Thought I'd share

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Nicholas Stock

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May 7, 2016, 7:46:22 PM5/7/16
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Just finished putting together a clock and thought I'd share...it turned out pretty nice. Shout out to Michael Barile who's inspired me to step up the case game...:-). Case is made of black anodised aluminum with an illuminated acrylic sandwich. Dalibor's tubes are simply stunning....

Cheers,

Nick

IMG_0782.JPG
IMG_0784.JPG

Jeff Walton

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May 7, 2016, 9:10:28 PM5/7/16
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Nick,

What a gorgeous job! Those tubes look really great! It looks like one of the PV clocks with some extra circuitry beneath the main board. Are you monitoring the HV and other functions with the three digit display?

Jeff
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Nicholas Stock

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May 7, 2016, 9:22:00 PM5/7/16
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Hi Jeff! Yep, it's a PV Spectrum board. Pete put two extra RGB points on the board so I buried two LED's in the acrylic layer. The little voltmeter measures the HV as you guessed and the two buttons are the HV defeat and LED defeat.

Nick

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Nicholas Stock

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May 7, 2016, 10:50:11 PM5/7/16
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Here's another with Z568's...case top is a different height to accommodate...

image1.JPG

jb-electronics

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May 7, 2016, 11:41:08 PM5/7/16
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This looks absolutely amazing. Hats off to both you and Dalibor! Now all we need from Dalibor is actual colon ":" tubes for clocks.

Everytime I see one of Dalibor's tubes, I am still amazed that they are hand made. They are perfect!

Cheers
Jens


On 5/7/2016 10:49 PM, Nicholas Stock wrote:
Here's another with Z568's...case top is a different height to accommodate...




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On May 7, 2016, at 18:10, Jeff Walton <jwalt...@gmail.com>
 wrote:

Nick,

What a gorgeous job!  Those tubes look really great!  It looks like one of the PV clocks with some extra circuitry beneath the main board.  Are you monitoring the HV and other functions with the three digit display?

Jeff 

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From: neoni...@googlegroups.com [mailto:neoni...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Nicholas Stock
Sent: Saturday, May 07, 2016 6:46 PM
To: neoni...@googlegroups.com

Nick

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May 8, 2016, 3:45:33 AM5/8/16
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Very sweet - "cool" design - like it a lot !

I hope you have those clocks mentioned on your insurance - some of mine are - when you add up the cost of those tubes etc., it gets a bit scary...

Cheers

Nick

Nicholas Stock

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May 8, 2016, 1:16:12 PM5/8/16
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Thanks Nick. You are most certainly right, when you mentally add up all the 'value' in the tubes etc it adds up pretty fast! Alas, these two clocks were commissioned by someone, but I did make myself a couple too...:-)

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Dalibor

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May 9, 2016, 5:10:53 AM5/9/16
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Really nice build, thanks for sharing the photos!

Dne neděle 8. května 2016 1:46:22 UTC+2 Pramanicin napsal(a):

Paolo Cravero

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May 9, 2016, 1:11:15 PM5/9/16
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Really nice.

I think most people here know how to tackle the electronics needed to build something Nixie-based, but I for one lack a lot of knowledge in building an eye catching case.

Would you (plural) share some words of wisdom on case forging for tube based clocks? Materials, cutting, sticking together, ...

Paolo

PS: nevertheless, whatever simple the (clock) case will be, a Nixie tube alone is a great conversation starter!

gregebert

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May 9, 2016, 3:43:11 PM5/9/16
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I spend as much time designing & building the case as I do designing, building, and debugging the electronics. Remember, you're NOT just making a clock; it's a work of art.

I won't debate using wood vs metal, glass, plastic, 3D print, etc. Challenge yourself by trying unfamiliar materials, but dont make something too difficult for your skill level. Instead, do that next time because you will be better prepared.

The biggest mistake you can make is trying to build the case before the PC board is fully assembled and everything is fully functional; I still get myself into trouble with that.

Jonathan F.

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May 9, 2016, 5:04:07 PM5/9/16
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Very nice clock and brilliant case Thinking about buildinh a 4 digit clock with these tubes, since i got one of these tubes last week. Beautiful piece.


About making Cases: I made a few cases, mostly for non-nixie project but that doesen't matter really

Wooden Material is usually very budget and can be shaped with basic tools. But it needs to be thick enough, and tolerances are not that great.

PMMA/Acrylic/Plexiglass is not easy to shape by home tools. A cutting service is mostly the only choice, it looks great, can be made thin and precise, but is also very easy to scratch or crack. And personally, sometimes i think it just don't look good with nixies.

Metal is often very expensive, even more if it has a finish. While aluminium can be shaped with home tools, for steel a cutting service is needed (for alu better too). Metal cases with finishes look very nice and clean. Sometimes its hard do make correct drawings for production.

Of course, there are a few cases out there that combine all those materials. But for me, it always was about the feeling of the look of the case. Build what you like, even if it costs a little more. Still better than build/buy a case you don't like and never look at it...

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