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Step 13Conclusion
Video of the finished clock
I'm very happy with the way the retrofit came out.
I still have not decided what colour to paint the front edge of the wooden box - orange maybe?
Since making this box I've been asked if I would redesign a radio for an elderly relative. The buttons are too small for her and features too confusing - an all too familiar story of products designed by engineers for themselves. I seemed to have graduated from the family IT guy who knows how to fix computers up to the Designer guy who can make things more usable.
Final word:
I hope I managed to get across the point that you don't need a suite of high end tools at your disposal to make something like this. About 2/3rds of the work was accomplished with a hand drill manufactured before most of us were born. I picked up at a yard sale for $5. While I did use a router I could have finished this project with a drill, hand saw, soldering iron, hammer & chisel if I wanted to.
Almost every tool in a workshop is simply a motor, configured to do a specific job. The the most basic configuration is the hand drill. While you cannot replace the router or table saw with a hand drill you can still perform a wide array of operations and achieve great results.
In this modern world, its hard not to feel swamped by technology sometimes. I see technology as a double edged sword; can't live with with it, can't live without it. Designed by us to solve our problems, it can become be our master at times. I don't believe this has to be the case.
I encourage you to look at technological devices as 'systems'; Things that have inputs and outputs. Controls that tell the device what to do and displays to tell you what they have done for you. Once you start breaking devices/systems down into their components, it's not hard to start combining functionality & methods for displaying information in new ways. In the process, creating new solutions that meets your needs, solutions you have designed.
As Eric would say in his newsletter - Now go make something awesome!
I'm very happy with the way the retrofit came out.
I still have not decided what colour to paint the front edge of the wooden box - orange maybe?
Since making this box I've been asked if I would redesign a radio for an elderly relative. The buttons are too small for her and features too confusing - an all too familiar story of products designed by engineers for themselves. I seemed to have graduated from the family IT guy who knows how to fix computers up to the Designer guy who can make things more usable.
Final word:
I hope I managed to get across the point that you don't need a suite of high end tools at your disposal to make something like this. About 2/3rds of the work was accomplished with a hand drill manufactured before most of us were born. I picked up at a yard sale for $5. While I did use a router I could have finished this project with a drill, hand saw, soldering iron, hammer & chisel if I wanted to.
Almost every tool in a workshop is simply a motor, configured to do a specific job. The the most basic configuration is the hand drill. While you cannot replace the router or table saw with a hand drill you can still perform a wide array of operations and achieve great results.
In this modern world, its hard not to feel swamped by technology sometimes. I see technology as a double edged sword; can't live with with it, can't live without it. Designed by us to solve our problems, it can become be our master at times. I don't believe this has to be the case.
I encourage you to look at technological devices as 'systems'; Things that have inputs and outputs. Controls that tell the device what to do and displays to tell you what they have done for you. Once you start breaking devices/systems down into their components, it's not hard to start combining functionality & methods for displaying information in new ways. In the process, creating new solutions that meets your needs, solutions you have designed.
As Eric would say in his newsletter - Now go make something awesome!
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