Power Macintosh 7200/7300/7500/7600 Power Button

[Adam]

Does anyone know where I can get a 3D printed power button for the PowerMac 7X00 series? (not 7100)
I've got several of these machines, and the power button disintegrates the first time it is pressed. Thanks

 

[Branchus]

There's this one. I've never printed it, and the actual round power button bit doesn't look brilliant, but it's probably better than nothing.

I think I might have a crack at this one myself.

 

[Kai Robinson]

If you do, I'll buy one, my 7500 has a snapped one.

 

[Drake]

You're all telling me that my 7500 power button ISN'T supposed to be flailing around wildly in hopes of touching the the microswitch?!?

 

[Stephen]

I've printed a few for folks in the past, but I can't really comment on how well they work. I used a combination of regular resin + a flexible resin (about 10%). I imagine their durability is lower than the originals.

 

[Drake]

I've printed a few for folks in the past, but I can't really comment on how well they work. I used a combination of regular resin + a flexible resin (about 10%). I imagine their durability is lower than the originals.

was this a two part design? "flexing wings" clip over the stem?
I'm tempted to say a redesign would likely be better to eliminate the flexing portion.
Could a spring go over the stem, between the metal chassis and plastic shell?

 

[Stephen]

was this a two part design? "flexing wings" clip over the stem?
I'm tempted to say a redesign would likely be better to eliminate the flexing portion.
Could a spring go over the stem, between the metal chassis and plastic shell?

I’d love to explore it but I don’t own any compatible machines. Maybe it’s time to dip your toes into 3D design?

 

[Drake]

I’d love to explore it but I don’t own any compatible machines. Maybe it’s time to dip your toes into 3D design?

I was literally making an animated cartoon of a grumpy macintosh... but I can see THAT as being more fruitful lmao

 

[Branchus]

was this a two part design? "flexing wings" clip over the stem?
I'm tempted to say a redesign would likely be better to eliminate the flexing portion.
Could a spring go over the stem, between the metal chassis and plastic shell?

I think so. I'll be having a tinker with this myself, so I'll see what's possible. It would be nice to replace those bendy plastic arms with a metal spring.

 

[alxlab]

was this a two part design? "flexing wings" clip over the stem?
I'm tempted to say a redesign would likely be better to eliminate the flexing portion.
Could a spring go over the stem, between the metal chassis and plastic shell?

I've had a snap on fix design on my todo list. To me using the original button that's broken and adding two new plastic springs would be ideal so it will loo orginal. I'd probably make it from PETG since that has a lot of flex but is very hard to snap.

Spring going around the original part should work as well but something would need to be added to the orginal button to compress the spring.

Got a couple Powermac 7500 with busted buttons. Lemme see if I can find the buttons or if misplaced them

 

[alxlab]

It's not quite up to my standards yet but getting there.

 

[Branchus]

I'm just gonna go out and say it. That button is not one of Apple's best designs. The print looks good though!

 

[Drake]

I took a look at mine yesterday, previous owner had drilled a hole down the center of the button then wound a spring around the end.

I also lost more clips just opening the machine haha, heaven help us. I'm close to just wiring an aircraft toggle on the front.

 

[Branchus]

I've told this anecdote before, but one day, while I was working on my LC630, trying to glue all the bits of brittle plastic back in place, I was holding it funny and dropped it. It was about 3 feet off the floor and just shattered like glass when it hit.

It all still works perfectly, but I've given up any hope of having it look nice.

 

[Drake]

I've told this anecdote before, but one day, while I was working on my LC630, trying to glue all the bits of brittle plastic back in place, I was holding it funny and dropped it. It was about 3 feet off the floor and just shattered like glass when it hit.

It all still works perfectly, but I've given up any hope of having it look nice.

There's a movie about this... "Robocop"!
He gets shot to pieces but they rebuild him, better than before! Perhaps your LC630 just needs to be Robocopped together.

 

[Branchus]

There's a movie about this... "Robocop"!

If I remember rightly, they threw away a lot of the broken body and replaced it with metal. Hmmm, I wonder what a Robocop LC630 would look like?

 

[Branchus]

First test printed. It seems pretty robust, so I'm pleased. I may make a few revisions though. I'll use the original button bit so that it looks original.

 

[Drake]

If I remember rightly, they threw away a lot of the broken body and replaced it with metal. Hmmm, I wonder what a Robocop LC630 would look like?

 

[alxlab]

Here's the STEP and STL files to add the clips back to an original button. I'm tempted to make an extension of the original button to make it so it won't need to be pressed so much and get stuck sometimes like the original.

License under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

 

[Branchus]

Here's the STEP and STL files to add the clips back to an original button. I'm tempted to make an extension of the original button to make it so it won't need to be pressed so much and get stuck sometimes like the original.

Just in case no one has told you, this is a really clever solution.