Does anyone have a paper tape punch for sale, to suit 1" tape?

[rjenkinsgb]

Hi all,
as the title says, I'm trying to get an old paper tape punch, either complete or just the mechanics that I can add a new control system to.
Preferably a fairly heavy duty style - I want to use it for mylar laminated tape.

I have a light duty desktop one that's fine for normal paper, but mylar jams it frequently and I do not want to wreck it.

(For punching this type of teletype / computer paper tape, for anyone not old enough to remember it)

Thanks, Robert.

 

[granddad]

Sorry Robert your about 50 years too late..

 

[MaxHeadRoom78]

All I have left is an old Reader, I added a USART to it to read old tapes for in order to convert to RS232 entry.
.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

All I have left is an old Reader

OK, readers seem quite common but punches are very rare, or people want ludicrous amounts for them.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

OK, readers seem quite common but punches are very rare, or people want ludicrous amounts for them.

I would imagine most went in the skip decades ago - so they would be pretty rare devices. I'm surprised readers are common?. I can't say I've ever seen either?.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

I'm surprised readers are common?. I can't say I've ever seen either?

I have two (or possibly three?) and there are eleven on ebay at present!

Paper Tape Reader for sale | eBay

Find great deals on eBay for Paper Tape Reader. Shop with confidence.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[atferrari]

All I have left is an old Reader, I added a USART to it to read old tapes for in order to convert to RS232 entry.
.

May I know Max, what (precious?) data do you keep in those tapes?

 

[MaxHeadRoom78]

May I know Max, what (precious?) data do you keep in those tapes?

They were older CNC machine parameters etc, also originally used to load programs.
I converted many to the more modern RS232 in order that the owners could load the parameters if they ever needed to restore memory.

 

[atferrari]

They were older CNC machine parameters etc, also originally used to load programs.
I converted many to the more modern RS232 in order that the owners could load the parameters if they ever needed to restore memory.

It makes sense, really.

 

[granddad]

 

[unclejed613]

that's 8-bit paper tape you have there.... don't get a teletype punch as it's only 5 bits.... i suppose you could make one if you are good with machine tools...

 

[rjenkinsgb]

don't get a teletype punch as it's only 5 bits

"Teletype" is like "Hoover" - a manufacturers name that became generic for the machines.

The Teletype (ASR)33 was probably the commonest mechanical "computer terminal" in the minicomputer era.
They were 8 bit machines; I used to have one on my PDP-8 a few decades ago.

And they also made machines for 5 bit murray/baudot systems.

(In the UK that was the Telex system, an originally GPO run dial-up machine to machine text communications system for businesses that was used through in to the 1980s, typically using Creed machines).

 

[granddad]

I worked on a cash register that had a mechanical 1" punched tape bolted on the side, It punched a whole frame including sprockets of about 16 fields , It was used for data capture , and sent off in the post ( a packet with a stamp on ) every night .... I worked well but I cannot remember if the system lasted long , perhaps a year at the most. It was superseded by an OCR font journal ( magnetic ink ) , but that was too expensive ( 2" Mylar ribbons ) , then somebody invented electronics and modems...

 

[Pommie]

"Teletype" is like "Hoover" - a manufacturers name that became generic for the machines.

I love the fact that Americans call game machines Nintendo's, "I've got a Sega Nintendo". Same as British saying a Panasonic hoover.

Mike.

 

[unclejed613]

teletype is also descriptive of what the machine does.... before i re-enlisted as a calibration tech in the Army, i was a radioteletype operator, and before the electronic teletype (AN/UGC-74) machines were used, the Army had machines made by Kleinschmidt, but we weren't called "radio-kleinschmidt operators", in radio school we used the Kleinschmidt machines and paper tape.... the UGC-74 generally didn't need paper tape, as it had 56K of message storage (not a lot you might think, but it was all in the form of text)

 

[unclejed613]

 

[gophert]

rjenkinsgb
Punching plastic film is always a challenge vs paper. Punch tolerance must be much closer. How many holes do you expect to need? There are other ways to make holes in plastic film.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

How many holes do you expect to need?

Thousands! It's computer data storage for old machines.
There are quite a few 1970s/80s machine tools still in use that require paper tape for loading the operating system and for cutting programs.

A typical operating system tape takes most of a 8" tape spool - I can't remember offhand what length a full roll of tape is, somewhere over 1000ft I believe, at ten characters per inch...

 

[gophert]

A laser engraver might work better for polymer film than die-cutting or punching. You'll need a blast of air to overcome static that might keep the poly circle from clinging to the tape after it is cut. You should also get film that has a laser dye in in to make it absorb/heat at the wavelength of the laser (you can't use any random film. You should be able to cut the 5 holes in less than one second.

Alternatively, heat staking is another way. To make "spot welds" in plastic and you could use the idea to melt holes but that will either leave a thicker ring of plastic at the circumfrence of each hole or the scrap plastic will build up on the heated "stake" and make a mess over time.

 

[rjenkinsgb]

I can't decide if you are just not reading the question, or being deliberately obtuse.

I need something along the lines of one of these, a computer data tape punch, but hopefully at a much less ludicrous price!

Facit 4070 + RS232/Paper Tape Puncher + Ser. Interface, In Excelent Condition! | eBay

F A C I T 4070 Paper Tape Punchermitserieller Schnittstelle ( R S232) Technischer Zustand: Sehr gut! Alles funktioniert einwandfrei! Optischer Zustand: Sehr gut! Nichts ist abgebrochen bzw. beschädigt. Es sind lediglich leichte Gebrauchsspuren vorhanden. Die F A C I T befindet sich in einem...

www.ebay.co.uk

I have a GNT4601 but that cannot handle the tougher mylar laminated tape, only plain paper.