HP Pen Plotter

[GeorgeAlbert]

Thankyou very much for the info Rickard. I see you're familiar with etching stuff, so I'd like to ask you for more advice if possible. I can afford one of both 7475A and 7440A you said, but I'm concerned about precision and resolution, which you know are very important for components to fit, specially for thin routes.

By the way, do you think I should make any mechanical adjustment for the paper tray so the copper clads wont get stuck with the moving pen or something else? Regarding these issues, I thought and found two XY plotters, an HP 7225A and a Houston Instrument DMP-29, but I don't neither how precise they are nor if they'll work with a Roland driver, do you know? Thanks anyway!

Best regards,
George A.

[Rickard5]

George
The 7440 and the 7475 don't have paper trays and shouldn't need any adjustments depending on the thickness of the PCB, I know I can load .025 pretty easy and stay away from the Houston Instruments, They are JUNK there, main value is to scavenge the Contoller and Servos for a CNC project

[GeorgeAlbert]

Hi Rickard, thanks for preventing me on the H.I., I also had an eye on a Roland DXY-1150, but I'll take your word on the HP's, besides, they're fair in price for starting this plot adventure far from buying those small lab plotters that mill and drill your copper clads into pcb's at once which are near $20,000!

Thanks a lot once more & see you around!

[Rickard5]

Hi Rickard, thanks for preventing me on the H.I., I also had an eye on a Roland DXY-1150, but I'll take your word on the HP's, besides, they're fair in price for starting this plot adventure far from buying those small lab plotters that mill and drill your copper clads into pcb's at once which are near $20,000!

Thanks a lot once more & see you around!

George Depending on how Adventurous There are lots of Self Design and Self Build CNC information out there, I picked up a 3 axis Stepper motor Controller for my Mill for like $200, and useing Steppers out of old 5.25 Floppies I was able to cobble up everything for $250-$300. You might look at http://www.cnczone.com/ there are some interesting Wood CNC Mill/Drills Out There, Where my Mistake was, Was using Delrin Instead of Machining Alu, But I've seen Wood Frame Ones that worked Real well. I mean for PCBs you son't need the kind of Accurcy I was hoping for for the junk I do Now that being Said the roland is a Great plotter

[Rickard5]

Ohh George:
I ment to ask does Mexico Have 110 60~ electricity like the US? Just Curious, as deals pop up every now and again for CNC Drill conversions.

[Fibonacci]

2. HP Felt tip pens suck! It is worth the time and investment to buy some Rapidograph pens off epay to convert to plotter pens I can tell you how.

I have been hunting around trying to find this info on my own and failing miserably. Any chance you are still willing to tell us how to do this? I built a felt tip pen from an old marker, but it still fairly sporadic. It would be great to have some decent pens.

Also, it looks like the roland XD-CH2 blade holder is about the same dimensions as the standard HP pens. Anyone happen to know if they are directly compatible?

Thanks!

[Rickard5]

.....Also, it looks like the roland XD-CH2 blade holder is about the same dimensions as the standard HP pens. Anyone happen to know if they are directly compatible?

Thanks!

Yes and NO, the Blade holder is a bit taller and my require some cuting of the plotter Case / Covers for clearance
I'll post some pics as soon as I can about the conversion to make Repidograph Pens from old HP plotter pens

[Fibonacci]

Yes and NO, the Blade holder is a bit taller and my require some cuting of the plotter Case / Covers for clearance
I'll post some pics as soon as I can about the conversion to make Repidograph Pens from old HP plotter pens

Thanks!

As far as the blade holder is concerned, it will work, but require some fiddling?

[Rickard5]

Thanks!

As far as the blade holder is concerned, it will work, but require some fiddling?

Ohh Yes the Blade Holders will fit the Pen Holders Fine, you may just have to fiddle with the plotter's case

[casella]

I've tried to locate a driver from HP and there isn't one available. I'm running Windows XP pro. I was wondering if anyone has tried to run one of these older plotters on a newer computer.

***you'll find it here

www.plotterdriver.it