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Full front face plate for IBM PC

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bettablue

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I just came acrross an auction of an IBM 5150 PC with a full front face plate. I know this has been beat to death previously, but I was wondering if anyone has ever thought about getting someone who can vaccuum form these. It can't be all that hard to come up with a design.

I contaced a companny here in Las Vegas about that possibility. While I have yet to hear back, I remember a while back that there seems to be a decent demand, at least for a limmitted run. What would you all consider a "fair" price for one of these full front face plates to cover both drives on an IBM PC?

I know I want one, if nothing else, but to protect the open floppy drives from dirt and dust while not in use.

What do you think? If I can get them to make a series of these, would any of you be interested?
 
I haven't mentioned laser etching, but I'm sure that will add to the final cost of each one. Besides, I did think about having the IBM logo etched in either of the upper corners or right above the handle. Price is what's keeping me from asking about itthough. I still need to find out if the company wants to do it yet.

If things go right, and the price is reasonable, I "may" ask about etching the IBM logo. Where would you like to see the logo? Or was it something else you want etched onto the face plate cover?
 
My initial introduction with the company, we talked about possibly making 50 of them to start off. I would expect that with that quantity, prices should be around $8.00 to $12.00 each, plus shipping. I may do like someone else here did when he commissioned to have the cork "feet" made. When they arrives, he did all of his own packaging and shipping to save the end user. I'll look into doing that here. But only if I can get all 50 sold before I even have them make their first run.

k2x4b524[ said:
i'd be interested for sure in about 6 of them *sigh*
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pearce_jj said:
Can you post a picture of what it is you're intending to make?
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IIRC they're working on making this:


P2210098.jpg P2210097.jpg

And IIRC once again, you're looking for this item, yourself.

As this is my last one and I still have a large hole in my XT it's been impossible to part with it.
 
Hmm, I'd call that a "blanking plate". There was also a cover plate that fit the entire floppy area on a 5150/60 to keep out dust (and crud being sucked into the floppy drives).

So which are we talking about?

As far as the texture, that's easy--"haircell" is a standard finish on ABS sheet--all you need do is get a sheet and cut it into the appropriate shape:

ABS-Haircell-Texture_large.jpg


If you wanted a blanking plate, just take some of the ABS scrap and glue some on the back--ABS is flexible and you should be able to get a very snug snap-in fit.
 
Sorry, I forgot to include it. The attached photo was taken from a system for sale on E-Bay. The black cover is what I'm trying to have made. The initial quantity of 50 seems doable, but once everyone here buys theirs, any that might be left over could sit for years, so I really would like to get enough commitments to cover the first 50 before I tell the company to go for it.

That is unless someone here can make them. It shouldn't be hard at all if you have the material and a vaccuum molding setup.
 

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Sorry stone, not this time. ;-) I just posted a reply with a pic of what I'm talking about.

What I'm talking about isn't a blanking plate. It's just a dust cover to protect the floppy drives for dirt and dust while the system is in use. If it's made properly, it will fit kind of snugly, so that by simply pressing into place, it will stay put. But it also shouldn't bee too tight that it's hard to remove, because then you're asking for other wear issues on both the cover and the computer' front plastic casing.

I wish someone in the forums would make a batch and sell them. It would probably be cheaper. I know how to make things like this, but I don't have any of the required equipment. Plastic sheeting is fairly cheap though, so if someone had the setup, it should be a fairly easy thing to make. And, once the initial setup is done and the original mold is made, it would be fairly simple to reload for another small batch.


Stone said:
IIRC they're working on making this:


View attachment 9075 View attachment 9076

And IIRC once again, you're looking for this item, yourself.

As this is my last one and I still have a large hole in my XT it's been impossible to part with it.
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Oh, no stone. I already know you can't part with your blanking plate. Those are very rare and almost impossible to come by. I' already went that rout with you. But when the new ones are finally released, I would buy a couple just -in-case. Same goes for the cover I'm talking about. Once I get something worked out, I'll probably buy a couple.

You know, I wish I had a shop to set up a vaccuum molding station. I bet with a little work, and one other person, we could crank these out pretty quickly. The hard part would be to trim them properly after the molding process. But even that is just a simple sanding operation. I hate knowing how to do things, but not being able to do them because of my disabilities. Having only one arm that works makes it difficult to do much at all any way, especially when I have to use it to control the wheelchair.


bettablue said:
Sorry stone, not this time. ;-) I just posted a reply with a pic of what I'm talking about.

