After putting the finish on the wooden Glockenspiel case, I reassembled all the electronics, mechanics, and the box hardware (hinges, etc.). It works great! See the full demo video.
Ok, I still want to adjust the amount of silicone on each solenoid, to smooth out the sound, eliminating the clanking on all the chimes. …but that’s for later.
As a reminder: the sources for the Glockenspiel are on the Glockenspiel Github site.
Previously I finished the labels for the glockenspiel. In this post I literally Finish the case.
Last weekend and this weekend are nicely warm enough, so I’ve put a few coats of Minwax gloss polyurethane finish on the Robotic Glockenspiel case. In a few days the finish will be dry, and I can do the final fine-sanding (to remove dust captured in the Finish) and assemble the thing.
P.S., don’t copy my style of finishing – I’ve not learned how to do it well, and here I’ve not done most of what you want to do to make it come out right. I haven’t put down a drop cloth or newspapers to keep the surroundings from being Finished; I haven’t used pinpoint-tip stands to keep the work from sticking to the support table; I haven’t sanded between coats to remove dust/pollen; I’ve sprayed when it was breezier than it should be.
That said, I expect it will turn out well enough for this first-prototype, and functional enough to keep dirt from getting into the wood. (How many times have I said “the end is in sight”?) The end is in sight!
Next I complete the project at last!
Since trying out woodburned labels, I made another attempt at scrollsawing the button labels for the Robotic Glockenspiel, and am happy enough with the results that I’ve glued the labels to the glockenspiel box. I’m so happy to have finally made up my mind – whew!
So this blog is a sort of “how to scrollsaw” in a nutshell.
Continue reading Final Labels for the Glockenspiel ButtonsSince putting a lid on the glockenspiel case, I’ve been wrestling with exactly how to label the robotic glockenspiel buttons: If I had a laser engraver I probably would have engraved (woodburned) the labels on; sticking paper labels on could look pretty sloppy; decals sounded like a production of their own, with the risk of gumming up my printer; painting the labels would require a steady hand; woodburning by hand is another option; so is gluing on scroll-sawn raised labels.
So today I tried out my new (used) RBI Hawk 220 VS scrollsaw, that I’d cleaned up a few weeks ago.
Continue reading Scrollsawed Button Labels for the GlockenspielSince fixing the sound of the chimes, I’ve been finishing the software for the glockenspiel. Now all the buttons work: on/off, play/pause, skip back, skip forward, and shuffle. Woohoo!
Today I made the lid, attached the molding on the edges of the lid, attached the piano hinge and attached the side hinges. It’s not fine furniture, but I’m learning a lot about how to make The Real Thing. For example, don’t sand the wood with the sandpaper you used to remove rust from your new scrollsaw (ouch!).
All the hardware (except the front latch and the feet, which should install easity) is now installed. So now I’ve taken all the hardware off so I can easily do the labels and spray the finish.
Next I plan to label the buttons – I plan to try woodburning – the end is in sight!
Now that the control buttons are in the circuit, I’ve tamed the clanking noise of the Robotic Glockenspiel! Hear it in this YouTube video.
In an earlier post I mentioned that I’d used a tube of silicone to put a drop of silicone on each solenoid, to reduce the loud ‘clank’ when the solenoid strikes the chime. I found out that a drop of silicone is way too much: the chimes hardly sounded at all.
Continue reading Silicone Pads Make a Lovely SoundSince my last post about the glockenspiel, I’ve been taking a vacation from my vacation (aka working). Today I turned back to the glockenspiel and wired up the first of the 5 lighted switches.
The hardware is lighted buttons from Sparkfun in various colors, some 4-wire phone cable I bought years ago, and 4-conductor 0.1″ connectors. The heat-shrink tubing keeps the 5 pins of the button from shorting to each other. Two wires run the LED, and the other three make up the button (common, normally open, and the unused normally closed).
Continue reading The First Switch is InThis post is about what I’ve learned about Making through the Robotic Glockenspiel project.
Even at the beginning of the project, I was “standing on the shoulders of giants“:
Continue reading Collaboration is Not Part of Making; It’s the Heart of MakingNow that the glockenspiel is working and in a case, this post is about what I’ve learned about Design Thinking through my Robotic Glockenspiel project.
Caveat: since I didn’t apply formal Design Thinking to the project, I’m going to be shamelessly revisionistic in order to talk about how the project would have been better via Design Thinking.
The Design Thinking steps we use at work are:
Continue reading Design Thinking via the Robotic Glockenspiel ProjectIn my previous post, I started putting the glockenspiel case together. Now I’ve bolted the glockenspiel harp and circuit boards into the base of the box, and temporarily mounted the handles and buttons. I still need to wire up the buttons.
Continue reading It’s All in the Box (Except the Buttons)
