I'm being totally original here and making a budget Qlock. I know people have done it before but it seems like a fairly accessible first arduino project because there's some code out there I can start from and adapt :%
The bit I'm struggling with is the surface with the words cut out - I had planned on getting it cut on vinyl and then sticking that to the inside of a picture frame, but it seems to cost loads for a single cut sheet of vinyl ... so my question to the community is - does anyone have a vinyl cutter and wouldn't mind cutting a 400 x 500mm sheet for me from a supplied file? I'll happily pay for the vinyl, shipping and any other costs incurred, and do my bit for the community by posting a writeup with code!
Alternatively, laser-cut mountboard would work if anyone's got both lying around...
Alternatively alternatively, can anyone recommend vinyl cutters that are affordable and don't mind one-off, small jobs...?
The bit I'm struggling with is the surface with the words cut out - I had planned on getting it cut on vinyl and then sticking that to the inside of a picture frame, but it seems to cost loads for a single cut sheet of vinyl
You can probably get pretty close by laser-printing "inverse" (white letters on dark background) on transparency film, vellum, or even plain paper... Maybe use several layers to make sure the "black" is opaque.
Hmm...i hadn't thought of using laser printed transparencies. I'll give that a try.
And thanks mowcius, I had been planning on a 400 x 500mm sheet, but I'll give you a shout if the plan changes! XD
I might have found a fairly cheap vinyl cutter anyway. Thanks.
Transparencies never worked too well for me - the light seems to leaks along the plastic under the black and you would need an awful lot of sheets.
That's one of the things you account for when doing photo-resist PCBs, printing the right way round so you can have the printing next to the board when you stick it in the UV light box, then no light can leak through the plastic of the transparency.
Well - if you want to get it to come out the best it can then you do that - I normally forget but I don't normally do boards with tiny tracks on which can be affected by the light leaking.
... so my question to the community is - does anyone have a vinyl cutter and wouldn't mind cutting a 400 x 500mm sheet for me from a supplied file? I'll happily pay for the vinyl, shipping and any other costs incurred, and do my bit for the community by posting a writeup with code!