![]() The Diffuserīehind the character grid, a diffuser is used to distribute the light move evenly. You will need to experiment if you decide to use laser printed acetate or cut vinyl or hand-cut craft card. Vector Cutting Power: +20% (accommodates for our old laser) For the 210 gsm black card that I used, these settings were about right: Material: Construction Paper You will need to experiment somewhat to find the ideal conditions for your laser cutter. Use the following dimensions (in mm): Outline Position X: 294.2 Once you have imported the PDF, you will also need to create a box around it to cut the template from the sheet of card. The following dimensions which were suited to my setup cutting on A3 card (dimensions in mm): PDF Position X: 294.1 I have used Corel Draw but you may use InkScape (or similar) if you wish. The package must be capable of working in vector graphics. The PDF must then be imported into your favoured drawing package. Once you have made your changes, you need to export the Excel Worksheet as a PDF, using File > Export > Create PDF/XPF. Do not adjust the row or column spacing as the LEDs will no longer line up with the characters. Once you have the font installed, open the Microsoft Excel sheet up and make your changes. Start by installing the octin-stencil-free font. The character mesh Creating your own character grid Below is the mask I created, and the Design Files ZIP in the downloads section contains the SVG for laser cutting as well as the Excel worksheet and instructions to create your own design. ![]() You could easily use laser printing (black toner) or a vinyl cutter to achieve similar. The 135 characters were then cut out using a laser cutter and a stencil font. This resulted in 15 characters wide by 9 lines down. I set the grid sizes up to match the word layout I planned to use. I used Microsoft Excel with a stencil font ( octin-stencil-free) to create the character grid below. I chose the words I wanted to display carefully, planned it out, and inserted random characters in to pad out the grid where required. The first thing I created was the character grid with an external dimension of 230 x 230 mm to match the internal dimension IKEA Ribba Frame case. The light mesh inside the case Character Grid & Diffuser The character grid is placed directly on the glass/perspex, followed by the diffuser sheet, followed by the light mesh and finally the PCB. I removed the spacer and the hardboard backing, leaving just the glass at the front. I used an IKEA Ribba Frame 403.784.01 which has an internal dimension of 23 x 23 cm. There really isn’t too much to say about the case. Lets look at these in some detail… The Case – IKEA Ribba Frame WordClock: The case, character grid, diffusers, PCB and light mesh. The first 3 WordClocks!Īll characters are individually lit with RGB LEDs, so it is possible to scroll the time, date and temperature (or anything else) too, as the video below shows: Video of the WordClock in operation. I used a ready made enclosure (see below) to give the project a professional-quality feel and laser cut internal parts so that the design was repeatable. So far I have made around 20 of these for family, friends and colleagues! The front of the completed clockįor this reason, I decided to design a custom PCB to hold LEDs, and to make the board re-usable. I wanted to make something more reproducible, with a solid design something I could make a few of and achieve the same quality each time. ![]() Looking around on the net, there were lots of people who had made hack-y versions that were a one-off: with hot glue and balsa wood. I had seen ‘Word Clocks’ appear in searches and had though of making them in the past. In the past I have really enjoyed making clocks of various kinds – mostly Nixie clocks. At the current time, you will need to create your own character grid (cut vinyl, printed acetate, laser cut black card, or cutting by hand with a craft knife) and light mesh.Īll design files can be found at the end of the page in the Downloads Section. If you are interested in creating your own version of this project, please contact me as I have spare PCBs. ![]()
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