The TRS-80 Model 1 Original System Box

2026-10-06 | [retrocomputing] [trs80]

Happy TRS-80 Model 1 Level II 16K Day! The only day every 100 years where the current date matches the catalog number of the TRS-80 keyboard: 26-1006. Depending on which version you have, it also might have been last Thursday, or the weekend.

To celebrate, I decided to digitize the artwork from the original Model 1 box I have, since I have not seen it captured elsewhere. That way, you can make your own, or make a tiny version for which a tiny computer can go inside (this is foreshadowing).

Of course, the box does not say "Model 1" since this was the only model at that point. The box on the bottom is also apparently an original TRS-80 box ("LEVEL II" is visible in one corner) but is less interesting without the Tandy branding. I'll focus on the top one.

To do this, I took views of two of the sides (the other 2 are the same as these) and traced it out in Inkscape.

As best I could find based on some research and the helpful identification tool on https://www.whatfontis.com, these are decently close fonts:

• Crystal Radio Kit - What people use for the "Radio Shack" font. It is close enough, but seems to be a more modern version; the one on the real box is a bit thinner, and the "k" in "Shack" is slightly different.
• Sans - The closest match on my system (which is LMDE/Linux Mint) for the ®.
• FreeSans - The closest match on my system for "Custom manufactured for Radio Shack...", and the T and C in the Tandy logo. The "R" is slightly off, but you can't tell.
• Square 721 Extended - For the square-round "TRS-80", "Micro Computer System", and the contents. Spacing/kerning seems a bit different on the real box.
• Futura Condensed Bold - For the "1056" and "16K" which were obviously added to the box later on the production line as a sticker.
• The very tall and joined "II" I made manually from four rectangles.

The overall dimension of my box measures 20+1/2 x 16+7/8 x 25 inches.

The result is this:

Making the box

Scaling down the above image and printing it on a laser printer is easy enough, but I also have a laser cutter with which to cut out a box-shaped pattern that can be folded into a box.

I wrote a python program which produces gcode to be run directly on my laser cutter. A render of the gcode looks like this:

The red lines are rapid moves. You can remove them in the gcode, I only added them because they show up in the render, and I can trace out the sides of the box.

Once cut, the pattern is folded, and the tab glued into the side to form a box. Then, the top and bottom are taped, making the finished box surprisingly sturdy.