Author Topic: Project WifeXmasPresent (Read 5705 times)

Dal1980 · « **on:** December 19, 2015, 08:20:30 pm »

Not sure if this is actually the right section on the forum to post this. (Mod?)

This is kind of a last minute thought but I started with seeing an add on Facebook (gumtree style group) and someone had posted this image:

The boss.. I mean the wife wants a CD player for the dinning room so she can use it for her music as she says the dvd system I grouped together is too complicated for her to just shove on. We were going to buy it new but after seeing this I thought I'd break into my first project and make one myself using odds and ends I had left over from... Well life I guess.

It'll be a surprise for Christmas for her if I manage to get it finished in time but she has no idea I've even bought this but she does know whatever I'm working on in the garage is for her.

I've made a start and stopped the guts out of it and started sanding it down (I'll be painting it).

I originally wanted to put my old car radio in there but it runs CDs off a changer which won't fit in the box. My other option is to put pc CD-ROM and have it pop the tray vertically but wondered if:

Vertical loading of cd Roms would work these days (used to be an option)

Anyone had any suggestions or thoughts on how I turn this into a CD player (not done this before) I've bought a power switcher (12v 15a) box which will sit comfortably inside this steeple tone casing and there is already 2 speakers that came with it which I'll be putting back in so there should be room for a cd rom or a car radio at a squeeze but I seem limited on where to load the cd unless I cut new holes on the side or add new cuts to the front which would perhaps spoil the look of it.

Thoughts?

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Slippyblade · « **Reply #1 on:** December 19, 2015, 08:27:11 pm »

Cool project, hope you can get it done before Christmas... Is it bad form to gift to spouses on Boxing Day?

Dal1980 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 19, 2015, 08:47:03 pm »

Lol

Wouldn't have thought so but the rule of thumb is that I'm always wrong when it comes to the wife so by this logic it would be a terrible thing to gift her on Boxing Day :/

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #3 on:** December 19, 2015, 09:00:21 pm »

That's the sanding done for tonight.

Got my primer ready for tomorrow but got to build me a spray booth

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RetroArcadePro · « **Reply #4 on:** December 19, 2015, 09:31:25 pm »

You should decase a drive and stick it in the top. that way you just open it and put the disc on the spindle.

Slippyblade · « **Reply #5 on:** December 19, 2015, 09:34:27 pm »

Quote from: RetroArcadePro on December 19, 2015, 09:31:25 pm

You should decase a drive and stick it in the top. that way you just open it and put the disc on the spindle.

That's a great idea. Easy to implement too!

PL1 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 19, 2015, 10:20:00 pm »

Quote from: RetroArcadePro on December 19, 2015, 09:31:25 pm

You should decase a drive and stick it in the top. that way you just open it and put the disc on the spindle.

If decasing isn't an option, you might consider a parallelogram lift mechanism.

Picture a mechanism like two of these, one on each side of the drive, with a link to the lid and the drive in place of the protractor part.

When the lid is opened, the link pulls the top of the parallelogram up and back far enough that the loading tray clears the front.

Scott

yotsuya · « **Reply #7 on:** December 19, 2015, 10:49:24 pm »

Nice build so far. Keeping my eye on it.

I considered using an old car stereo for a project, but it needed constant power to remember some of the settings, so it wasn't feasible.

RetroArcadePro · « **Reply #8 on:** December 19, 2015, 11:15:59 pm »

Quote from: PL1 on December 19, 2015, 10:20:00 pm

Quote from: RetroArcadePro on December 19, 2015, 09:31:25 pm
You should decase a drive and stick it in the top. that way you just open it and put the disc on the spindle.
If decasing isn't an option, you might consider a parallelogram lift mechanism.

Picture a mechanism like two of these, one on each side of the drive, with a link to the lid and the drive in place of the protractor part.

When the lid is opened, the link pulls the top of the parallelogram up and back far enough that the loading tray clears the front.

Scott

That would be cool. Probably wouldn't finish it by Xmas though. Maybe something of a thought afterwards though.

Dal1980 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 20, 2015, 09:48:12 am »

Great ideas. Thanks for the input.

The decasing idea sounded very feasible until you wonder what a unprotected laser can do to your eyes lol then I had some slight issues with needing to supply both rails of 12v and 5v which requires a reducer from what I've read. I don't think I'll get the part in time for xmas and then there's the issue of not having any controls on my cd rom device either :/

I then looked at raspberry Pi which initially sounded good but there is practically no one using an internal cd Rom drive as the rasp Pi can't put out the required power, then there's the setup which would just be too finicky and it's supposed to work as a simple CD player and not require a phone setup on wifi with an app to control (or a keyboard and screen to correct it when it doesn't load).

Then I thought of just using a cd Walkman but on of these would really kill the feel of the whole thing plus they aren't really that cheap.

