It is just that a flayed alarm clock. I was tired of how it looked so I made into a functional art peace.
 
Remove these adsRemove these ads by Signing Up

Step 1: Flaying

I dont have a photo to show you but its straight forward. Just take the clock apart.Then lay the guts out flat and mount. I used Liquid Nails to glue it down.I know there are exposed wires but its not a toy .You can mount it on or in anything nonconductive.Also stabiles the power cord so it wount put stress on its soldered joints. This is more art than science but use common sense. Leave it unpluged untill after you have it mounted.
BC-45 says: Feb 12, 2008. 2:13 PM
what does ground wires do i dont get it the look like as if it's just a freking wire that u can cut out
2manyprojects2littletime in reply to BC-45Apr 1, 2011. 7:29 PM
As long as everything goes well the ground pin is unnecessary, this is why older style plugs (and newer ones in low current or double insulated applications) don't have a round ground connector.

The ground is there as a safety precaution, so that if:
a) the live (hot) touches a piece of metal that it isn't supposed to, like the case that here has been flayed away, or
b) the neutral (return) wire touches the case *and* the load in the circuit the clock is plugged into is unbalanced
then the current will go through the case, down the ground line (which is attached to the case) and into the earth.

Without the ground conductor attached, if either (a) or (b) happened and someone touched the clock's case while it was happening they'd get lifted by mains power.

