Commodore Flyer

I really loved my Flyer but felt it needed an enclosure. Unwilling to place it in a boring black project box, I decided to make an enclosure of my own that would fit in with the retro-look of the C64. With access to a 3D printer used for prototyping plastic parts, I sat down in front of my CAD software and starting creating something that I hoped would be worthy of sitting along side my favorite computer of all time.

CAD:

My first task was to recreate the Flyer itself in CAD so I could design the enclosure around it. I included the circuit board with its mounting holes, the tallest parts (so I’d know how much internal headroom I needed), and all components that need external access such as the disk drive ports and the LCD panel.

Now I knew the minimum dimensions of the inside of the box, but I also wanted the style to match that of the classic C64. Starting with a brick-like shape, I used the CAD program to carve the defining stylistic features of the Commodore’s case: the large radius of the front edge, the ribbing and racetrack shape for the logo along the top, and the thin horizontal parting line along the sides. All these I measured from an actual C64 to be sure they matched as closely as possible.

I created vertical tunnels directly above the surface mounted LEDs of the Flyer, intending to install some kind of light pipe material that would carry the light from the LEDs up to the surface of the enclosure.

For the base, I made a separate part in CAD that would fit inside the main enclosure at the bottom, with through holes for screws to hold the base, the Flyer, and the main enclosure together. I added some ramp-like legs that put the enclosure at the same angle as the C64′s keyboard (the tilt also made it easier to read the LCD screen without having to look directly down on it). Finally, not really knowing if it was necessary, it was easy to add a pattern of holes in the bottom for ventilation.

Fabrication:

The 3D printer used to create the actual parts uses a “print head” that can move left, right, up and down. The print head squirts liquid ABS plastic in fine layers (kind of like squeezing a very fine tube of toothpaste). Starting at the bottom the part is built layer upon layer over a period of several hours. The main enclosure and the base were printed separately.

An initial single set of parts was printed to check the fit and to evaluate the look of the box. It’s a good thing this was done, because although it looked fine, I didn’t take into account how the three pieces would be assembled. It turned out it was almost impossible to fit the Flyer into the enclosure! The power button and the disk select button extended beyond the edges of the circuit board, and they interfered with the walls of the box while trying to fit it in. I also found I’d misplaced one of the circuit board components which caused an interference with the ceiling of the enclosure. Going back to the CAD models I corrected the misplaced component and enlarged the enclosure enough to allow all the pieces to be assembled.

Light Pipes:

I needed a way to get the light from the indicator LEDs on the Flyer circuit board up to the surface of the new enclosure. As stated above, the enclosure design incorporated small tunnels above the LEDs, so if you looked down from directly above you could see the lights, but from any angle they were invisible. However, if a tunnel was filled with a transparent material, it would form a light pipe in which light enters one end and is transmitted along it’s length to exit out the other end almost as brightly as it was when it went in.

For my first attempt to create a light pipe I used clear two-part epoxy, but there was too much light loss and many bubbles interrupting the light path. Next I tried clear polyester casting resin, but even though it was bubble free the lights just weren’t bright enough after passing through the tunnels. Finding me in a sad state of desperation, a friend of mine suggested using a piece of fiber optic cable he’d pulled from an old car at a junkyard. The cable was too wide to fit inside the tunnels, so we removed the outer wrapping, took a small number of loose optical fibers and packed them into the tunnels in the enclosure. Once glued in place, the result was bright enough to see in a well lit room.

Finishing:

Due to it’s low resolution, the output from the 3D printer results in a rather rough texture, especially where it’s not flat. I used an orbital sander with 150 grit to smooth out the surfaces and then 400 grit for the final finish. Even with a ton of sanding, the matrix-like nature of the material still resulted in a lot of pits and cracks that could not be removed, so I attempted to fill these in with crack-filling spray paint from an automotive store. After four coats some pits were still visible, but overall it looked pretty smooth. I topped it all off with two coats of Krylon Khaki indoor/outdoor furniture paint, which was the closest I could find to the actual color of the Commodore 64.

As of now there are only a complete set of four Flyer enclosures produced. One for myself (Tommy – Member of the Commodore Computer Club), Sean (Founder of the Commodore Computer Club), Brandon (Flyer creator and Commodore Computer Club member) and the fourth one will be auctioned off via the C64 Club with a Flyer installed.

At the recent January 6, 2012 Commodore Computer Club meeting members and guests were able to see one of the finished prototypes up close and personal. The response was pretty awesome! The auction for the fourth prototype will take place in the near future.

Production:

If there is enough demand the Commodore Computer Club will be exclusively producing more Commodore Flyer case enclosures, so if you have an interest, be sure to get into contact with the club.