I found an amazing MP3 module on dx.com but this won't get here before Christmas (may put this in at a later date) but it doesn't come with any cd reading hardware.

Back to the car radio I think but I'm going to need to find a different type as the one I have doesn't load cd's and the ten disc changer is a nice feature but it kind of kills the concept of having this unit if I have to have the other seperate (then there's the problem of where to hide the disc changer)

So I've gone and bought a second hand car CD player.

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 20, 2015, 04:28:32 pm »

Wow them spray cans are extremely strong! Couldn't stand it for too long in my tent!

So got the stuff hung up after spending a good 3 or 4 hours setting up the temp spray booth.

I'm not very experienced at all with spray painting but I've been quite spare with undercoat as I don't want runs!

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Slippyblade · « **Reply #11 on:** December 20, 2015, 04:36:45 pm »

Quote from: Dal1980 on December 20, 2015, 09:48:12 am

The decasing idea sounded very feasible until you wonder what a unprotected laser can do to your eyes...

Then I thought of just using a cd Walkman but on of these would really kill the feel of the whole thing plus they aren't really that cheap.

I'm a little confused here. How is a de-cased drive under a lid a laser danger? The laser is only active when the drive is spinning. I would hope your wife is smart enough not to jam the mechanism and stare straight down the laser. A portable CD player is no different.

Dal1980 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 21, 2015, 03:49:59 pm »

Hi Slippyblade, maybe it was an urban myth that I read years ago. None-the-less my other issues with it were valid. I managed to get a decent car radio in a matter of hours from gum tree anyway and I already had the power unit arriving today that would power this thing so jobs a good-en

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 22, 2015, 03:26:17 am »

Got the radio working late last night (now I'm knackered for work ugh lol)

I need LEDs and resistors after looking and realising that my box of tricks is running very low on these and i don't think I have resistors to do the job for red led's

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cush · « **Reply #14 on:** December 22, 2015, 06:10:40 am »

Nice looking unit, love the older stuff. Could you not have used a laptop drive maybe an external one even as they are nice and skinny.
Probably too late in the day to change now I suppose, good luck with it I hope she likes it.

Dal1980 · « **Reply #15 on:** December 22, 2015, 08:34:20 pm »

Yeah laptop drive would have worked quite nice but I would have probably needed an amp and there is still the problem with controlling the playing.

I've just sprayed another coat of undercoat so nothing really to show tonight. Im off work now so going to Maplins to pick LEDs and resistors tomorrow yay! Oh and I've had a good idea for the front looking glass which I've sketched out at work on my break. It's going to be a 3 layered image with a yellow (or orange maybe) LED that just shows the glow coming from behind a mountain range like a sunset. I'll post the design when I've moved it from sketch to design.

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #16 on:** December 22, 2015, 08:55:14 pm »

Don't know if this shows what I'm trying to describe any better?

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #17 on:** December 23, 2015, 04:00:56 pm »

So managed to cut out and fit a faceplate backing so that the radio has a nice home. This will be hidden from view once the lid goes back on and will be accessible with a push down on the mechanism.

And this is the underbelly of the best. You can see that there isn't a great deal of space in here which is the reason why I've had to have the radio near the front rather than just centralised. This has actually worked out ok as I may upgrade the device in future to also contain an MP3 (USB) module and maybe connect it via the radio's aux input.

I've gone with the plastic brackets as I originally thought that wood blocks may be a little too bulky and these have worked out quite nice.

Next job:

Setup the LED circuits
Graphic for glass pot at front
Build scene and setup lights
Couple more coats of primer
Final coats of colour
Cross fingers that the wife like it and I've managed to finish it for xmas day

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #18 on:** December 23, 2015, 07:27:01 pm »

Just a quick update

Not the best type of board to be drilling but it's worked. I've decided not to drill the top left symbol as there is enough holes and I think it'll start falling apart lol

Rear connections added but still need to solder everything up (or at least tin my ends and use chocolate blocks)

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #19 on:** December 23, 2015, 10:08:05 pm »

Soldered the connections and set the blocks

I'm setting this up so that my LED circuit is always on and the back switch turns off the car radio only. This way the thing becomes an ornamental lamp when not in use. I'll run the complete off via the mains switch.

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #20 on:** December 23, 2015, 11:48:59 pm »

Design concept for front glass.

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #21 on:** December 24, 2015, 07:44:50 am »

Hmm the brass surround on closer inspection isn't brass at all! Guess I won't be needing my Brasso after all

This may work out better as the the surround being brass was always a concern as the knobs where going to be silver painted (she likes chrome and not a fan of brass) so it's now in the garage with some primer drying on it

Meanwhile, the mock-up of the design looks quite nice although the printer isn't matching the screen CMYK colour profiles :/ don't have time to be messing about too much so I think I'll stick with this maybe

In my haste I've gone and added some runs to the last coat of primer :/ I need to lightly rub them out before continuing. The clock is ticking, Christmas is on hold until this is complete lol

Of to the DIY store for a glue gun to finish the job of making the looking glass scene.

