Steepletone Codename: Louby Tunes (non arcade)

[Dal1980]

Hi Guys

I noticed some ppl tag line (non arcade) for non arcade projects so thought I'd include the tag this time as I didn't on my last post that was (non arcade related)

Anyway onwards

The Steepletone project Louby Tunes (my wife's nickname is Louby-Lou) and this is after all a gift for her (I just have the fun-stration of making it)

Rough idea stage at the moment but I have ran out and got parts (by ran out I mean opened a tab and googled), I have servants that bring me my presents... ok, I mean I get it delivered  )

I originally pictured a full plate of glass with a touch screen behind but alas I've since learnt that glass doesn't allow for the capacitive screen to sense touch unless it is of a certain material and ultra thin. I know I can get these glass panels that have sensors built into them but I didn't want to get too technical and wanted to use what I had... plans keep changing so watch this space.

I want to run this from a Raspi 3 and have a 5" WaveShare touch screen. The glass plate idea can still be used but I need to get my glazier (is that the right spelling) to cut out the hole for the screen to pop through as well as holes for USB etc. I was going to go with a smoked/tinted glass and just spray paint the back to block light. I would mask off the logo and shine light through to produce something like a Star Trek TNG type of panel effect and something like the Tron panels I often see on here by awesome people with more skill than me 

The plans going a bit pear shaped with various issues (most of them I've created for myself)

The Raspi 3 pie with touch screen seems to have issues with Kodi (white washed screen)

The dabs USB plan hasn't worked out as it seems from advice from some nice people on this forum, it has a very limited support under Linux for decoding and is quite complicated to do. Since I can't even get my Dabs USB to work under windows I've knocked it on the head. I will use internet radio (which was suggested on here)

The box, for some reason I had it in my stupid thick head that it was larger. I began visualising all the stuff that would go into this container but when I measured out everything there is nearly not enough space and the speakers I've bought wont fit at all. Luckily I have already got smaller ones and these are better quality anyway so going with them instead.

Anyway on to the visual stuff since who wants to read too much, pictures speak a thousand words...

The boxes I bought from eBay (Very Cheap!)


The amp and IEC switch I bought from arcadeworlduk.com



Kodi (looks good but doesn't work (white screen issue every time I press a button) Takes 73 seconds to update the screen. I've had someone suggest this is a VSync issue but not sure how to fix (other forums don't really help but not done any serious investigation other than trying numerous installs of different images. Raspbian image that came with WaveShare and RetroPie (latest 4.2?)


Various Sketchup workings:









Dal 

[Dal1980]

So many problems with my WaveShare touch screen. Been through a load of different Linux installs trying different ways to get screen working. After spending nearly 4 days doing this I've given up hope on this screen.

I've spotted a YouTube vid at using the official Raspberry Pi screen so may be looking at getting one of those... maybe (didn't like the price tag too much though). 

Also heard back from another source for CNC'ing them letters for the front logo. Seemed astonishingly high priced ($125 AD + shipping + tax & duty to get it to the UK). I'm now thinking of wood CNC with chrome paint (I need to do more research into this paint but looking at it quickly it looks like it isn't just 'silver' paint).

I've ended up owning 3 laptops from an auction. I was only after one  Anyway... I could look into converting one of these as the front-end system but that will mean a new box and new design. Not to worry, I got plenty of digital paper left in Sketchup

I'm still waiting on parts so until I get them I don't really know how I'm going to proceed with all this anyway. (expecting parts early Feb).

[DaOld Man]

Dont give up man. i like this project.
I have thought about making a photobooth project using the rpi3 and a 15" ELO touchscreen. Havent made it past the thinking about it stage yet.

Do you see any problems with heat? Looks like a lot of heat producers in a small package. Plan on using any fans?

[Superfrog]

Nice project 

For the ventilation I would make almost on top , and around the case, a thin line Just like the Microsoft Surface 4 

[Dal1980]

Thanks for the feedback guys (I've been on the forums quite regular checking other peoples projects, hadn't been alerted to any new posts otherwise I would have come back sooner) 

This project is still progressing. I'm finding a lot of the time is just waiting for either people to get back to me (suppliers) or actually waiting for delivery 

So ventilation... yeah, sure, I thought of thought of that....  ... OK I hadn't 

It may be better now with the problems I've had. The original box was clearly tight and I hadn't accounted for a couple of connections on the Pi that rendered the box simply an impossible project. So, went back to the supplier and got a bigger box 

The other issue I had with the WaveShare touch screen and Kodi was simply solved by throwing more money at it... it's only money right  , not to worry, the spare touchscreen can be used for another non-kodi project I guess.

So ventilation is important and you'd be a tool to miss that..
Dal1980 <- 

I'm not too keen on the idea of top ventilation as I want to secure the glass firmly against an edge and with my lvl of expertise I want to avoid complications in design. The sides may provide a possible area for ventilation but I think I may prefer the base. This box should really have feet of some kind anyway. I could rig up a fan or two to help circulate airflow now that there is a little bit of space available.

I appreciate the feedback! Thank you.

