Close

Measure Twice...

A project log for Sol-20 Reproduction

I am making a full sized Sol-20 reproduction, the first fully assembled microcomputer with a built-in keyboard and television output.

michael-gardiMichael Gardi 10/21/2021 at 23:510 Comments

So I'm working on the blue console piece that extends from the logo to the back of the Sol-20. Having the DXF for the inside panel that this rests on is a big help getting the measurements right, but since the total print time for this piece is 11 hours I really wanted to make sure the fit is correct. So to that end I invested 30 minutes to print a 10 mm slice of this piece just to be sure.

On the right you can see that the console panel extends a bit past the acrylic plate that covers the logo with a little overhang. On the left it wraps around...oops

Ironically at this point in writing the log I realized that the curved part at the back was wrong, and should not just follow the inside panel like that. It needed to look more like this:

So a few tweaks to my model and another 30 minutes of printing and I get this:

 Much better. I feel a lot more confident now kicking off those long prints.

Maybe I should change the title to Measure Thrice...

Discussions