Word clock = expensive. Micro word clock = attainable.
Finished clock with letters printed on transparency film, mounted with double-stick tape, and in an acrylic case.
Back at the end of November, 2014, I saw a post on Hackaday about a word clock. However, not just any word clock, but a Micro Word Clock utilizing an 8×8 LED matrix that was 20mm square (~0.8″)! Despite the low utility of such a tiny clock, it seemed like a fun project to learn SMT soldering, and it was cheap enough given the low parts count. Also, the designer of the clock, Daniel Rojas, had good documentation and made everything available online, even putting the boards on OSH Park for super-easy ordering. I got to work buying components…
The parts
7 of the 8 components.
The video Daniel created showing off the project indicated just 8 components – I added a USB cable for power. I also created a laser-cut case.
You may have heard about a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign for a card game call Exploding Kittens. The designers are running a contest to get a pre-release copy of the game as long as you promise to playtest it in a public place, and give them feedback. They are calling it the #KittenConsul.
Vote for #KittenConsul by clicking “Like” on YouTube!
From now until March 24, please watch the video above and click LIKE (view it on YouTube to do so).
With your help we’ll get a copy and can play at the Nova Labs’ game night on Friday, April 17. All of those details can be found at www.meetup.com/NOVA-makers
As I mentioned in my last post, the second project of Composites 101 at Nova Labs was a group-build of a wine bottle holder. I didn’t really snap any photos of the build, but go past the jump for the general outline:
Back in October I attended a Composites 101 class at Nova Labs. Taught by NL member Bo (an aerospace engineer), the start of class was a short lecture about composites in general, including a show and tell of various bits and pieces he’s collected over the years (a piece of a prototype tail-rotor shaft for a large helicopter was particularly cool).
The second and third parts of class were hands-on where we got to practice working with carbon fiber sheet and epoxy resin. Everyone in class got to make a carbon fiber money clip, and then the class built a wine bottle holder where we utilized honeycomb in addition to many more sheets of carbon. That project also gave us a chance to prepare for vacuum bagging a part.
So, how did we make the money clip?
Prior to class, Bo cut several parts from lite plywood and pink foam insulation on the laser cutter. Everyone got a set of these and some nuts and bolts to hold it all together.
Stack the parts up and fasten them with the hardware.
Prepare the two sheets of carbon fiber, mainly by securing the edge with masking tape, and trimming it down to be just wide enough to hold the edges together.
A sheet of acetate (very smooth, thin, plastic sheet) is put on the table, and the mixed resin is spread in a thin layer on the acetate.
The first sheet of carbon fiber is laid onto the resin, and then more resin is added on top of it fully wetting out the carbon fiber.
Add the second sheet on top of the first, and add more resin to wet it out.
Lay the second sheet of acetate on top of your resin-infused carbon, making a goopy sandwich.
From here, we bent the whole thing into the jig, and clamped the assembly together to allow it to cure.
Due to the time constraints of the class, we didn’t get to finish the parts that day. Bo came in a few days later and cut them down on a bandsaw, and sanded the edges.
While the surface finish of mine wasn’t perfect (I had several little bubbles) I think it came out pretty well for a first attempt.
Lite plywood and pink insulation pieces before assembly.
The assembled jig for the money clip.
Jig and two sheets of carbon fiber, with masking tape holding the edges together.
Two layers of carbon fiber sandwiched between sheets of acetate, with plenty of resin.
The “macaroni” of acetate and carbon fiber inside the clamped-together jig.
We have a set of IKEA drawers in our basement with all of our wrapping paper and gift bag type stuff. On the wall above it was a pegboard that we have have hung all of the scissors, tape, etc.
My wife used hooks to hold dowels for rolls of ribbon, but they didn’t extend far enough from the pegboard (given the diameter of the rolls at least) so the hooks would often fall down when you pulled on the ribbon.
I whipped up these dowel holders in Illustrator to securely hold two 3/8″ dowels far enough from the pegboard to accommodate the ribbon.
Small tabbed feet keep the holder from falling over, and small holes were included to thread zip-ties through to attach it to the wall.
They were cut from scrap lite plywood at NovaLabs on their 100w laser cutter.
Overall, it is working great! Check out a vectored PDF here: Ribbon holder.
