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Resurrecting an Old Plotter (2019)

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Re: Resurrecting an Old Plotter (2019)

#11

Post by jonah »

beardicus wrote: post #2

auto-upvote for anything plotter-related... they're so much fun. be sure to check out #plottertwitter on the twitter tubes (oops, totally missed that this was called out in the very first sentence), and i've also been collecting useful plotter-related links here: https://github.com/beardicus/awesome-plotters (one last edit / promo: if you get the nostalgia fuzzies for plotters, be sure to check out the "Manuals and E…

Speaking of software, does anyone know of a library or scriptable tool to convert SVG to HPGL? (That supports text with custom fonts.)

Like another commenter mentioned, HPGL is still used in cutters and engravers. we have a project where we're generating custom SVG files and need an automated way to convert them into HPGL to be laser engraved.

Re: Resurrecting an Old Plotter (2019)

#12

Post by fred256 »

jonah wrote: post #11
beardicus wrote: post #2

auto-upvote for anything plotter-related... they're so much fun. be sure to check out #plottertwitter on the twitter tubes (oops, totally missed that this was called out in the very first sentence), and i've also been collecting useful plotter-related links here: https://github.com/beardicus/awesome-plotters (one last edit / promo: if you get the nostalgia fuzzies for plotters, be sure to check out the "Manuals and E…

Speaking of software, does anyone know of a library or scriptable tool to convert SVG to HPGL? (That supports text with custom fonts.) Like another commenter mentioned, HPGL is still used in cutters and engravers. we have a project where we're generating custom SVG files and need an automated way to convert them into HPGL to be laser engraved.

No first hand experience, but perhaps vpype with this plugin: https://github.com/zxsq-cc/hpglpype

Re: Resurrecting an Old Plotter (2019)

#13

Post by ncmncm »

One thing, there is no such thing as "DB-9". It is DE-9. The "E" is the size of the shell. (The B shell has room for 25 pins on 1/10 inch spacing, an E shell room for 9; or 15 with pins closer, as in a VGA connector.)

That fact doesn't stop retailers from listing DE-9 hardware as "DB-9" to attract confused customers, who then remain confused.

My favorite thing about these old plotters is that you can get knife pens, meant for cutting ruby-lith to send out to a circuit board fab. You would peel off the red part wherever you didn't want copper on the board. The board shop would photo-reduce your mask to actual size, often a 10x reduction for manually produced designs. Which existed!

I wonder if you can still get ruby-lith.

Re: Resurrecting an Old Plotter (2019)

#14

Post by joshu »

jcrawfordor wrote: post #10

A few little comments: 1) The HP 7440A does support hardware flow control (RTS/CTS) so no need for the OA trick. You might sometimes need a better serial controller. 2) HPGL is simple enough you don't totally need it, but Chiplotle is a Python library for generating HPGL that will save you some work: http://sites.music.columbia.edu/cmc/chiplotle/ 3) What the author calls a "DB-22 to DB-9 adapter" should be called a "…

yes, i'm wondering why they didn't use flow control. i just set my serial port to 9600 baud and blast out the data and my HP 7575a does fine.
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