upcycle – Milwaukee Makerspace https://milwaukeemakerspace.org Conceive, Collaborate, Create Sun, 25 May 2014 18:40:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.4 $5 Upcycled Desk Clock https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2014/05/upcycled-vfd-clock/ https://milwaukeemakerspace.org/2014/05/upcycled-vfd-clock/#respond Sun, 25 May 2014 18:40:33 +0000 http://milwaukeemakerspace.org/?p=7465 Last summer I came across a collection of car parts at a garage sale; instrument clusters, lights, gauges, and some digital clock displays.  For $5, I became the proud owner of a JECO Japan, vacuum fluorescent clock display.  The plastic housing held all the clock electronics, membrane buttons for setting the time, and a four-pin connector.  After powering it up, I realized one of the pins could be used to dim the display, which is a pretty nice feature to have.

I’ve worked on it off and on for a few months, but finally decided to finish it this weekend.  On Saturday, I tweaked some dimensions and laser-cut the final enclosure.  I wasn’t happy with the button holes and text I had on the front of the first iteration, so I got rid of them for the final.  You can adjust the time by slipping a jeweler’s screwdriver or a paper clip through a gap in between the plexiglass sides and pressing the buttons to add hours or minutes. 

I added a small single-pole, double-throw toggle to switch between bright and dim, then soldered the connections before closing it up.  The whole thing is clamped together by a single #10-32 machine screw and a wingnut.  The final result doesn’t look half bad.

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