Mr modnaR

that patch stuff is very good actually, we use it at my garage, where it's apt name is 'Bodge Patch'. but you can seriously make enclosures quite easily with it. i would advise getting a UV tube though, as, unless it's sunny, you'll be waiting for quite a while with daylight. the only proble i can foresee is that it has an adhesive film on the bottom surface, which may cause problems with putting it in a mold. i think you can peel it off, but it may be quite messy!! there's also a clear plastic film on the top surface which allows you to push it into nooks and crannies without it sticking to your fingers. this can be peeled off after setting. hope this helps. ps, our supplier is Hutton Supplies (uk based) Tel: 01202 481706

here's my concept of what the mold should look like. NB: i know no measurments, and haven't included any means to pour silicone into the mold, so plese forgive the slapdashedness of my effort! also: the circles in the mold for the interior of the pads are just cylinders, so they'd need filling with something to make them like a dish, eg resin, before the silicone was poured in. the plate on the right would be anodised to give the tops of the pads a nice textured finish. hope this helps.

think you may have a problem with the mold there nym. as it is, they'll just be like flattened mushrooms. you need to think of the space inside as the object. unless, of course, this is just the preliminary design for the pad, and you have yet to extend the mold to the rest of the pad sheet, in which case i apologise. ;D another thing worth mentioning is measurement. i assume that the mpc1000 was designed in Japan, and as such would have been designed using metric measurements. i'd really advise against using imperial measurements unless you have a set of dial calipers, as discrepancies of 1/64, although small, when multiplied out 4 times in each direction could mean the pad sheet being a disaster. just a thought. personally i'd get dial calipers anyway, just to make sure the measurements are as accurate as possible, this being a custom project, these pads could be made to fit more neatly than the originals by far, creating a pro finish. 8) post up some measurments, and i'll see what i can come up with in FPD.

| <-Line You-> :D

$80AU=$63US

clear silicone, so you could see the velostat? greeaaat.... ;D you'd need clear velostat too, so you could see the copper.

yeah i meant making one board for all 16 pads, which would be a better system in my view.

that's an excellent link, thank you.

yeah, live is great isn't it? i find my self seeing how many things i can route through one another. fun fun fun. re: the s900, i think the OS update chips gave it timestretching, but not 100% on that. i've got a feeling that the s950 came later too, after the s1000 IIRC.

re: fpe, i think all cavities are referenced from the zero plane unless you tell them otherwise (which you can do in the 'Remarks for Production' box when you send the order - reach this window by double clicking on an unused area of the panel or going File|Panel Properties). the only problem being that the 1mm cutter they use is only 4mm long, so it'll come up with an error if you go over that. if you use another size perhaps it's longer, you'd have to ask. i use FrontPanelDesigner, which is the German company, and i'm assuming the program is the same, so forgive me if what i said makes no sense! re: mold, remember the bottoms of rectangular cavities used for the pads will become the tops of the pads when cast in silicone, so if you then cut further into the panel, you will end up with domes sticking out on the top of the pads. you probably want to use the cavity within cavity option which will cut away inside the outer boundary, and not cut away outside the inner boundary. another little tip: because you are asking for quite a deep panel, can i suggest doing it in layers? make several panels with indexing holes around the edges, that way the panel will work out cheaper, as you can work is so that the rectangular shapes for the pads are holes rather than cavites, which works out cheaper. also, if you're clever, you can use an anodised panel to be the part of the mold for the top surface, this will give you a nice, finely textured surface on the pads, as opposed to the slight machining marks left over from cavity cutting. hope this helps. edit: just looked at the FPE website, and the use the same program, so all of what i said above should be applicable. oh: no problem. i may actually return to the 1k if this comes off ok. the PCB need looking too, though i'd need a 1k infront of me to measure, and to design the board. i may yet try and pick a busted one up off ebay if anyone is selling one.

yeah loving it so far. managed to get memory expansion and ib109 (the SCSI + digital in board) which are on their way to me, so one happy camper really. been having fun with the timestretch too, doing 200% then pitching down to the original speed for some decimation type effects. yeah the screen is ok, i think it's just the backlight that goes, which is easily replacable, but i prefer the brightness of the LED backlit or VFD. the only problem will be supplying enough current to the replacement, as EL backlights only use around 40mA, whereas LED backlights use around 300-400mA!! vfds are around the same, but that's on the 5V input to the screen rather than a separate input for the baclight, which kinda means they're out unfortunately.

it'd be easier to make your own new pcb incorporating all the pads on one sheet than using this carbon heavy ink you talk of. that might wear off. www.nymat.com ??? ;D

well, i used some 12a in a button mold and although they were a little too rubbery they have cured further, and are about the hardness of a pencil eraser now. 1/16th thick is fairly thin, and may deteriorate if that's all you have. my advice: make a mold, and cast proper pads with air gaps and domed shapes beneath them in a large 4x4 sheet, and sell them at $30-50. it would be simpler to do solid pads, but at the thickness of the originals, you may find some feeling is lost. if you run into trouble with the mold design, don't hesitate to pm. prices range from £25-£40 here for a 1kg tin plus catalyst. i'd estimate you could make 2-4 pad sheets with pads, or maybe 20-30 just plain sheets.

hey nym, glad you finally joined the party! a shore a hardness of 50 is pretty damn hard. is this for the pads? cos you could design your own mold using frontpanel express, and pour in silicone. that way you can change hardness as well. might be an idea for your kits you'll be doing?? one pad sheet instead of 16 individual bits.

well said. me? oh, i'm not bulletproof, but i can fly......

also stepper motors could be used. they only need a 'step up' or 'step down' signal.

yeah show us! how do you display stuff on them, is there a standard controller on there, or what? thanks

i must admit i've always gone for higher pricerd products anyway, my reasoning being that it's going to be made to a higher standard, now i have a moral reason to do it too! thanks, i'd not thought of it like that before now.

yes but not by slave kids (hopefully).

sorry, badly worded on my part. :-[ my intention was to imply that these corporations use cheap labour in china, hence criticising the company rather than the chinese. apologies to all offended.

they're really not hard to make, a guy on mpc-forums is upgrading the sub-standard FSRs on the MPC1000 to military grade. here's the link: http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=61783 you may need to join the site to view the thread, i'm not sure. in actual fact i believe the guy joined here, perhaps he can be enticed out from his frankenstein's lair???

cool! now that's thin. i'm really after the parallel ones for MIDIboxs but that looks interesting. yeah i don't think the demand is too low either, perhaps the kids in the sweat shop who makes the screens all got bird flu or something.

from Crystalfontz: Please note: We are sorry to notify you that we are no longer able to supply PLED/OLED modules. Our supplier has difficulty obtaining the PLED panels. We have discontinued PLED/OLED modules until further notice. from Matrix Orbital: Due to our PLED (Polymeric Light Emitting Diodes) supplier announcing that they are no longer going to be manufacturing this technology, we, Matrix Orbital, hereby submit this letter to inform you that we must discontinue all of our products that use PLED technology. Click HERE to read more. dammit, i knew it was alien technology released into the public domain too early for us to handle it!! ;D seriously though, what's going on with this, anyone know??

hmm, not really what i'm looking for (led backlight) but interesting nonetheless! thanks mate. happy christmas

ahh ok, that's a good one! Happy Christmas to all!!