FYI: Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt (GFCI) plugs (like the ones that are usually in bathrooms with the "Test" and "Reset" buttons in the middle) go an extra step by monitoring the connections and if current begins to leak (i.e. go from hot/neutral to ground, like in the above example) it isolates the device, i.e. disconnects it from the mains. You would then have to hit the reset button to get the plug working again, but the shock you get would be so small and quick that you probably wouldn't even feel it.
leevonk says: Nov 11, 2006. 4:12 PM
uhm,... it's not exactly dangerous.. unless you grab the two input ends of the transformer, one in each hand, nothing much will happen to you.
James (pseudo-geek) in reply to leevonkNov 2, 2007. 1:42 AM
wrong. most people don't understand mains lines. the - terminal is RUN INTO THE GROUND making the earth itself the contact. unless your floating, or encased in rubber, you will get shocked.
James (pseudo-geek) in reply to James (pseudo-geek)Nov 2, 2007. 1:43 AM
err floating in the air that is lol, not water. water makes it 100 times worse.
Adam Manick in reply to James (pseudo-geek)Oct 10, 2010. 4:18 PM
Not distilled water. It is still dangerous but there is very little conductivity in it
leevonk in reply to James (pseudo-geek)Feb 14, 2008. 5:02 PM
unless you're floating in distilled water, then you're floating in both ways and you might as well be encased in rubber
James (pseudo-geek) in reply to leevonkFeb 14, 2008. 10:14 PM
true. but who wants to sit in a tank of distilled water while they work on a transformer? much easier to just watch where you put your fingers.
Dracanse in reply to James (pseudo-geek)Jan 27, 2010. 7:26 PM
 me....
Daddio_UK in reply to James (pseudo-geek)Feb 14, 2008. 2:27 PM
hahahahaha ... cough... sorry lol.
leevonk in reply to James (pseudo-geek)Nov 2, 2007. 7:26 AM
I always thought that the 'earth ground' went into the ground (the circular third pin on wall outlets), not the reference ground (one of the flat pins) that's used in the circuit. Isn't the whole point of the earth ground going into the earth to make home electronics safer. Also, if you're using a transformer, doesn't that isolate the power and ground from the socket (except for earth ground). Imay be totally off.
Derin in reply to leevonkMay 19, 2009. 8:19 AM
Well,the generator neg leads are hooked up to ground themselves.
James (pseudo-geek) in reply to leevonkNov 2, 2007. 12:25 PM
well that does too. AC (alternating current) means that it switches back and forth. it switches 60 times a second, meaning that 30 times a second the left pin is +, and the rest of that time, its -. same for the right pin only the opposite cycle. this means that if you touch a pin for more and .06 seconds, your gonna get shocked. pretty much unavoidable, so don't touch 'em.
davidprosser in reply to James (pseudo-geek)Aug 15, 2009. 5:49 AM
That can't be right, cos i've touched a neutral cable before and not had a shock
leevonk in reply to James (pseudo-geek)Nov 3, 2007. 8:33 AM
it's a digital clock, so it uses dc, and it's probably pretty low voltage dc (under 12 v), so unless he touches the tips of those leads coming directly from the wall he's fine.
James (pseudo-geek) in reply to leevonkNov 3, 2007. 4:59 PM
which was exactly what I was worried about.
VIRON says: Nov 14, 2006. 4:19 PM
Someone gave me one of these that I like because it has huge LED numbers. They made it by hitting the snooze with enough force to bounce off a wall.
zootboy in reply to VIRONJun 27, 2007. 12:27 PM
Eh? That makes no sense. Please clarify.
VIRON in reply to zootboyJun 29, 2007. 9:36 PM
Someone smashed the case of their alarm clock and they gave me the guts inside which still work. It looks a lot like the picture.
zootboy in reply to VIRONJul 7, 2007. 6:28 PM
That's not what i meant. I was talking about your comment.
They made it by hitting the snooze with enough force to bounce off a wall.
Clarify that.
btop in reply to zootboyAug 23, 2007. 11:19 AM
I think he means that they hit the snooze button really hard and smashed it.
zootboy in reply to btopSep 8, 2007. 8:24 AM
Oh. Wow. I never hit my clock THAT hard...
iscatel in reply to zootboyOct 15, 2007. 5:09 AM
divorce will do it, don't go there if you can help it. My "flayed" clock landed in file 13.
westfw says: Nov 11, 2006. 5:46 PM
I had an alarm clock that looked about like this for years. It was a kit, and I had trouble finding an appropriate case for it. I did turn the transformer into a cord lump far away from the body of the clock (and with well insulated incoming connections.) The low voltage side of the transformer is no more dangerous than the terminals of a 12V battery... I have troubled with "filleted" as the descriptive term, though. It's just not quite the right word. "Flayed" perhaps?
They call me Tim (author) in reply to westfwNov 11, 2006. 11:45 PM
Your right Flayed is a better word to use.I looked it up. Thank You !!
Tool Using Animal in reply to They call me TimNov 12, 2006. 7:16 AM
No an even better choice, because I get to use one of my favorite words, "Flensed".
Vendigroth in reply to Tool Using AnimalJun 7, 2007. 2:48 PM
what, exactly, does "Flensed" mean?
Tool Using Animal in reply to VendigrothJun 7, 2007. 3:52 PM
it is Norwegian, I believe, and means to peel the blubber off of a whale.
noahh in reply to Tool Using AnimalAug 15, 2007. 12:45 PM
ooohhhh.... creepy.
PSPerson says: Jul 10, 2007. 5:07 PM
I have an idea: Epoxy it onto a tabletop so it is sealed and you can still us it as ur alarm clock.
walkthewalk says: Nov 12, 2006. 6:08 PM
I would be cool to use a Staples' Easy Button for the snooze.
Robotrix in reply to walkthewalkNov 13, 2006. 9:12 PM
Would it be cool to use a Staples' Easy Button for the snooze?
ARVash in reply to RobotrixFeb 6, 2007. 12:57 PM
Not particularly.. definitely not enough to warrant 3 postings about it.
Grimling says: Nov 11, 2006. 6:44 AM
O yes , this must be very safe...
They call me Tim (author) in reply to GrimlingNov 11, 2006. 12:53 PM
I share your penchant for sarcasm. If I had Childeran or evan pets this wouldnt be the design I would use.I'm a single guy and I can only blame mayself.
Robotrix says: Nov 11, 2006. 7:39 AM
How much louder does it get?
They call me Tim (author) in reply to RobotrixNov 11, 2006. 12:46 PM
A little louder now that the speaker is out side the housing. You could Amp it up but I was going for looks.
RyanPotter says: Nov 11, 2006. 11:46 AM
Yes, very safe... Especially when you wake up at the sound of the alarm at 6am and just randomly slam your hand down on it...
They call me Tim (author) in reply to RyanPotterNov 11, 2006. 12:42 PM
Your Right But now you have a starting point. You could design a big kill switch or a target to through somthing at. You can just see the snooze button just left of the display thats what I hit.
Pro

Get More Out of Instructables

Already have an Account?

close

PDF Downloads
As a Pro member, you will gain access to download any Instructable in the PDF format. You also have the ability to customize your PDF download.

Upgrade to Pro today!