Source for perforated thermal paper? (Panasonic Sr. Partner)

[Trixter]

I'm getting a Panasonic Sr. Partner ready for VCFMW and noticed that the original paper is still in there (!) and has perforations every 11 inches for every "page". Here's what it looks like: https://goo.gl/photos/9aKrUfQNTeCmBunBA This is in contrast to what I thought it took -- I thought it was just a roll of standard fax paper. Turns out Panasonic had a part number for it: RD-9671.

I have no idea if perforated fax paper exists any more, or where to source it. I saw http://www.pocketjetpaper.com/ which offers paper for Brother Pocketjet printers, and it appears to have the same perforations, except it also has a "sensing mark" printed on every page. However, it appears the mark is on the other side, which means I can give it a try -- I'd like to avoid buying an entire carton of it just to test, though.

Does anyone have any leads on perforated thermal paper that would be suitable for the Panasonic Sr. Partner?

Edit: I thought I found something that would work, but it's too long; the exact width of the paper roll still in my Sr. Partner is exactly 8.5" wide, with a hole diameter of 7/16".

Edit2: This appears it will work, although has no perforations. Good for Banner Mania, but not what I was looking for.

 

[dlightman]

Even back in the 80's I always used normal 8.5"x95' fax roll paper because it used to be plentiful in any office closet. It doesn't have the perforations but tears nicely against the metal bar that holds the paper against the roller. I just hit the feed button once or twice and pull right to left. Same bar with the lever you lift to load paper unless you accidentally left it under the plastic printer bezel during reassembly .

Normal 8.5" thermal fax paper works fine so I don't know why you couldn't use the roll you linked. Searching for "8.5" perforated fax paper" gets lots of hits on google.

This is what I use: http://www.staples.com/Staples-Thermal-Fax-Paper-98-roll-x-1-2-inch-core/product_269571

 

[Trixter]

I felt I couldn't use the roll I found because some sources called it 8.5" and others called it 8.8"/22cm which would not fit.

While you can indeed tear very cleanly, the perforated fax paper allows you to print actual documents with it (ie. make an attempt at word processing). Without the perforations, you have to somehow tell the program to pause after every page to allow you to do the tear. (I seem to recall this was indeed a function of some word processors, mostly earlier ones. I peeked in Microsoft Word for DOS and saw PRINT -> OPTIONS -> Paper Feed which gave the option of Continuous or Manual; I believe if you set up the printer driver to use manual linefeeds to advance to the next page (instead of a pagefeed), this might work. Just a guess though.)

 

[3pcedev]

Do you have a bandsaw? If not you could ask a local woodworking shop......

Provided the blade is very sharp you can cut the width down. Affix a guide to the base plate so you get a nice straight cut. I've cut down chart roll paper in this fashion before; provided the blade is sharp and the roll is still 'rolled tight' you will get a clean cut.

 

[Chuck(G)]

I'd chuck the roll in my lathe and slice it to width with a hacksaw blade--direction with the roll, not against it. A good sharp parting tool might also work.

 

[3pcedev]

I'd chuck the roll in my lathe and slice it to width with a hacksaw blade--direction with the roll, not against it. A good sharp parting tool might also work.

Could also work, I never tried it because I thought the chuck (not you, the lathe part) will dig into the paper too much and leave dents.

Although depending on how much your taking off you could clamp the 'offcut' side into the chuck....

 

[Chuck(G)]

I'd probably fabricate an axle of sorts and clamp that--run it between the chuck and a live center.