The Ghost White Toner has been mentioned in several threads in the past, but no one has responded saying they have tried it.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
At one time, there was quite an 'underground' in modifying and refilling laser cartridges, including where to 'open' a refilling port on them using a Unibit to keep any plastic drilling fragments from falling inside and where to source the right kind of plug to seal the hole afterward. I would suspect that such modifications might still be practical for a given Canon cartridge that has not reached its expiration, perhaps for a yellow cartridge if a first pass in white is desired before registering full color in a subsequent pass, carefully vacuuming out prior toner before 'reloading' with white. Remember that some of this likely still needs to be done in the dark to avoid light damage to photosensitive components...
That of course preassumes the manufacturer will sell you bulk toner at a meaningful enough cost.
Something else I played around with doing back in the age of LaserWriters was some means of effectively adjusting registration of the image on the paper as fed, and any image size or effective magnification, so that work printed on one machine (for example as 'letterhead' background stock) could be correctly overprinted on another, perhaps from a different manufacturer hooked up to a system running a different OS. Some of this involved calibrated test prints subsequently carefully compared... this if developed might allow a club running a printer with a white cartridge to preprint areas on a given sheet of MicroScale for a nominal charge, and then effectively arrange CMYK overprint on the same sheet.
Tuh - tuh - tuh hundred and fifty bucks! and I remember when I thought magnetic toner for check overprinting was expensive!
Bummer, they don't have it for my Canon. Also, OUCH, the price. $250 for a toner cartridge.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
danno54The Alps printer can print with white ink making it great for making decals on a clear sheet.
https://www.ghost-white-toner.com/
Surely worth some experimentation... the Altoona model railroaders' club has some positive experience with this in an otherwise-ordinary HP four-cartridge color laser ...
rrebell I have always been a bottom feeder. Most things on e-bay I don't need but want some of them. I always buy way ahead of need to get the best price and one time got a whole dealers case of MDC boxcars for the price of one as others misread the ad. I put in a watch and just keep an eye on things, sometimes I win and sometimes I lose. A few times I got an item for free as it came with other junk that I resold.
I have always been a bottom feeder. Most things on e-bay I don't need but want some of them. I always buy way ahead of need to get the best price and one time got a whole dealers case of MDC boxcars for the price of one as others misread the ad. I put in a watch and just keep an eye on things, sometimes I win and sometimes I lose. A few times I got an item for free as it came with other junk that I resold.
"Bottom Feeder" I like that one rrebell
I thought I was the only one that kept a daily watch with a fine-tooth comb in case opportunity arises to jump on.
And Kevin, I bet you did not give that seller a good review
Speaking of watch, it didn't take me long to find another heavy duty depressed center flat car that I missed out on a couple of nights ago.
The one I lost
A crappy picture but this is the one I got last night. It doesn't have the Load but the thing that it does have is M/T Body mount couplers that the other one didn't have. Things worked out as I came out better. Unfortunately it was a seller in Canada and the shipping was almost as much as the car. I didn't care at that point I just wanted it.
Thanks for everyone's participation on the thread
TF
Track fiddlerI have even actually received an email from a seller, polite wording but I could see they may have been somewhat offended. I don't know, ...They are the one that provided the make an offer button, It doesn't say make a high offer only
I had that happen only once. The guy wrote a very nasty note about what a jerk I was with my offer.
I wish I would have printed it out.
OvermodSomething comparatively new eBay is doing: sellers will send you discount offers on items they see you are watching.
This would be nice if I was watching train stuff.
We have about 150 items in our watch list, but it is all things we already own that my wife has bought in antique stores. She watches these things to see what they sell for. When these offers come in, she gets sad about the discount prices on her stuff.
I have been receiving those in my email. Sometimes I bite. I have about 86 items in my save for later bay. That's where mine are coming from.
What fascinates me is some of the items in my bay have increased in price after they have been sitting there for quite a while. I delete those.
Track fiddlerThe make an offer button is fun sometimes Kevin.
Thanks for posting the auction statistics Ed. A lot of stuff I didn't know.
I have seen what you're talking about many times DSchmidt. I have quit bidding at times finding an item cheaper in the buy-it-now category.
I've seen what you're talking about too Styx. Items seem to go for less the second or third time around after the bidding frenzy cools off a bit. I even noticed they have a "sell one like this" button. I hope that depressed center flat car comes back round again.
The make an offer button is fun sometimes Kevin. I have even actually received an email from a seller, polite wording but I could see they may have been somewhat offended. I don't know, ...They are the one that provided the make an offer button, It doesn't say make a high offer only I have had some sellers accept a lowball. It seems to happen when the item had been listed for too long.
Here is my Best Buy on eBay, three brand new bi-color great Northerns for $19
The "make offer" button can be fun.
