevorflowers, to random
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

This shop rebuild is going to kill me or die trying.
#nonsense

trevorflowers, to random
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Pinecil for scale.

trevorflowers, to retrocomputing
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

Big news on the tiny art machines front: My next miniature will be a lovely 1970s terminal and it will have a working keyboard! 🎉
Tiny switches.
Tiny key caps.
Tiny display.
Tiny serial port.
If you want to vote on which terminal it will be (VT100? ADM-3A?) then join the patreon at the $3/mo tier before the poll goes up next week.
#miniatures #retrocomputing
https://www.patreon.com/tiny_art_machines

trevorflowers,
@trevorflowers@machines.social avatar

This lovely VT100 recreation is similar to what I have in mind but theirs is 2:3 scale and I'm going quite a bit smaller around 1:4. So, if the original terminal is 18 inches wide then my version will be 4.5 inches wide (110.5mm) or roughly the width of a loaf of sandwich bread.
https://www.instructables.com/23-Scale-VT100-Terminal-Reproduction/

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