Teletype paper tape splicing and alignment guide jig

thingiverse

If you're into vintage computing, this little jig may be just what you need. It makes cutting sharp, straight cuts across 1" wide 8-level ASCII Teletype paper tape a breeze. This simplifies the process of trimming, splicing or joining sections of paper tape for repair, which in turn reduces jamming and tearing when run through a paper tape reader such as an ASR33, PC05, OP-80A, EECO CNC or any other paper tape reader you have. To use this jig: Place the tape to be cut onto the jig with the centre blade slot aligned where you want cutting. Press down firmly until the tape feed sprocket holes are seated properly on the sprocket pins. Using a single edge razor blade positioned in the centre slot (make sure it's sharp), press down and then right through. It should give a crisp snapping noise as it cuts. You can also use an X-acto #11 blade in a hobby knife. The OpenSCAD parametric script is included so you can tweak it if you like. For example, to make the jig longer, simply bump the PINS value. Although a 5-level Baudot RTTY paper tape will fit fine on the guide as it is, you can change the LEVEL variable from 8 (ASCII 8-level) to 5 (Baudot 5-level) if you prefer. For printing: PLA is ideal. Infill was 25% but could be anywhere from there up to 100%. Printed with brim only, no raft. I touched the pins and cutting groove with a black permanent marker to improve locating visibility. Making Teletype paper tape without a punch: If you don't have an actual vintage paper tape punch, you can use a home stencil cutting machine along with my PTAP2DXF program to make paper tape that is fully functional (as used in this thing's photo). For more info visit https://github.com/1944GPW/ptap2dxf