Maybe not quite as timeless as an Etch-a-Sketch. but I think Magna Doodles are still pretty popular. I had one as a kid, and now my kids have a Doodle Pro by Fisher-Price.
Now, while I may give this 3 stars on a product review for breaking in the first place, I have to give kudos to Fisher-Price for making this particular item SO EASY TO FIX!
Six Phillips head screws!
No adhesives or clips!
A quick bit of glue to reattach the magnet strip to the swiper, and bam, a $25 toy is kept out of a landfill.
Thanks FP!
No security bits needed, and no adhesives or clips to fuss with!The adhesive on the magnet failed and it came off the swiper arm.
This past spring we bought new wall sconces to install on the exterior of our house. Unfortunately, the one in the back didn’t sit flush against the wood siding, due in part to the mounting tabs on the electrical box in the wall.
I wanted a spacer that would put the light a little further from the mounting plate, and have a cutout for part of the electrical box that was outside of the edge of the light. I also wanted to ensure it would stay in place.
The diameter of the plate that attached to the wall was measured, along with the inside height and width of the light. Additionally, I measured the outside width and height of the light and added a little buffer – this would form the shelf that the light would actually sit on.
A small notch was left in the bottom so that any moisture that might get behind everything could drain. Another notch was left in the top to accommodate the bracket already on the wall.
After cutting everything on the laser cutter, it was assembled with some Gorilla Glue, and then painted.
Everything fit as planned, and the large gap in the top was sealed with outdoor caulk.
Pieces on the laser cutter at Nova Labs (2 second layers were made in case I really needed it to set it away from the wall).
Cut components ready for assembly.
Spacer ready for glue.
Gorilla Glue was used since it is waterproof.
Spacer fit onto the light.
On the wall and ready to go.
Light attached and before caulking.
The top edge showing the bracket that was preventing the light from sitting flush against the wall.
Caulk applied sealing the top edge and sides (before cleaning it up a bit).
Nova Labs will soon launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the new space. As part of the team preparing for it, I created several prototypes for laser-cut acrylic keychains to be offered as backer rewards at the lower levels. In not much time, I was able to make several variations on the Nova Labs logo, including engravings, cut out parts, different shapes, etc.
In the end, we decided to go with the more practical (and more durable due to fewer cutouts) version that includes an engraved ruler on the back.
These were cut out of 1/8″ acrylic, purchased from Delvie’s Plastics.
Check out the campaign, due to launch in early March, 2015!
Engraved Nova Labs logo keychain tag.Back of the keychain tag, showing a ruler with mm and imperial scales (1/8″).
Our office recently converted a small room for making phone calls (given our relatively open floor plan) into a space called “The Doc”. Here you could video-chat with a doctor or RN in lieu of going to your general practitioner for basic diagnoses.
We added frosted window film to the door for privacy, but the sliding barn-doors didn’t have a lock. A double-sided sign with some velcro tabs was created to indicate if the room was occupied or not, but it wasn’t terribly attractive.
The original sign created to indicate if the room was occupied or not.
I was inspired by the way a porta john or airplane lav has a visible ‘occupied’ indicator. Mine would be circular to match the look of the logo for the company’s wellness program, with a cutout for some fun text to say ‘come on in’ and ‘unless you want to see my rash, stay out’ (ok, not exactly those words).
As you can see from the file below, I tried to make a complicated detent to lock the indicator at each end of its travel. In practice, there was plenty of friction between the layers of material to not require this. Also, after about 2 months of being in use, part of it broke allowing the dial to rotate past ‘Privacy please’ a little bit. I eliminated this detail on the extra four I made for our other offices.
The crescent shape was glued between the solid back circle and engraved/cut top circle.
The center axle was a push pin stuck through the back and word/dial layer, which then had the plastic part cut off with a Dremel. I had laser cut tiny circles on each of those two layers so I knew everything would line up.
Art files used for The Doc privacy sign, and the 4 cut components. Zoom to see the over-engineered detent for locking the dial.The Doc privacy sign installed.Four signs for other offices made a few months after the prototype. The detent system was eliminated as there was enough friction to hold the sign steady.
For several months, I’ve been working on creating a controller board for driving a stepper motor along a single-axis. AKA, a motorized camera slider!
While the overall project is over 2 years in the works at this point (it started being driven by a Lego Mindstorms NXT), this is a quick preview of its current configuration.
