LED glass clock with ESP8266 and LED SK6812 mini-E

ArturAVS wrote:

Instead of a grinder, a 1000 -2000 "water" paper will work better, especially as if you press a little, the glass will break.

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You should be able to sand wet. But if you don't have what you like....
2000 paper is probably a bit overkill.... Maybe preparation for polishing.
Here sanding with an angle grinder (not too high speed). Paper 120 (I don't have any other paper at the moment). It looks quite coarse. But the edge is safe and does not cut. All the more so because in this design you can't see it.
I think 240 paper would be enough to make it look better.

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Very cool watch. I would love to make one myself, as Nixie prices are high.
As for test tubes, haven't you thought about plastic ones? Definitely easier to process and the temperatures there are not so high that something could happen.

Best regards,
A.

I have not had plastic tubes in my hand. It is difficult for me to judge. I have had bad experiences with market plexiglass. In spite of all protection during processing and even later during use (wiping with a cloth), micro scratches appear. Perhaps the test tubes are made of better plastic.
When cutting and machining my first glass test tube, I also had my doubts about whether I could handle it (I had never done it). But now I know that it is really nothing terrible.
Well, and in conclusion, glass will always have that glassy glow.
As the Christmas/New Year frenzy passes, I will try to complete the article with more detailed information on watch construction and glass treatment.

efi222 wrote:

I have not had plastic tubes in my hand. It is difficult for me to judge. I have had bad experiences with market plexiglass. In spite of all protection during processing and even later during use (wiping with a cloth) micro scratches appear. Perhaps the test tubes are made of better plastic.

I had and there should even be some plastic ones lying around in a drawer somewhere. However, I have not tried to use them for such a purpose as a colleague, maybe one day.
As for scratches, I can't comment as I haven't tested it, but maybe it would be possible to polish it?

efi222 wrote:

When cutting and machining my first glass tube, I also had doubts about whether I could handle it (I've never done it). But now I know that it's really nothing scary.

I have a very similar diamond disc as a colleague. I haven't cut glass with it, but it goes into PCB laminate almost like butter, I've also cut aluminium and brass angles and I know they can do the job. With glass I would be concerned about chipping and that it might simply break.

efi222 wrote:

Well, in conclusion, glass will always have that glass shine.

Fact .

efi222 wrote:

As the Christmas/New Year frenzy passes, I will try to supplement the article with more detailed information on the watch construction and glass treatment.

Glass machining would interest me, the rest too, but I don't have a 3D printer, so I'm unlikely to realise such a watch for myself any time soon anyway.
Merry Christmas.

Greetings,
A.

Very cool design. Ideas for making an interesting clock abound. Such as this one, which mimics various 'displays' on an oled. .

The price of this watch $100. Asian friends offer similar designs cheaper (but on LCD, I think).

The cut glass does not need to be ground, it can be nicely doused in the flame of a gas burner, even on a gas cooker.
Approach the glass to the flame slowly, turning to heat the entire circumference fairly evenly and gradually, otherwise it will crack.
And getting closer and closer to the flame, the glass will redden at the ends and melt nicely. Keep turning all the time. Cool so as not to expose to draught.

You could try to stuff 128x32 OLEDs with SSD1306 into the test tubes.... I'm just not sure if the existing libraries allow 90 degree rotated display.

The popular 128x32 0.91" oled should theoretically fit into a 16 mm diameter colon tube.
I wonder how the durability of these displays is.

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I don't have any experience myself, but I know that things can be different with OLEDs and a lot of people complain about the low longevity.

Regards,
A.

Well. Clock devices, however, work 24/24.
TFT remains as an option, but the effect will be worse. Although I may be wrong.

As for cutting glass tubes, there is also a baaavery old method..... Wrap the cutting area with twine/cotton thread, soak in spirit/denatured alcohol, light the thread, put in cold water. With a little dexterity it breaks evenly. Then just stone/waterpaper and wet sand the sharp edges by hand.... 65 years ago I saw them making undersized (height) glasses for oil lamps/flashlights in the countryside this way.

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Olkus wrote:

... with OLEDs it can be different and very many people complain about poor durability.

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Here are some reviews of a cheap OLED display
https://www.elektroda.pl/rtvforum/topic4078363.html#21244576

I have added a more detailed description of the construction in the first post.
Greetings .

>>21357480 I can't believe I found such detailed instructions. From now on my desk is adorned with this clock, my eyes cannot get enough of it

In 2003 I finished my primitive work with displays. I found info on alphanumeric NIXIE and scans of how these displays work. http://mtvk.pl/tremolo/literki/a.gif managed to dump this from a GIF file.
If you change the 'a' to something else, it changes. In principle it would be sufficient to display the files on a screen tucked away in the banana.
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It looks like seven segments. But the picture is very small. Is this a NIXIE lamp?
A.. I understand to display these gifs on a small LCD display for example.

Such a final idea .If someone is annoyed by the seams on the printout of the tube plinths, a cap can be made. Print in vase mode.
May also be useful for other such round solids.
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