Sometimes I throw a whole bunch of low-ball offers out there in an afternoon, and every once in a while one will be accepted.
Yes, I think most (all?) things I've bought off Ebay the last couple of years were 'buy it now', often from Ebay stores.
For bidding, I think it's easy to get carried away. I generally have set a price I think is the most I would pay for whatever it is, and bid that amount. If someone pays more than that, they just wanted it more.
BTW sometimes when you miss out on an item - especially if it's a 'big ticket' item - you might get a better deal after. Some folks will see something sell for a high price and realize they have the same item and decide it's time for them to sell it and maybe get as high a price. Sometime back an electric guitar I wanted came up and I bid $650 for it and it ended up selling for $700-something. Soon after, several more showed up on Ebay, and I won one for I think $575.
philo426philo426 wrote the following post 17 hours ago: That's why I only use Buy it Now!Get what you want and don't overspend! Add Quote to your Post
I also use "Buy it Now" Of course doing so I miss out on a chance to get some items.
Interestly I have sometimes bought an item for less than someone else got an identical item by bidding.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
eBay bid increments:
https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/automatic-bidding?id=4014
Just as in a live auction, the increment increases as the bidding price goes higher. Just the way it is. No sense having 50¢ increments on a half-million dollar Ferrari.
I've been quite satisfied with my eBay transactions. I read the seller's feedback score. Anything less than 99% and I hesitate, especially for a big-ticket item.
Regards, Ed
danno54 Not having much experience bidding I went a couple bucks over current bid. When I was notified I had won the bid a few days later I was confused with my winning bid price as it was just over that current bid. Not my bid price. I took my win and was happy.
Not having much experience bidding I went a couple bucks over current bid. When I was notified I had won the bid a few days later I was confused with my winning bid price as it was just over that current bid. Not my bid price. I took my win and was happy.
Yep Danno
I didn't realize this for years when bidding on items. You can bid your highest price you are willing to spend and just click it and forget it. If you don't have time to follow and watch, it don't matter.
The max bid on screen will always be shown. But say the max bid is at $13 when you post your max bid of $20. At the time you place the $20 bid the bid shown on screen will only increase to $14 at that time and automatically increase your bid $1 over everyone else's until your $20 is exhausted.
I didn't know for quite a while that if the bid is at $23 seconds to the end of the auction and you have a Max bid of $75 locked in, your bid will only automatically increase to $24 and you win.
Good to know if you really want to win an item.
Aurora didn't make Postage Stamp trains, they were basically rebadged, mostly Trix (Minitrix line). Right down to the track included with the sets, and their push to connect terminals. Not really any better or any worse than anything else on the market at the time. Aboutt he only thing nicer I had in N scale int he 70's were some Atlas cars - they came with metal wheels, even back then. Now they all come with plastic, go figure. It's similar to vintage HO, in that by the time of Microtains and their really nice N scale rolling stock, the old Postage Stamp cars were more or less 'old junk', just like outside of collectors, the old 50's HO so many love to wax nostalgic on are, if you want to compare detailing and all that, junk compared to modern offerings. But such things have an appeal all their own, and when they were in production, they certainly weren't junk.
Thanks for getting back to me Mel.
A spendy little addition to the Hobby. But sometimes it isn't about the money is it? The extra fun something like that can add would make it worthwhile. And it sounds like those ribbon cartridges last for quite a long time.
Track fiddler MAN! That is sweet Mel. Nice job on the decals I need to get me one of those! Seriously, something like that would be the answer to all my custom signage needs. If you don't mind me asking, what am I looking to spend on something like that these days? And can you run the thing off a notebook? TF
MAN!
That is sweet Mel. Nice job on the decals I need to get me one of those! Seriously, something like that would be the answer to all my custom signage needs. If you don't mind me asking, what am I looking to spend on something like that these days? And can you run the thing off a notebook?
TFI ended up paying $142 plus $12 shipping for my printer (6 years ago), $177 for the first printer that lasted three years.The last printer driver software available is for Windows XP and it needs a Parallel Printer port. I kept my old XP computer just for printing from my Alps.The printer I have is a MD-1000, the MD-5000 accepts the same print cartridges but I have no experience with any Alps printer other than the MD-1000. It is a great decal printer!!!The print cartridges are getting harder to find but the price has held pretty good at a bit under $20 for many years.I’ve been buying my Alps print cartridges from this outfit.https://www.mpsuppliesusa.com/White MDC-SCWH - Replaces 106050-00I haven’t bought any cartridges for about three years and just looking this morning they have increased to $30. When I buy them I stock up, I still have three white cartridges, 2 gold, 2 silver and three packs of regular color cartridges, black, magenta, yellow & cyan.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
The Alps printer can print with white ink making it great for making decals on a clear sheet.
