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I wonder if it would be possible to make fiberglass parts?
That should be much easier, shouldn't it?
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I think your only practical alternative is laser stereolithography. A laser beam is scanned over a vat of photo setting polymer and the part is built up as a tray is automatically lowered into the vat.
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Hi,
A college of mine is a specialist for r/c ship models. He told me to make such things from "resin". He showed me some parts he made. They where absolutly great !!!
Perhaps this can help you !
Best regards
Andreas
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$2K for a injection molding tool for the HP41C port cover isn't unreasonable. A tool for the battery holder should be much more expensive. There are ways to cut costs on injection molds - was the quote for a steel or an aluminum tool? Epoxy tools are also possible, provided you don't need that many parts.
You really want to end up with a part that has a reasonable color and texture match, and that also has a reasonable chance of snapping in properly. I have experience with other prototyping methods (stereolithography, selective laser sintering, rubber molds to make urethane parts) and they could work, but they will need sanding and painting. You will also need to generate an STL file from a solid modeling CAD package such as Pro/Engineer.
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I haven't read all the posts in response to this one, so maybe my two bits won't be very original, but here goes:
I wonder whether someone with hardware savvy could come up with "plug-compatible" battery pack replacements -- maybe lithium-ion high-capacity units that deliver the proper voltage, serve as the appropriate load (when necessary), and have recharging jacks built into integral battery covers?
For instance, a "3-N" package for the HP-28 calculators would be great -- less-frequent battery changes might help the battery-door-to-case attachment points live longer.
Or a "4-C" replacement for the HP-97? (I mention that 'cause I haven't gotten round to rebuilding my 97's battery pack.)
It would be great for those of us who occasionally USE some models to have long-life rechargables that would help extend the calculators' useful lives.