unlimitedbacon ♾️🥓Jun 15, 2023

A modern 3D printer being controlled by an ancient KayPro II. It's printing a G-Code file saved on the floppy disk!

@SamTornado and I did an incredible amount of work to get this going. It's connected to the printer via the serial. We also had to figure out how to connect the KayPro to a PC to copy the G-Code over.

Also wrote a custom program in Z80 assembly to stream the file to the printer.

All this to prove that we could have had home 3D printers in the 80s!

#3dprinting #retrocomputing

Show threadrecursive 🏳️‍🌈Jun 15, 2023
@unlimitedbacon @SamTornado That sounds a bit akin to the reasoning that Ben Franklin could have built a nitrogen laser 😄
Show threadunlimitedbacon ♾️🥓Jun 17, 2023
@recursive @SamTornado Ok. I really want to hear how Ben Franklin could build a laser now.
Show threadrecursive 🏳️‍🌈Jun 17, 2023

@unlimitedbacon @SamTornado I was mostly making a wisecrack, it's not exactly analogous, since in this case it's more the development of scientific knowledge than engineering practice, but basically like this:

- build an inefficient nitrogen laser using plain air as the lasing medium, e.g. https://physicsopenlab.org/2020/07/16/diy-nitrogen-tea-laser/ and you could basically do it with materials of the time (glass, metal foil, wire)
- power it with electrostatic generators of the time, including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin%27s_electrostatic_machine

But: [1/2]

DIY Nitrogen TEA Laser - PhysicsOpenLab

Abstract : in the cover image the homebuilt TEA nitrogen laser in use at PhyscsOpenLab. The entire l

PhysicsOpenLab
Show threadrecursive 🏳️‍🌈
@unlimitedbacon @SamTornado
- If it works, would anyone have a useful explanation for why it's an interesting creation (it's not obviously interesting, it just makes this faint beam which causes some things to fluoresce, the short duration wouldn't be measurable with the technology of the time)?
- If it doesn't work, would anyone have the ability to explain why, e.g.: too much inductance between the capacitor and the spark gap resulting in an insufficiently fast discharge, etc.
[2/2]
Jun 17, 2023 at 4:29pmWeb
Show threadSam TornadoJun 17, 2023
@recursive
Oh! Very cool, Thanks!
We figured it was a "wisecrack" 😉.
But than @unlimitedbacon and I got to talk about, "how would Ben Franklin Build a laser"🤔 😂