On 2012-09-16, Gunner wrote:
Sometime back I was given a Kroy 80K lettering machine along with a
Kroy XL SignMaker and a big ****load of tapes.
Anybody have any links to a manual on how to set it up and make it
work?
The basic think works like a Dymo lable maker..but it has a main
tape..and a thin clear tape over it. I think...think..its supposed to
heat up the main tape and melt the letter to the thin clean tape and
then pull it off or out of the main tape. Its impressing it
deeply..but its not removing the letter itself.
No heat. Just mechanical pressure. The one which I find on a
search is one which I used a bit at work, and which I have a manual
version of at home which I can no longer use. The URL
http://www.invasionautoproducts.com/kr80kedkeles.html
Does yours look like this one above? I think that the 'K' means
"Keyboard".
It has two tapes in a cartridge -- one of which sticks onto
paper for making headlines and such for preparing documents for photo
production. Our local folklore group used one for making the
newsletter.
You are limited by which wheels you have for styles and font
sizes.
The lower tape has a backing paper, and the other is a very thin
one with the ink on it.
The thin tape goes through a staple like thing under the bar,
then up and around a 45-degree metal plate (red anodized in what I
remember), and then to a hub which winds up the used ink tape. (The hub
comes packaged with the tape cartridge.)
I have a bunch of wheels, one manual printer (no keyboard), and
*no* tapes which are still any good. They go bad, especially if stored
where it is hot. I don't know whether the tapes are still available.
The tapes (ignoring the paper backing) are clear, and the inks
are usually either black or white, though probably other colors are
(were?) available as well.
And I dont have a clue what the XL signmaker is supposed to do.
Presumably the "XL" means "Extra Large", and it produces larger
fonts for signs you can read from a distance. This must use even wider
tapes -- perhaps 1" or 2" instead of the 1/2" which the 80 series used.
There was also a 40 instead of 80 series -- smaller wheels and
smaller fonts only.
I see em on ebay and I found the manufacture and dropped em an
email..but...Ive not had a response in a week.
Anyone know how its supposed to work? Manuals? Links?
You just turn it on and type in what you want it to display. It
produces a clear tape with your message, which you can stick onto
whatever. (I liked the white on clear for marking controls and
connectors on things I built -- both at work and at home.)
And there were accessories -- one which rolled the tape (with
the paper backing) through a pair of rollers with some 3M "Magic" tape
to cover the lettering and allow it to wear a lot better. The other
accessory was a rolling slitter, to cut the tape to half width for
smaller fonts.
I see em on Ebay for $100..but no manuals that I can find
Do you see anyone actually finding a buyer?
To use it, just put in a *good* cartridge, turn it one, type
your labels or whatever onto the one line LCD screen, and then hit
"print". IIRC, you could ask it to print more than one copy, but not
much more.
It *may* have been interfaceable to a PC to load the messages,
but that was not done with the one at work, so I don't know.
Instructions on installing and threading the cartridge are on
the underside of the hinged gray plastic bar which covers the working
part.
The wheels have a stepped circle molded inside the ring of
letters which set how far to advance the tape for the next letter,
compensating for the different width of the letters.
These days, the same thing is done electronically, printing on
the tape thermally and making up the shapes of the letters from data in
memory. As a result, you don't need the separate "Symbols" wheels. :-)
*If* you can get good tapes for it (I tried to find them a
couple of years ago, and had no luck -- and if your tapes were not
stored in a cold air conditioned room, they are almost certainly dead),
and really want to use it, I can ship you the wheels which I have (make
more room here), and even the manual one I have. (Turn the wheel by
hand, then press a button to turn on a motor to cycle the impression.)
You can have them for the cost of shipping. Probably the cost
to ship the manual printer would be more than the shipping cost for all
the wheels which I have (unless the bulk plays games with it).
But -- if you can't get good ribbons/tapes there is no point,
just as there is no point to me keeping mine. :-)
Enjoy,
DoN.
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