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Step 7Time to get it all together...
OK, by now you should have all your pieces cut and ready to accept your hardware. If your timer has a plastic shroud on it still like mine does, mounting it is simple. Simply put it flush with the surface of the box and drill screw holes. If you do this with it in place you'll have a much better chance of everything lining up when you go to assemble it in a few minutes. This can be done with a drill or my favorite tool, the Dremel. For metal project boxes you may want to modify your cut a little. Leave tabs you can drill holes in and bend down to meet the sides of the plastic. That way you have a perfect mount point. The one shown in the pictures for this project was the prototype for the rest I've built. It still employs the same principals. In other words, it was what I had when I built it.
With everything attached to the cover, let's take a minute to make sure our connections are all correct. I shouldn't have to tell you what will happen if we get it all put together only to find that it sorts out or doesn't work at all. It's better to catch any problems now while it's still somewhat apart. That way we can fix them and avoid having to tear into it later.
Once your sure that it's all correct we're ready to put the cord into the box. The reason we held off till now is simple. We can drill a much smaller hole because we don't have to fit anything but the cord it's self through it. OK, remember that cord strain relief we salvaged from the microwave? That's how big the hole has to be. If all you have is your trusty Dremel you can drill a few small holes and remove the extra material with a grinding wheel. Dremel makes several sizes, shapes, and compounds. I chose the green aluminum oxide stones because they last the longest and work on glass too.
For those of you lucky enough to get a screwed on strain relief like the one on the back of this nuker. Instillation becomes much easier. Just use the hole it left in the microwave case as a template to cut your own in your box. These are the best for wooden boxes as they don't require a compressed fit.
Now let's attach the lid to the box and see if it works. You should place the lid on top and drill pilot holes with it in place like we did for the control panel. In this situation I would suggest taking the lid off and drilling the holes a little bigger so the screws don't bind in them. that is unless you bought a project box for this at which point it already has screws and pre-fitted holes already in place.
This one already had a hole that was unfortunately to big so I made the best of it and taped the strain relief onto the cord. Notice I screwed in a tie down to keep the cord from pulling out. It is agreeably by far not the best way to do it. Just remember this is my prototype. It's also the project I choose for my first Instructable because it is by far one of the most useful things I've built so far.
With everything attached to the cover, let's take a minute to make sure our connections are all correct. I shouldn't have to tell you what will happen if we get it all put together only to find that it sorts out or doesn't work at all. It's better to catch any problems now while it's still somewhat apart. That way we can fix them and avoid having to tear into it later.
Once your sure that it's all correct we're ready to put the cord into the box. The reason we held off till now is simple. We can drill a much smaller hole because we don't have to fit anything but the cord it's self through it. OK, remember that cord strain relief we salvaged from the microwave? That's how big the hole has to be. If all you have is your trusty Dremel you can drill a few small holes and remove the extra material with a grinding wheel. Dremel makes several sizes, shapes, and compounds. I chose the green aluminum oxide stones because they last the longest and work on glass too.
For those of you lucky enough to get a screwed on strain relief like the one on the back of this nuker. Instillation becomes much easier. Just use the hole it left in the microwave case as a template to cut your own in your box. These are the best for wooden boxes as they don't require a compressed fit.
Now let's attach the lid to the box and see if it works. You should place the lid on top and drill pilot holes with it in place like we did for the control panel. In this situation I would suggest taking the lid off and drilling the holes a little bigger so the screws don't bind in them. that is unless you bought a project box for this at which point it already has screws and pre-fitted holes already in place.
This one already had a hole that was unfortunately to big so I made the best of it and taped the strain relief onto the cord. Notice I screwed in a tie down to keep the cord from pulling out. It is agreeably by far not the best way to do it. Just remember this is my prototype. It's also the project I choose for my first Instructable because it is by far one of the most useful things I've built so far.
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