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #22 on:** December 24, 2015, 03:12:48 pm »

So prayed first coat of colour about 5 hours ago hoping to get a second. I've read the can and it seems that there is a 48hr drying time! Oops

Guess this isn't going to be ready for Christmas Day after all.

The other issue is that the paint is supposed to be touch dry in 30-50min but it still feels tacky after 5 hours?

I'm not one for ready reviews but after my previous experience of another can for a different job which was supposed to be quick drying and it ended up feeling tacky after the 3 hours complete drying time. I thought it was either the plastic or the way I sprayed it. This time the same make (different colour) and I've got the same issue. I just noticed that they are the same company.

Anyone got any good experience of Valspar spray cans?

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #23 on:** December 24, 2015, 05:37:53 pm »

Meanwhile in another room...

I've managed to create the scene out of printed parts stuck into black card and lay everything out.

Now the LED test...

Hmm not exactly bright :/ could this be down to me using just 6v I wonder? It'll be plugged into a 13.8v system so hopefully it picks up the slack. If not I'll have to think about changing it out for a brighter LED

Looks good in the dark though lol

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #24 on:** December 27, 2015, 08:05:46 pm »

Back to it...

I threw the whole thing together on Christmas Eve (stayed up until 6am on Christmas morning trying to get it all back together to at least present it to the wife as a working system).

She loves it! Great but there is still a ton of work to do and so I stripped it back down again today.

We've been to the local diy store for a different colour paint... It's like the gift that keeps on costing me lol

The last time I tried to upload images the app crashed so wanted to write this update before trying again with the images.

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #25 on:** December 27, 2015, 08:08:25 pm »

So that's the knobs on the front secured (they are now just for show)

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drventure · « **Reply #26 on:** December 27, 2015, 11:56:00 pm »

Nice.I love repurposing projects like this!

Dal1980 · « **Reply #27 on:** December 29, 2015, 06:40:42 am »

So I've sorted out the LED circuit last night and used some more metal brackets to keep everything together (glue, lots of glue)

FYI: I'm normally of the class of using a screw over any other method (i.e. nail or glue) but this project has required me to keep things as lightweight as possible due to the space restrictions. As annoying as it is to use glue for some of these 'fixes' I'm finding it the best solution especially since there is a lot of cardboard involved.

Obviously this only applied to the scene area at front. I'd put tools down right now if even the thought of gluing the speakers in place lol

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #28 on:** December 29, 2015, 05:02:12 pm »

Today has been about getting this fitted up and back together for one last dry run so to speak and make sure I've got all the little jobs I've been putting off done like making screw holes for the PSU so it can't go falling about inside.

Can't remember if I mentioned that I didn't like the red LED's on the front so I've swapped the 4 red LED's for 2 bright blue ones instead. Think it looks a lot cleaner. The mountains inside still need to be supported better but you get the idea. Ah neatly forgot, I also added an orange led next to the yellow to try and give a bit more of a realistic sunset colour scene. Orange seems pretty weak though hmmm

One thing I've not checked at all through this project was the slip hinge runner thingy (that's its full technical name but "thingy" is what I like to call it here for short) that fits on the lid and stops the lid from falling all the way back.

And so to keep things interesting, I forgot the check the "thingy" again this time... I'm sure it will be fine.

After the Mrs changed her colour choice I've started the first colour coats so no more Grey undercoat (although this does look a nice colour)

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #29 on:** December 29, 2015, 05:05:57 pm »

My thumb looks pretty too

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Slippyblade · « **Reply #30 on:** December 29, 2015, 06:36:05 pm »

That mountain range medallion thing came out looking pretty cool.

Dal1980 · « **Reply #31 on:** December 31, 2015, 09:49:09 am »

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Dal1980 · « **Reply #32 on:** January 02, 2016, 02:47:12 pm »

Finished

Full project blog can be found here

http://www.retro.zombiesbyte.com/projects/steepletone

Dal1980 · « **Reply #33 on:** January 02, 2016, 07:00:10 pm »

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yotsuya · « **Reply #34 on:** January 02, 2016, 11:43:19 pm »

I like it, brother. I would have gone with a natural wood color, but I understand the wife picked it.

Dal1980 · « **Reply #35 on:** January 03, 2016, 10:49:32 am »

Thanks yotsuya, the dining room had too much wood in there anyway it would have probably got lost.

It's not everyday you get to paint something like this a colour like that, I'm actually quite pleased she changed it from the pink (the DIY store doesn't have a great range).

I've learnt a lot from this project although it feels like I've used up a lot of energy (mostly on worry) lol

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yotsuya · « **Reply #36 on:** January 03, 2016, 12:27:16 pm »

Yeah, don't get me wrong, I think it looks really nice. Good for you!


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