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An injection mold proved inevitable

A project log for PiDP-10

A replica of the PDP-10 (KA10) mainframe computer

oscarvOscarv 04/21/2023 at 23:160 Comments

It has been nearly three years since my last update here! But in the mean time, the software is pretty much done (famous last words), we've been playing a lot with ITS and all its graphics fun (multi-player mazewar, spacewar, it really is amazing how much software there is to play with on a PDP-10. See here)

Although I promised myself never, ever, to do an injection mold again, that proved to be inevitable. So here is the CNC-cut prototype that will go into production in the coming weeks:

Serial_no_0.jpg

Two molds, actually. A bottom, and a top part. To get all of the curves of the original properly made, I ended up needing professional help. The risk of cutting expensive injection molds with mistakes was too high, and 3D modeling the slight oddities of the 1966 original was also a bit beyond my skills.

New PCBs have been spun to fit precisely in this case:

126 LEDs, and...


... 74 switches. This is a big beast!

To be continued soon. Or join the PiDP-10 Google Group if you want to follow progress more closely.

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