Sunday, May 17, 2020

A Small Project

     I have had an inexpensive kit-built code-practice oscillator for years, built into the hard-plastic box it was sold in.  The plastic was pretty brittle and the little widget had gotten knocked around over the years.  It needed a new case.

     So I gave it one.  That's just a tea tin, with some added spray paint, a perforated metal backing to the thin metal on the (former bottom) front panel, labelled with home-made decals on laser-printable water-slide decal material.
(I have blanked out the rest of my callsign.)
     The slowest part was waiting for the paint and lacquer to dry.

     It was a fun little project and a chance to see how the printable decal material works.  It's nice stuff!
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11 comments:

  1. RandyGCMay 17, 2020 at 5:19 PM

    Very Nice!

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  2. B May 17, 2020 at 5:20 PM

    Nice!

    Clean holes, how did you punch 'em?

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  3. JayNolaMay 17, 2020 at 10:50 PM

    That's super cool and a lovely little tea tin.

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  4. John in PhillyMay 18, 2020 at 7:30 AM

    That turned out really nice.

    I will have to check out the paper you mentioned.

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  5. JohnMXLMay 18, 2020 at 10:04 PM

    "kmcoed"?

    Typo, or like 'disamorced' in "Single Combat" - a catchy word from a favorite story?

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  6. Roberta XMay 18, 2020 at 11:15 PM

    "Disamorced" is way earlier than the Dean Ing novel. He probably got it from H. Beam Piper's 1957 short story, "Omnilingual."

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  7. New Jovian ThunderboltMay 19, 2020 at 11:27 AM

    How did you cut the hole in this sheet metal so neatly? How did you attach the 'screen' behind the hole?

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  8. Roberta XMay 19, 2020 at 4:39 PM

    Small holes can be made with a tapered awl. Larger holes require careful reaming -- and the speaker hole was done with a screw-drive punch, similar to the Greenlee chassis punches. At that, the edge is a little bent, but careful pressure with a demurring tool minimized it. It is tricky stuff to work with.

    The screen attachment is nothing special -- the painted screws on each side of the speaker opening hold it in place (under the nuts are also long solder lugs that I bent down to hold the speaker). So does the switch, LED and key jack, since the perforated metal is roughly the same size as the panel. But the screws were first, and from there I could mark and ream the three larger holes. The thicker metal gives the panel a nice, solid feel.

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  9. New Jovian ThunderboltMay 19, 2020 at 5:04 PM

    Chassis punches... never used them before. Thanks for the tip.

    Demurring tool. Gotta remember that term, too...

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  10. Roberta XMay 19, 2020 at 6:52 PM

    The Mac autocorrect got me again! "Deburring tool!" Shaviv made the first ones of the kind I like, or at the first ones I ever saw like them -- big handle, small blade with a slight hook and free to pivot in the handle. Here's one example:https://www.homedepot.com/p/SHAVIV-Classic-B-Deburring-Set-4-Piece-29065/309470914?mtc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA&cm_mmc=Shopping-B-F_D25T-G-D25T-25_1_HAND_TOOLS-Multi-NA-Feed-PLA-NA-NA-HandTools_PLA-71700000034127224-58700003933021546-92700049573927173&gclid=CjwKCAjwh472BRAGEiwAvHVfGs9Ya3r0v4fGP00E9tDMQpy1vXHyvqJU596Na1oPjyBtOX0kmu8rfBoCXWgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

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  11. New Jovian ThunderboltMay 20, 2020 at 12:26 PM

    But I DO hesitate to use that tool! It's a great accidental Rx-ism

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