[Dal1980]

Here's the old box inside the new box to give an idea of increased size (it's a little shallower now but that's fine)






Renders (checkered board illustrates touchscreen region)






Parts (so far)






 

[Dal1980]

Just a thought.

If I use a 120mm PC fan fixed to the base. I won't need to make a similar sized intake elsewhere. I'm using what I would call a 'lazy' in-take (I meshed hole without a fan). There are probably small gaps around the whole box that would allow a certain degree of air to be sucked in. I wouldn't do this particularly with a PC case but since there are no moving parts inside the box I won't run the risk of choking anything other than the fan on the bottom that will exhaust air. Yes ideally the fan would be fitted above with the whole philosophy of hot air rising but unfortunately I don't want to sacrifice the the aesthetics of the top glass plate.

My mind is on the idea of having a 48mm / 1-3/4" x 15mm / 1-1/8" slot that is situated above the regulator slightly off-set with the exhaust fan so it kind of pulls cold air from the back of the unit towards the regulator, Rasp Pi3 and the screen. The amp will just have to make do but then again this doesn't have any slots in it's casing anyway so I guess it shouldn't suffer any particular heat issues.

The other plan is just to drill out smaller holes in the base or perhaps just create a large grill at the back (something like 177mm / 7" x 63mm / 2-1/2" opening with mesh cover).

I take air-flow seriously on a PC but feel out of my comfort zone for box of tricks like this.

I did create a cooling system for my cupboard which has lots of different systems in as I worried about the temperature in there. I can't go to this level but hoping I don't need to.

[Dal1980]

Thinking maybe the larger opening upon reflection.


Anyway ordered the 120mm PC fan, some rubber feet and a nice grill that will be hidden under the box. I've also ordered some mesh. Not sure what to do with a large opening at the back but may use a custom grill plate if not maybe just some mesh of some kind (idk).

I had all my paint supplies hinging on 1 supplier. I had some questions regarding their stock but they never got back to me. After ringing them and telling them they had an email from me their response was the boss has read it and he's on his dinner. Still waiting for a response 2 weeks later 😟

Guess I'm looking for a new shop. Same thing happened with another supplier, what is it with customer service?

Anyway doing some cutting tomorrow and a bit of sanding down. Ill try find a place to buy the painting materials.

Lambs wool roller should give me a very nice smooth finish but probably looking to use some grain filler and lots of coats of undercoat on top of the primer.

I hope my supplier for the glass isn't going to be a problem to deal with.
 

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[Dal1980]

More images

Actually putting in a 120mm fan into the 3D model has illustrated that air-flow should be more than adequate. The larger 'lazy' in-take vent surely would be necessary.
 


Feet are now a vital part to this working.


You may be wondering why I don't suck air from the bottom (or you may have guessed my reasons). This potentially will be used on the lawn in summer so the idea of sucking from the bottom will be a bad idea as I'll end up with dirt and grit potentially being sucked into the box or the grill getting blocked.... although, changing out the feet for wheels and removing the grill completely could be a nice way of cutting the grass 

[Dal1980]

I guess this is the drawback to a softwood. Not to worry, wood filler should solve all of these issues (hopefully)


The other side was a lot better, think the grain was tighter across this side as it took a lot more to even drill through it.







Make-shift drill stop.. not perfect but good enough I think







Back to waiting for supplies. 

[Dal1980]

Got some more stuff through this morning.

Need help figuring out this though....

It wont budge. Not sure if it's got some transit lock on it or something but no matter if i push or pull nothing moves. I've got two of them and they are both the same.

The sticker says 100N which i presume is only a small amount of pressure if N stand for Newton.

Here's the link to the eBay item: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/311763249267

UPDATE: WOW! I thought I'd give it another go and really pushed down on the piston. It moves. After testing how much force is needed to activate the piston by using some bathroom scales it worked out 12.5Kg. Correct me if I'm wrong but a cupboard door as illustrated is more likely to be in the region of around .5 - 1kg so what on earth were they thinking. If I did use this I suspect I'd have a good platform for firing rocks but as for practical use in the intended way absolutely useless.


UPDATE 2: I think I need some suggestions. The area I have to play with is approximately 25mm. (20mm in the lid and a 5mm approx edge on the box) I thought of a piston hinge idea as it was all nicely contained rather than a flip out or a slip through style since these would require more space or potentially lead to issues with the kit inside the box. I'm a bit lost now, any suggestions?

UPDATE 3: Sorry if you're being spammed if you have notifications set on this threat, I've found posting results in me wanting to add more content . Maybe I've got the concept of how the pistons I bought actually work. Maybe the force is only for the force of the push required to start the closing sequence. I don't know a lot about hinges to tell you the truth 

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[Dal1980]

I've ordered two more hinges. 1 is similar to above with 60N (the lowest I've found), and another hinge type that is a folding type with a damper on it. Honestly, the amount of room i have will be a big factor and i may need to allow for slots in the glass so the hinge folds up. It's all a bit up in the air at the moment. If these fail to work then Ill just forget the hinge idea all together.

Some more parcels arrived, ill be posting pics soon and showing some of the progress.   