My ebay experience has usually been of the "buy it now" sort when it was a reasonable price. However I recently won a bid on a model car piece missing from an old kit. It happened to be the exact piece I needed for that year model. Not having much experience bidding I went a couple bucks over current bid. When I was notified I had won the bid a few days later I was confused with my winning bid price as it was just over that current bid. Not my bid price. I took my win and was happy.
The above posts now explains the bidding process that occured. Thanks guys. Good to know now as I shop for factory take-off wheel and tires set for my car.
SeeYou190 Postage Stamp Trains were made by Aurora in the 1970s. When I was in N scale 1982-1995 or so, they were already considered old junk. I am not familiar with that flat car. I like it. -Kevin
Postage Stamp Trains were made by Aurora in the 1970s. When I was in N scale 1982-1995 or so, they were already considered old junk.
I am not familiar with that flat car. I like it.
Okay now I feel a little better Kevin, you shouldn't have told me you liked it though
Let's just leave it at that, I'm not going to research if I could have put 6-axel microtrain trucks on the thing and had a Rare Gem, ...Envy of every N scaler
Track fiddler I neglected to reply to you earlier Mel. I'm unfamiliar with different kinds of printers. What are you using the printer for? Does it have special features that set it apart from other printers? Just curious. TF
I neglected to reply to you earlier Mel.
I'm unfamiliar with different kinds of printers. What are you using the printer for? Does it have special features that set it apart from other printers? Just curious.
The Alps MD series will print any color including metallics. Great for making decals. I particularly like the Gold metallic, looks very close to Fire Engine Gold Leaf.And the white decals are great.It prints all colors very good.EDIT:Alps stopped manufacturing the MD series printers in the late 90s so used is the only option. They stopped support in 2004 so you are on your own for service and parts.The second printer I got the refund for has a broken carriage because the jerk shipped it with the print ribbons in the printer even thou I told him to remove them. I ended up with the defective printer so I do have a limited source of parts for my third printer. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
BRAKIE I use BIN only.. I guess I grew tired of being sniped in the last few minutes or even seconds of a auction.
I use BIN only..
I guess I grew tired of being sniped in the last few minutes or even seconds of a auction.
This is exactly what I'm talking about and can relate to.
I'm one of those people that have a hard time forgetting about something or letting things go. One of my defects of character I have to live with I guess I would be much better off entering into the BIN filter all the time but my curiosity gets the best of me.
Here's one I lost because I came to the tail end of the auction with only seconds left and did not have time to enter $20. I just kept clicking the bid button and it wasn't fast enough.
Somebody won the bid at $18. I would have gladly paid 25 as I have a thing for heavy weight depressed center flat cars and never seen one like this before.
It was a postage stamp car which is a brand I have never heard of before. Hopefully someone tells me they are junk so I can move on
Since I retired my eBay activity has changed entirely.
Now I just troll for bargains.
I find things I want that are listed at very low starting bids, put in a cheap price, and let it ride.
I only win a couple actions a month, but I really do not need anything so a bargain is fun.
This month, so far, I have only won one auction for some cast metal boxcar ends.
This is so much different than how I used eBay for the last twenty years.
dbduck I assume then that ink is still available?
I assume then that ink is still available?
DbduckActually the Alps MD series printers don’t use ink they use ribbons like the old IBM ball printers. And yes the ribbons are still available at around $20 per color.
This is my Alps MD1000.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
dbduckI assume then that ink is still available?
I see there are sources for the MD1300s, including refurb specialists and reasonable 'legacy' printer drivers that should work in emulation. I continue to find it amazing that no one has reproduced a hobby dye-sub machine in all this time.
As a basic strategy: Bid right away, but fairly low or minimum. This tracks your items of interest a different way. Then decide what your fair 'best price' is going to be and use discipline in doing so. It is easy to get caught up in the artificial competition. Bid that amount as late as you can in the auction; you will notice that most of the actual serious bidding is done by people with computer programs that do this in a sophisticated and very fast way. If you lose... it was more than you yourself chose it to be worth.
riogrande5761 I put in bids and sometimes win models for a good price. People don't always outbid you. I picked up an unpainted brass D&RGW EV caboose for $95, which was the starting price. No one outbid me. Those usually get bid up to double or triple that.
I put in bids and sometimes win models for a good price. People don't always outbid you. I picked up an unpainted brass D&RGW EV caboose for $95, which was the starting price. No one outbid me. Those usually get bid up to double or triple that.
philo426 That's why I only use Buy it Now!Get what you want and don't overspend!
That's why I only use Buy it Now!Get what you want and don't overspend!
Not necessarily. Over spending just means people bid too high to get something. I put in bids and sometimes win models for a good price. People don't always outbid you. I picked up an unpainted brass D&RGW EV caboose for $95, which was the starting price. No one outbid me. Those usually get bid up to double or triple that.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983