USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by DaMadFiddler »

arrowhead wrote:Awesome. No pics until completely done?
Probably not. Most of the changes left make little cosmetic difference. I may post a pic once the faceplate is complete, but that will probably be the last step anyway. Everything else that remains is just soldering and tying up loose wires.
As for the copper, my best suggestion would be a local yellow pages, and look under "hobby" stores. There used to be an old school hobby shop in my downtown that had things like thin sheets of brass, a shitload of different balsa woods, model cars, trains, boats, planes. Look into that.
Thanks for the idea; I hadn't even thought of that.
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by DaMadFiddler »

...All right. Only two steps left, and I'm failing at both of them. First, I cut up an old brass-colored cookie tin and attempted to make a faceplate for the CD slot. The end result worked, but looks like a pile of garbage. I'm not sure how to get a quality part without either casting or stamping it, both of which are way beyond my means for this project. Any tips on making complex shapes with sheet metal? I'm basically just looking to make a thin brass frame that fits in around the edges of the CD slot; my tools are assorted pliers, metal snippers, a drill with bits for drilling holes in metal, and a small mallet. I've tried three different techniques, and they all end up looking like something that was crudely made out of tinfoil.

The other step is soldering the pots back to their respective circuitboards, with some wire in between to allow for mounting. The main problem is that I don't have a steady enough hand, which makes the soldering very tedious. I'll get this done; it's just slow, because I have to be *very* careful not to bridge contacts with the solder.

I'm still hoping to have the soldering done in the next couple of days. I'm out of ideas for how to fashion the faceplate, though, short of cheating (i.e. not using metal).
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by arrowhead »

Try using a dremel. I use dremels for everything, and they always seem to do the job.
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by Quzar »

if you have any sort of wedges or chisels and a rock (or hammer) you could fake the stamping process. You could also try to straighten it out making it look less junky. For that I might recommend some strips of rubber (to safeguard each side), put a block of wood on each side (to do the same), then use a rubber mallet. I saw my father use a similar technique to flatten a delicate piece out once.
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Quzar wrote:if you have any sort of wedges or chisels and a rock (or hammer) you could fake the stamping process. You could also try to straighten it out making it look less junky. For that I might recommend some strips of rubber (to safeguard each side), put a block of wood on each side (to do the same), then use a rubber mallet. I saw my father use a similar technique to flatten a delicate piece out once.
That sounds fairly similar to what I was doing before. It looked passable by itself, but when mounted on the radio along with everything else, it looked like an obvious kludge. I'm not sure what to do about the faceplate for the CD slot at this point; I'm tempted just to use gold paint, but that would be a pretty major cop-out.

On the plus side, the internals are almost finished. The wiring has all been tidied up inside, and of the three pots, 1.5 have been soldered. The PowerMate (for menu navigation) was soldered and tested last night, and I'm halfway through soldering the volume pot. Once that's finished, I'll solder the tone pot, and put the new knobs on. After that, the radio will be finished except for the accursed faceplate.
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by DaMadFiddler »

All right, almost done. One more knob to solder. Also, I found a workable (though not ideal) solution to the faceplate conundrum: brass mail slot. I'll simply get a small hinged mail slot (the kind you install in front doors when you don't have room for a mailbox), and install the faceplate over the disc slot.
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by MulletMan13 »

I'm starting to shake uncontrollably in anticipation...
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penor: hay gusy how do i make ubuntu look cool like vista
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by DaMadFiddler »

It's kinda been on hold for Christmas plans... and also because I managed to score a free pump organ this week :D

My goal is to debut it at our New Year's party this year, though, so at some point over the next week or two I'll finish up the soldering and get the last little bits in place.

Once it's all done, I'll record a quick video demo and stick it on YouTube.
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by Specially Cork »

Well?
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by Skynet »

He drank too much and fell on it at his New Years party, that's why he hasn't posted updates.
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by Specially Cork »

I think it was all a complete fabrication made to seek attention.
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by not just souLLy now »

I believe he got distracted welding a fleshlight to his VCR
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by DaMadFiddler »

The last month or so has been insanely busy, and I haven't had any more time to work on it. I'll post when there's actually something to report.
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by Roofus »

I think you're pulling a Metafox on us.
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by Skynet »

:lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: USB knobs? AKA Fiddler's Pre-WWII iTunes Radio Jukebox

Post by DaMadFiddler »

No new progress to post quite yet (though I did get a few more parts in the mail this week), but I do have other related news:

I bought a new radio console.

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I bought it for $300 from a woman in Sacramento. It's in perfect working order, except for two minor cosmetic issues: the hand on the dial is broken off, and it's got the wrong metal faceplate on it. (Replacing both of these should cost about $35 total).

These late 1930s Zenith consoles are very highly sought after by collectors, and I'm expecting to be able to sell it for around $1000.
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