Make:NYC Badge Contest entry from an old GameBoy printer

Hello all, heres my second shot at an Instructable.. be kind..

So the local Make:NYC meeting had had a badge contest for its second meeting.. (link here), the gist of the competition is to make a wearable nametag/badge of some sort, of some materials, that could be reasonably accepted as a "badge"..

this Instructable is how I built mine for the contest.. pretty much everything that went into the badge was something I had around my workshop from previous projects, and obviously the design can be pushed to do more interesting things.

but I'll leave that up to you.

video

Step 1: Get ahold of a gameboy printer and some paper!

So while i had a printer sitting around in my junk toy box from a failed project a couple years ago, you probably don't you'll need to get one of these from ebay, chances are you can find one for about 10-15 bucks..

the real trick is getting the paper, while you can also find this on ebay, your looking for something that has never been opened, hasnt been exposed to light ect... as it turns out the fancy thermal printing paper the gameboy uses doesnt survive well with time.. and some colors of paper seem to last better then others, but almost every roll will give you *something*.

Comments

[TechDante]

found my old printer the other day, but lost my camera, but this gives it a chance to shine again may i ask why you did not try and fit it back into the printer case

[user128]

I found an old GB printer at a yard sale but it only had a few inches of paper. I of course checked ebay and at the time packs were selling for way too much. So, after a little experimentation I found out that regular old thermal paper will work. Just go to any office supply store and pick out a standard role for adding machines. The hard part is that you will have to shave off about a 1/4 inch, depending on width (a blade style paper cutter works well for this). While it won't have the adhesive backing, it will print and you'll have saved a couple bucks.

[computerwiz_222]

i work in an electronics store (they carry EVERYTHING!) and we use thermal paper in our debit machine. Whenever I buy something from a name brand type store (best buy, future shop etc.) I get a thermal paper receipt. If you can find any thermal paper, if it is too wide just take a really sharp knife and cut the entire roll down to the right width...

[phar]

its also probably worth mentioning that i found you can buy thermal printers and paper from mouser electronics... though most of the printers i saw have their own chargen rom, it should make thing easier to someone who wanted to whip up something like this.

[leevonk]

awesome, I didn't even know make nyc existed (I guess they just started anyway), I'll show up for the next meeting

[ironsmiter]

ok, I must decry the destruction of functional, antique computer hardware... But at the same time, OMFG! on-the spot Businesscard printing, and a nametag noone will EVER forget! You can sometimes still find that "fancy thermal printing paper" in the right sizes, at office supply stores. cash register machines, credit card recipt printers, and adding machines still use them sometimes. Might consider adding an H-shaped piece of plexi to the top? to help hold your printed tag in place. you can always tear off your first tag, after printing the second, thus avoiding having to "rethread" the paper under the plexi. ?

[Darkshot]

so basicly..its a badge that prints?

[phar]

yep, it prints onto sticky badge paper, that itself could be the whole name tag... im not sure why but i get a big kick out of the absurdity.

[Darkshot]

very cool then :)

[fungus amungus]

Nice! A buddy of mine was at MAKE: NYC and told me about your badge printer. Thanks for posting it here.

[badrang4]

um, you lost me on printer........

[whatsisface]

Wow, I have been waiting for a while now for some kind of hack involving the gameboy printer to come along, mine's been sat in a drawer with 4 spare rolls of paper for 3 years ;-)