Author Topic: My Black Acrylic case  (Read 23829 times)

Altitude

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My Black Acrylic case
« on: August 25, 2012, 09:39:58 PM »
If its not obvious, this only works with an OLED




Xavier

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2012, 11:20:35 PM »
 :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
WWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW !!!!!

That's beautifull !
Congratulations, i'm speachless.
Not really totally speachless, i have several questions ;-)

Could you add a picture with the OLED screen swithed on ?

Did you paint yourself the letter in green ?
Where did you find the screws ?
What knobs are they ?
Did you glue the wooden part ?
Did you solder the screen to be able to put it under the case ?

Congrats again for this amazing case....

Xavier
« Last Edit: August 25, 2012, 11:26:46 PM by Xavier »

Altitude

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2012, 02:10:35 PM »
OLED on:



>Did you paint yourself the letter in green ?

Yes.  I use common "model airplane" type enamel paint.  Its cheap and the colors are limitless.  They also come in gloss, matte, satin, whatever you want..

The procedure to apply it has a few steps:

1. slop it on with the paper still on the laser cut part
2. let dry for at least several hours, remove paper
3. wipe with paint thinner to clean up the edges
4. wipe paint thinner off with isopropanol (very important, thinner with paint will stay on the panel otherwise. Alcohol will clean that off without attacking the paint)

>Where did you find the screws ?

In the US we have this glorious place called McMaster-Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/#socket-head-cap-screws/=j0kknt) that has all sorts of fasteners. Those are "button head socket screws" in a black oxide finish.  I used M3 ones for the PCB and M2.5 for the sides.  There is a saying about that place, if they dont stock it, its not worth using :)

>What knobs are they ?

Those are the Kilo knobs (http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?WT.z_header=search_go&lang=en&keywords=226-1092-ND&x=16&y=6&cur=USD).  Not exactly the cheapest knobs but they have some attributes that I REALLY like:

1: 6mm shaft.  Most aluminum knobs here are made for 1/4" shafts.  This seriously limits the number of pots and encoders that work out of the box.  I've been overcoming this by making bushings to make up the difference out of 1/4" brass tube stock reamed out to 6mm but that is labor intensive and the metal cutting lathe is a drive away.  These knobs fit nice and snug on standard 6mm D shafts.

2: Painted pointers: They only make these with pointers but they are silk screened on instead of machined in (like Eagle knobs) so they can be removed for endless encoders.  I use MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone) with an ultrasonic cleaner to dissolve it.  Acetone works also but takes a bit more work (soak for an hour, rub off by hand)

>Did you glue the wooden part ?

2 part 5 min epoxy.  I let it thicken, adjust the alignment, and then stick in a press (i.e. a bunch of weight on top) to make sure it does not warp when it final cures

>Did you solder the screen to be able to put it under the case ?

Yes, the easy way to get this right is to attach the front panel with the LCD on the headers and flip it around so the display lays on the front panel naturally and then solder into place.


Xavier

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2012, 03:28:47 PM »

Thanks a lot for the tips....

I'll think about a way to be able to have a single front panel like yours without having to solder the LCD.
I'll try with low height 16 pins headers...


Altitude

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2012, 05:22:54 PM »
the OLED gives you some wiggle room but I dont thing there will be enough even with low profile headers

funkyfli

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #5 on: August 26, 2012, 06:27:42 PM »
Really nice.  I do like the look of those knobs.
On my Polivoks Shruthi, I used a low profile header and put the pin strip through the top and soldered them underneath; allowing the lcd board to get very close to the socket.  With the common pots / encoders I installed, the top of the lcd board lines up approximately with the top of the pot / encoder base.  Only the lighting panel of the lcd sticks out above that.  For the pot / encoder length, you need to account for just the lighting panel height as well as the enclosure.  It works really well and I am planning on doing the same thing with my preenfm, but I have to wait for my next mouser order to get a header.

Xavier

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2012, 08:50:46 PM »

It would be OK to have only the LCD PCB under the case.... the screen as well as the black border would be upper.
Like it is today but with a single top surface part.
Not perfect, but i'd like to keep the "no LCD solder" solution.

Do you have any link to low profile header ?
I found this one :
http://www.technobotsonline.com/turned-pin-sil-pcb-header-20-way.html
And the female :
http://www.technobotsonline.com/turned-pin-sil-pcb-socket-20-way.html

Do you have better or cheaper solution ?

Xavier

6581punk

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2012, 08:53:56 PM »
As a "no solder" solution you can put a right angle pin header on the display, run a ribbon cable under the PCB and connect to a pin header there?

Xavier

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2012, 09:09:46 PM »
As a "no solder" solution you can put a right angle pin header on the display, run a ribbon cable under the PCB and connect to a pin header there?

I didn't think of this solution... thanks for the suggestion.

funkyfli

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2012, 09:24:00 PM »

Altitude

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2012, 09:48:02 PM »
^
Nice.  I can think of all sorts of uses for those..

6581punk

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #11 on: August 27, 2012, 10:05:41 PM »
Cut up IC sockets might work as well :)
« Last Edit: August 27, 2012, 10:07:19 PM by 6581punk »

Altitude

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #12 on: August 27, 2012, 10:22:26 PM »
Cut up IC sockets might work as well :)

I've done that for a couple of things and its marginal at best.  The mill max ones are round and the "pinch" style ones work a bit better but you really have to force in those square header posts.  I'll definitely try those mentioned above though.  I should check and see if Samtec has low profile ones at Digikey, I've been using those for the Ambika and Shruthi stuff and they are tops

jojjelito

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #13 on: October 16, 2012, 07:56:04 PM »
Nice work! Better check the dimensions of the OLED aperture as I'm going down that route myself. How much taller did you make the sides to make it all fit?

Going to see if I can't somewhat copy this...

/Johan

Altitude

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Re: My Black Acrylic case
« Reply #14 on: November 25, 2012, 02:45:42 AM »
I've been neglecting this forum :(

For reference purposes:

The OLED is thin enough that it needs no modification to the case if one is inclined to go the route I took, 10mm is plenty.

From my experience 11mm is the ideal height for spacers if you want to fit an LCD between a PCB and front panel without it poking out.  This allows you to use either the "x0x" style switch caps or the Shruthi style ones.  OLEDs and some LED displays will fit right off the bat but most displays will fit as well with some modifications (the tabs that hold the metal frame need to be bent inwards instead of perpendicular).  This works for all Newhaven (my preferred display) parts that come in all sorts of colors