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Older model CalComp?


Knep

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If the 3024 is a pen plotter ( which I think it is ), the answer is pretty much a not much use at all really. Sure you could buy the pens and try to create a plot. Pen plotter were notoriously slow and expensive to operatre. They were however way cool to watch. Circles and arcs were made by moving the pen side to side and rolling the paper back and forth. When making text, it looked more like a machine gun going off. I started with a used a Houston Insturment pen plotter in the late '80s

 

If it is an inkjet, yeah you might be able to find the cartridges and maybe a print driver. I think KIP ended up with the calcomp plotter brand. -David

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I have a bunch of pens, but they haven't been used in some time... can they be cleaned? Also, I have heard that this type of plotter can be used for cutting and sign-making. What's the deal on that?

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Pens are still available for this plotter, see here. Drivers are available up to Win95, see here. It may also be worth checking this forum for more details.

 

Like David, I used to use a pen plotter in the late 80's and they were great fun to watch, although dreadfully slow by today's standards. Mine was a CalComp but I can't remember the model number. Ah, those were the days!

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Knep,

 

There are cutting machines that worked similarly to pen plotters. The rollers would have to be different. I have not heard of a knife that replaces the pen. Maybe someone made them, maybe not. My guess is that they were specialty machines, not conversions. -David

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yup they are slow compared to modern plotters. But if you needed a plotter just to have one around for your own use this one might be worthwhile. Autocad still supports them I think at least 2004 does. if you decide to use one set your lineweight to zero and set fontfill or textfill (the one that prints text as an outline) to zero. This will speed up your plots quite a bit. Also set up a wide for format printer in widows as well as setting it up in autocad.

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  • 7 years later...

Perhaps...I mght still have mine if i can find the person i left it with, he sold his shop :( Mine did a great job, the lines and text seem to be bolder and blacker no matter which pen was used, I mean really beautiful drawings. But if a pen skips or runs out of ink, you're sunk, gotta re-plot it. And Mechanical Desktop 2006 still lists it.

Jamie-Lyn

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