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[Dal1980]

With 100N being of silly power for these gas strut thingies (Yeah, I made up "Piston Hinge" and my Dad pulled me for calling them that tonight) my replacement 60N has arrived. Still way too powerful.



I'm not sure if I'm going to find anything like what I want in this design. 60N seems to be the weakest one I can find but really I probably need about 10-20N.... anyway still waiting on this arriving as a backup of my backup:



Meanwhile...

Filled and rubbed down a few parts:










More parts arrived the other day







That's all she wrote for now 

[Dal1980]

After going around a few stores I eventually found one that was able to supply the wife's colour choice in oil based gloss.



I also managed to find a primer (not sure why primer is hard to find by itself as I kept finding only primer and undercoat mix). It's water based unfortunately but nothing I can do about that.

Anyway first pass done on the primer. It's thicker stuff than I remember. It's actually easy to create thick ridges and runs with the stuff. I've had to sand out a lot of places after it dried.



More parts arrived.




I'll post more pics soon when I've done all the priming. I couldn't find a single place that could give me a lambs wool roller. Think I need to go find one online.

[Dal1980]

I haven't posted for a few days, things are going slow as I'm just waiting for paint to dry between sanding and filling. It's difficult to see where needs filled and I end up sanding the primer back off. I would say I was good at painting but I don't think I've very experienced in preparing wood for the painting 

Anyway, I think I'm at a good stage as I'm starting the undercoating. I'm taking it steady as this is a brush job.

I feel like people are reading this but not getting a lot of feedback. If I've given any kind of impression that I know what I'm doing then I really need you to understand that I don't  I guess I should have said this at the start. Feel free to offer advice on anything I'm doing as I could really value some input. 

Anyway onto images:

Many thanks to Alan over at appliedcutsys.com for spending the time and care getting this spot on. I can't to see it in all it's glory 



I tried grain filler but that stuff is useless, it just rolls up into balls with the cloth material (tried 3 different types of material cloth) and didn't actually fill anything. So, I tried a light scraping of wood filler which works a treat. I ended up with such a smooth finish it almost felt polished plastic.


...then I ruined again with this primer stuff (thick ugly stuff but guess there's a good reason to use it)



Today, I rubbed down everything again with a new grade P240 and applied the first coat of undercoat in places


Here's the lid just after sanding and the following pic is the lid with first coat of undercoat.



I have P600, P1000, P1500 and P2000 sandpapers which I'll be working through. Since this is oil based undercoat I'm assuming towards the final coats I'll be mixing white spirit into the undercoat to thin it right?

Many thanks
Dal

[Dal1980]

Start of a dry run (I think I need everything in place to continue with this build before finally stripping it back down for the final paintwork)

Amp fitting



Feet


Feet clearance


Base fan grill and filter


At least I have one fan 


Comfortable looking IEC


All parts (wiring still to do)


Approximate placement of touchscreen (glass panel still to sort)


Handles


Magnetic catch


Cheers

[Whatthewhat?]

I think it's awesome.  Reminds me of those portable record players that my parent's generation lugged around all over the place, only new and digital.
Build quality looks just fine.  I know nothing of electronics, so woodworking is all I can comment on.

[Dal1980]

Thanks Whatthewhat?

Anyone know where I can go to get 3mm glass cnc'ed. Seems im not getting any luck when i try to contact companies.

The only luck I've had was a response from someone who could do 4mm but there was a boat load of compromises with the radius of corners and drill holes.

Is laser CNC an option with glass? Seems the milling tools need to be quite small for this job.

Most people I've wrote to haven't come back at all

Im in the UK but potentially not a problem outsourcing to other countries if it gets the job done and within budget.

Anyone any suggestions?



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[NIVO]

great Dal. I'll be expecting the matching cooler next 

[Dal1980]

Update: So after hitting some bumpy patches in the road of life (redundancy) this project got delayed massively... anyway I've been trying to get back into it so here's some updates.

Hinges were a concern so after buying a new chrome piano hinge to replace the cheap looking ones I had to sand away enough of the wood.... anyway less talk more pictures right



















IEC had my head bashed in for a bit since I only wanted the light to come on when the switch was on rather than the light being on all the time. Also had forgot how I was going to power some stuff since it had been so long so eventually worked that all out and ended up with this:















Ok so now this thread it up to date.

There's 5 coats of gloss done on the inside. Realised that Dulux is extremely thick paint so thinned it down for each subsequent coat. Working through the grades of sandpaper too.

The outside only has it's first coat at the moment but I'll be aiming for at least 5 on the outside since this is what you will see the most of.

I also scrapped the idea of using that latch. I've instead got some really tiny but powerful magnets that I'll be embedding into the rims (no direct contact but should still be enough to hold the lid together). <- more on this later as it'll be easier to show pics than explain.

Thank you

[pbj]

Neat project.  I missed this one earlier....

[Dal1980]

Neat project.  I missed this one earlier....

Thanks pbj, I always appreciate the appreciation if that makes sense 

Feel free to shout out any criticisms (anyone), I'm not posting completely for the "gallery" of it, although, it is a good way of keeping me on track since I feel obligated to complete the story. 

Thanks