What I'm talking about isn't a blanking plate. It's just a dust cover to protect the floppy drives for dirt and dust while the system is in use. If it's made properly, it will fit kind of snugly, so that by simply pressing into place, it will stay put. But it also shouldn't bee too tight that it's hard to remove, because then you're asking for other wear issues on both the cover and the computer' front plastic casing.

I wish someone in the forums would make a batch and sell them. It would probably be cheaper. I know how to make things like this, but I don't have any of the required equipment. Plastic sheeting is fairly cheap though, so if someone had the setup, it should be a fairly easy thing to make. And, once the initial setup is done and the original mold is made, it would be fairly simple to reload for another small batch.
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It'd probably be easier on the case paint if you used a bit of black felt around the circumference instead of trying to get an exact fit. Rubber or cork would also work.
 
Thanks Chuck! Simple yet effective solution to a simple problem. Perfect! I'll run that by the manufacturer.

Chuck(G) said:
It'd probably be easier on the case paint if you used a bit of black felt around the circumference instead of trying to get an exact fit. Rubber or cork would also work.
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I've not seen those before but would be interested in one. The only thing though from my experience with vacuum forming, I have some reservations on the quality of the finish available.
 
Depending on price I'd take a minimum of 6 (for personal use) up to 10 (always nice to have backups). The texture and fit has to be right though. You may want to talk to a company that does ABS work. It maybe easier to just cut them out then try and mold them.

I know the question has been asked before but it sort of came up again (in regards to "should we put an IBM logo on it"). IBM never made such an item for the 5150 body mold. Anything you see is after market. So aside from the legality of putting an IBM logo on it ,there is also the issue that it would be a complete fake w/ an IBM logo. Best to go with just a blank face IMHO but if the logo is done tastefully I won't complain ;).
 
bettablue said:
Thanks Chuck! Simple yet effective solution to a simple problem. Perfect! I'll run that by the manufacturer.
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The original ones actually have a strip of beige rubberish foam around the edges. I have a photo right here that shows this quite well: http://oldibmpc.sitesled.com/xt/Drives2.JPG

The system I got the plate from also had extensions for five of the wider keys on the keyboard (both shift keys, enter, backspace and tab). You can se such an extension on the enter key in the image attached to post #11. It also had a conductive discharge strip attached to the space-key.
 
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Personally, I didn't really want to have any etching on them any way. The additional cost may be OK for some people, but for most others, I think they would appreciate saving as much money as possible. I agree though that having a nice IBM logo would look pretty, but overall, I have to agree more with Chuck.

When I meet with them about making these plates, I'll make sure to take chuck's photo with me. That way, they'll have a more complete picture of the design. Leaving an ectra roll over to give the felt an attachment point won't be hard to fit into the overall design either, but it really depends on what they can or can't do. I expect that they'll also be able to do ABS work as well. But these things will have to wait until I can set up a meeting, which I'm hoping to get done by the end of this week. If this company doesn't come through, then I'll try another. The primary things I'm going for are to keep the cost down and still have a quality product.

I'll keep you all informed.

So far, I have accounted for 20 of these faceplates. And that's just for the vaccuum forming and cutting. I'll be adding a felt edge protector myself. These aren't confirmed orders. I expect that that the number number will fall as soon as the actual price is announced. However, as soon as I hear back from them, I'll know more. Right now I am just trying to get a feel for how many to order. This will probably be a single one time order, so I'll want to know how many to account for, and be as close as possible to the actual total I'll need.

Of course, I'll have to ship them my home address. So please remember, once I have a cost for each unit, that cost doesn't include shipping. I'm not into this to make any money. Personally I just don't care if I could make up to $10.00 each for myself. All I want out of it is to get three of these covers for my own systems. I'll account for my own as well, so that when it comes time, I'll end up paying the same for mine as everyone else, or at least as close as possible.

As a final note, since I'm expecting this to be a one time order, if your name isn't in my inbox for a certain number, I won't be able to guarantee that there will be any left if someone decides to try to get one or more later. If, however, the company I'm working with are willing and can handle mutiple orders, I'll pass their info on to everyone here so you can order the plastic portion yourself if you wish. Then you can add your own felt edging, or whatever.
 
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