Repairing PowerBook 140 standoffs

[Dogmander]

I acquired a PowerBook 140 for around 50 bucks a month or so ago; it has many problems but one of which being is that many of the internal stands are cracked/missing/broken off. I'm looking for solutions to repair these, as many of them no longer have their original plastic, meaning I can't simply glue them back on. 3D printing would be my best solution in this scenario but I'm not sure where to find proper standoffs as some are different heights to each other.
Any suggestions are appreciated, and I can provide photos if needed.

 

[Mac84]

Which stand offs are you referring to? The ones that hold the LCD? The ones under the keyboard?

For example, some models exist and we could help if we had more info. Maybe upload some photos?

This standoff is for the LCD screen / hinge area: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4818669

 

[Dogmander]

The LCD, 2 of the keyboard, and a few of the bottom case. The LCD is probably the easiest, although I'm not sure what heat inserts I should use (I don't have the original as the owner did a mod where he installed mounting hardware to fix the hinges).

 

[3lectr1c]

Apple PowerBook 100 Series Stand-off / Small by polymatt

Designed this little guy to replace the plastic stand-offs for the Apple PowerBook 100 series line. This is the small one and part of a series that includes the larger stand-off and the screw covers.

www.thingiverse.com

This should help you out.

 

[Dogmander]

Apple PowerBook 100 Series Stand-off / Small by polymatt

Designed this little guy to replace the plastic stand-offs for the Apple PowerBook 100 series line. This is the small one and part of a series that includes the larger stand-off and the screw covers.

www.thingiverse.com

This should help you out.

Will this work for both the keyboard and the case? what about the larger standoffs on the bottom?

 

[3lectr1c]

Think those are the ones for the bottom case. Not sure about the keyboard, you’ve got a really rough system there. You may want to look for a plastics donor, usually you’ll end up with a few damaged for the drive cage mounts but the keyboard mounts and stuff like that are usually fine.

 

[Dogmander]

@3lectr1c I found some more appropriate screw bosses for my PowerBook, since the one that you linked only works with the smaller screw standoffs and not the taller versions. However, I'm debating whether or not I should glue the inserts with the SLA version (fdm printed) or heat insert the brass inserts with the FDM version.

 

[retr01]

Perhaps @mmu_man, who has already designed several replacement PB parts, could help?

cad-retro-parts/Apple/PowerBook at main · mmuman/cad-retro-parts

Contribute to mmuman/cad-retro-parts development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[Dogmander]

Perhaps @mmu_man, who has already designed several replacement PB parts, could help?

cad-retro-parts/Apple/PowerBook at main · mmuman/cad-retro-parts

Contribute to mmuman/cad-retro-parts development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

I don’t think there’s much that could really be improved, but there are some things that could make the process easier, such as making the boss holes tampered so the old inserts can sit slightly before being heated up.

 

[mmu_man]

I have a 180c open on my table here and some posts are partially broken, but I wanted to try and glue them back first. Anyway, can't look at it until next week.

 

[retr01]

I don’t think there’s much that could really be improved, but there are some things that could make the process easier, such as making the boss holes tampered so the old inserts can sit slightly before being heated up.

Yeah.

As the community continues to develop replacement case parts that can be 3D printed for the PBs, we can at least make the PBs usable again as they should have been, such as replacement elevation foot or I/O door posted here on Tinker Different under the 3D printing section.

@Dogmander, are the standoffs something like to seat a drive or board on like this?

 

[Dogmander]

No, those are not

Yeah.

As the community continues to develop replacement case parts that can be 3D printed for the PBs, we can at least make the PBs usable again as they should have been, such as replacement elevation foot or I/O door posted here on Tinker Different under the 3D printing section.

@Dogmander, are the standoffs something like to seat a drive or board on like this?

View attachment 12445

what I’m referring to. The standoffs are what you use to screw down the motherboard and hard drive cage

 

[This Does Not Compute]

@3lectr1c I found some more appropriate screw bosses for my PowerBook, since the one that you linked only works with the smaller screw standoffs and not the taller versions. However, I'm debating whether or not I should glue the inserts with the SLA version (fdm printed) or heat insert the brass inserts with the FDM version.

Having done several standoff replacements, I'm confident in the strength of brass inserts that have been melted into FDM parts. I have no basis for comparison of the strength of FDM vs SLA parts themselves in this application, though -- my gut tells me it probably doesn't matter.

 

[Dogmander]

I was able to glue and install the 3d printed bosses, and heat the inserts into them. I’m not sure how strong they will be in the long run, but they are holding up well enough now.
Now I can work on fixing up the top half of the case, as well as the screen hinge mounts.