I have same problem here we have the large size calcomp early plotter that actually has an ibm tag on it! it came to us with a hp 3000 series 3 with a parallel interface board for the 3000... I used to enjoy playing with it. back in the days when museum was in a suite next to computer exchange inc in phx things were really openly displayed and I suspect years ago some early collector stole the pun box having little pens and the solenoid head thing. I used to have a spare solenoid only but do not know where it ended up... the little fitted wood box was cool though! In a message dated 8/19/2016 9:51:37 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
Unless you are willing to make you own, they are very, very rare. Two have shown up on Ebay in the past 3 maybe 4 years that I'm aware of. I was lucky I got one that due to its description I was either the only bidder or close to it. The one that sold recently went for a lot more, $500 or more. My suggestion decide what your willing to pay and keep your eyes open, If you in an area that would have been where the plotters would have been used, start asking around. Someones grandfather took one home or something like that and it will be in a garage sale for $1. So put some ad on Craigslist with pretty much nothing other then some good photos, the owner will not have a clue what your talking about. Start asking around, etc etc etc. good luck -pete On Fri, Aug 19, 2016 at 7:13 PM, Jack Rubin <[email protected]> wrote: > I returned from the recent VCF-West with one more item off my ever-shorter > "must have" list - I am the new owner of a very nice Calcomp 565 drum > plotter. Even better, I was able to find the perfect shipping container for > it at Weird Stuff! > > Photos here - http://tinyurl.com/calcomp565 . > > The only problem, unfortunately a major one, is that it is completely > lacking the pen mechanism. This is actually a multi-part assembly that > threads into the carriage on the front rails of the plotter and lifts the > pen up and down in response to z-axis commands from the controller. It is a > solenoid that uses the pen as the core and was thus supplied in many > configurations depending on the kind of pen used. I'd be happy with any > bits of any configuration if you might have an idea where to find such > items. > > BTW, I'm well aware (and deeply envious!) of the fine work done by Tom > Mikulic who recreated the entire mechanism from scratch - > http://tomislavmikulic.com/proj-565.html . > > Thanks for any help you can provide, > Jack > > >
