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Step 5Adjustable Neck and the Base
The Adjustable Neck
In order to direct the "sunlight" that the alarm clock generates, I chose to add an adjustable neck. At first I thought I could use conduit for the neck but since I have limited tooling and hardware at college, I couldn't secure it to the base very well. Plus, it was pretty tough to bend and did not adjust too well. I ended up using just one of the wires inside of the conduit. It turned out pretty good. I was able to fasten it with no hardware, just a hole in the base.
I started off by taking one wire out of the conduit and wrapping it around the outside, creating a nice spiral. Then I twisted just the wire off the conduit. I then stretched it out and connected it to the black cone I mentioned earlier. The black cone comes with some circuitry from the flashlight attached to it but it's easily removed. Now that you have just the plastic cone piece, make two holes on the edges, each big enough for the wire to fit through. I fed it up and then down and out the other side, curling it under. I then used the thin, flexible wire from the conduit to further secure it. The two long wires that were soldered earlier can be fed through the black cone back and the bulb can be twisted in place. I added a bit of glue to keep it attached.
The Base
To attach the adjustable neck, I drilled a 7/64 inch hole in the wooden base and stuck the wire in. It fits pretty snugly so no glue is necessary but it's loose enough so the the neck be turned and twisted. The two LED wires can be wrapped around the neck and soldered to the prototyping board.
To attach the board, I used four PCB mounts. I had a threading drill bit available, but it wasn't necessary. If you don't have a threading bit, just drill a hole that is smaller than the screw and twist it in with some pliers. I attached the clock to the base using some velcro. I didn't screw it down since my clock has a battery backup and when the battery dies, it will need to replaced. Lastly, I added some rubber feet to the corners.
In order to direct the "sunlight" that the alarm clock generates, I chose to add an adjustable neck. At first I thought I could use conduit for the neck but since I have limited tooling and hardware at college, I couldn't secure it to the base very well. Plus, it was pretty tough to bend and did not adjust too well. I ended up using just one of the wires inside of the conduit. It turned out pretty good. I was able to fasten it with no hardware, just a hole in the base.
I started off by taking one wire out of the conduit and wrapping it around the outside, creating a nice spiral. Then I twisted just the wire off the conduit. I then stretched it out and connected it to the black cone I mentioned earlier. The black cone comes with some circuitry from the flashlight attached to it but it's easily removed. Now that you have just the plastic cone piece, make two holes on the edges, each big enough for the wire to fit through. I fed it up and then down and out the other side, curling it under. I then used the thin, flexible wire from the conduit to further secure it. The two long wires that were soldered earlier can be fed through the black cone back and the bulb can be twisted in place. I added a bit of glue to keep it attached.
The Base
To attach the adjustable neck, I drilled a 7/64 inch hole in the wooden base and stuck the wire in. It fits pretty snugly so no glue is necessary but it's loose enough so the the neck be turned and twisted. The two LED wires can be wrapped around the neck and soldered to the prototyping board.
To attach the board, I used four PCB mounts. I had a threading drill bit available, but it wasn't necessary. If you don't have a threading bit, just drill a hole that is smaller than the screw and twist it in with some pliers. I attached the clock to the base using some velcro. I didn't screw it down since my clock has a battery backup and when the battery dies, it will need to replaced. Lastly, I added some rubber feet to the corners.
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