MC250 Font
- Thread starter bbow01
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TX_Tube
Active Member
I would check this thread out here, might just help you in your silk screen project.. Or you can use Auto Cad for your template, by bringing in a 1:1 ratio JPG of your lettering and then using Auto Cad to recreate the font, manually if needed.
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/mcintosh-mc30-new-owner.941864/
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/mcintosh-mc30-new-owner.941864/
What may trip you up is that McIntosh uses a typeface, not a font.
Fonts are computer-based lettering with spacing based on computer metrics. Typefaces are typeset – the lettering spacing is “by eye”. The shape of two adjacent letters determines the lettering spacing between them.
Two round letters next to each other may have different spacing than two vertical letters, etc. (compare OO - ll - VV - AW). The typesetter places the lettering spacing based on what looks best.
Larry
Fonts are computer-based lettering with spacing based on computer metrics. Typefaces are typeset – the lettering spacing is “by eye”. The shape of two adjacent letters determines the lettering spacing between them.
Two round letters next to each other may have different spacing than two vertical letters, etc. (compare OO - ll - VV - AW). The typesetter places the lettering spacing based on what looks best.
Larry
bbow01
Active Member
OK. Don't I just feel like a complete idiot. Thanks for the level-set.
bbow01
Active Member
Thanks. I checked out that thread before and I've been emailing the guy in Korea. He is balking at taking on the MC250 chassis. High CAD design and startup costs vs. low demand was his response.
TX_Tube
Active Member
Sorry to hear the the person over yonder didn't want to go thru with the 250 project. But it is easy to see the niche market he would be dealing in, with older Mcintosh pieces. The "chromies" an older term that was referenced to Mcintosh owners in the past, have always had a big presence in the Mcintosh environment. There are still some great chrome shops out there, that can restore your pitted, rusted OEM chrome piece, back to it's original luster. A good chrome shop will acid dip the OEM piece first, to strip all of the old chrome off the piece. Then the piece will be glass beaded smooth once again, taking out any pitting that might have occurred over the piece's lifetime. A good clean, smooth, flat surface is needed to get a 1st class re-chroming job. The prep work is very important.
Car people have been using Advanced Plating in Portland, TN for a while now. These folks turn out 1st class work and they can knock out your 250 piece with no problems, I believe. Or you can check around your local area and see if there is a good chrome shop locally. The paint mask is a little PITA, but with the epoxy paint another Forum member suggested in the other thread, it would give you a great way to apply the original factory text back to better than to OEM standards, IMO. Good Luck on your project, whichever way you chose to go.
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bbow01
Active Member
Great tips. I put together a list of shops that do plating in my area. Since I'm north of Detroit, the area has several, but I will add Advance Plating to said list in case I come up blank around here.
I had not thought of masking and painting (or rolling on the ink) myself. I will contact the company in the other forum (G Scale) and go from there. I want to make sure that I have all my ducks lined up in a row before I start gutting the MC250.
I had not thought of masking and painting (or rolling on the ink) myself. I will contact the company in the other forum (G Scale) and go from there. I want to make sure that I have all my ducks lined up in a row before I start gutting the MC250.
Hi guys, being in the same phase of re-chroming and re-printing, I made pretty exact screens for MC250 from scans and tons of work in Illustrator. Some letters match few different fonts, but sometimes I had to made my own letters. From my "limited" experience it is not easy to print on fresh chrome (letters smudge off easily) and still finding the right formula.
Also when you re-chrome, you'll get visible cupping around holes during buffing, so some filling is advised.
Once I'll work out a stable epoxy ink, I'll be happy to edit and print yours, or somehow share the mask, it was just a lot of work. Check below & please note the slight offset of gain lettering etc. is exactly copied from the original chassis.
Here's preview of the stencil in illustrator, slightly offset to show the detail. It accounts for ink bleed too.
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bbow01
Active Member
Hi guys, being in the same phase of re-chroming and re-printing, I made pretty exact screens for MC250 from scans and tons of work in Illustrator. Some letters match few different fonts, but sometimes I had to made my own letters. From my "limited" experience it is not easy to print on fresh chrome (letters smudge off easily) and still finding the right formula.
Also when you re-chrome, you'll get visible cupping around holes during buffing, so some filling is advised.
Once I'll work out a stable epoxy ink, I'll be happy to edit and print yours, or somehow share the mask, it was just a lot of work. Check below & please note the slight offset of gain lettering etc. is exactly copied from the original chassis.
Here's preview of the stencil, slightly offset to show the detail. It accounts for ink bleed too.
Looks like you did a fantastic job! I would be fine with a slight offset with the type. I doubt that anyone besides us would ever notice. And yes, I am very interested in using your mask template. (I'm a ways from that stage since I have not yet started removing electronics and hardware.)
Can I ask you how you punched out the riveted hardware and what you plan on using to replace the rivets?
Thanks for advice.
I can answer on the punch as I just did one of my MC75s:
Medium brass mallet (ballpeen will work I’m sure) with a drift punch smaller than the hole, one hard hit from the backside knocks the rivet out. Some members here have used a socket or block of wood with a clearance hole in it on the top-side, I did not and didn’t distort any holes in the chassis, did all of the (maybe 40?) rivets on each chassis.
For replacement rivets the seller of my new chassis sent smooth-head screws (polished SS or chromed) with nuts and lockwashers instead of rivets. Excellent solution IMO.
Medium brass mallet (ballpeen will work I’m sure) with a drift punch smaller than the hole, one hard hit from the backside knocks the rivet out. Some members here have used a socket or block of wood with a clearance hole in it on the top-side, I did not and didn’t distort any holes in the chassis, did all of the (maybe 40?) rivets on each chassis.
For replacement rivets the seller of my new chassis sent smooth-head screws (polished SS or chromed) with nuts and lockwashers instead of rivets. Excellent solution IMO.
Interesting to know that we can punch the rivets out. I was not brave enough to bring on a mallet so I drilled them out, which sucks because they will spin. So I first pre-drilled them, and then held them with sharp cone mill bit from the outer side while drilling off the peened side. This may still be useful around the cap isolators or connectors.
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Thanks! not all work done yet, but it will work out 100% (just need to find time). The original rivets are nickel coated brass, and their height vary depending on the thickness of what they hold. One warning if you'll go riveting (I chose this to restore it to original state), during assembly you'll need narrow riveting tools that are not easily available. There is not enough space around connectors for standard hand riveting tools, so you may need to modify them or make your own on lathe.
Once you strip the chassis, it would be good to take flatbed scans (not just photos) of both faces, just in case the versions differ. Also the mask offset did come from factory and may differ between the units, but the mask itself must have been the same, so it is just the matter of alignment.
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bbow01
Active Member
Today is the day that I'll start the disassembly. I did find what looks like will be a workable wire labeling system. Regarding the rivets, my current approach will be to replace them with the small pan head screws that are used in the repo chassis sold for the MC240 and MC75 (as others on this forum have noted). Hopefully, they can be sourced from those same suppliers.
I do have a flat bed scanner that is 12" long so it should take the 10-1/2" front and rear sides of the MC250 chassis. But, I have never used Adobe Illustrator and it would probably be a steep learning curve for me so not sure what I'll do next. I really liked your method, though.
