Bah, too many images per post, here is the rest. Luckily I got the 1 inch long fasteners because they just fit. Then I ran into another dilema. The holes in the VFD were slightly too small to fit the nylon bolts through. So after checking out the VFD PCB I decided to go ahead and expand the holes. Back out to the garage and I found a drillbit just slightly larger than the current hole. Drilled out the VFD (nervously) and was left with this. (yes it still works ) The next thing I did was cut the filter down to fit just over the glass of the VFD. I then started mounting the VFD to the stand. You can see I used the nylon washers underneath the nut to protect the PCB. This picture shows a closer image of the bolts used and the setup. This is what it looks like attached from the side. I then added the little bumpers to the bottom for feet. Finally some pics of the closer to being finished stand. Network Info: Winamp: Motherboard Monitor: I think that last shot is the best on so far. Mad props to cheese for being able to photograph these things so well, its really hard. Next things on the ToDo List: =-= Cut the Lian Li scrap ally I have here to make a "faceplate" for the front of the stand =-= Get an LED to illuminate the edge =-= Set up some better interface to get power to the display =-= Maybe get the GPO's working to give me a new mail warning through an LED or something, dont know about that, still dreaming it up in my head. Hope this is enough to satisfy you guys for now, next update probably mid next week sometime.
Wow! Nice work there! I like the stand idea for such a big VFD, makes me want to shell out some money for a big one... ~Davy
Very nice work, I have been comtemplating doing something like that for a while, not exactly sure how I want to do it, but plexi was a main idea, and I really like the look well. Very nice work, cheers mate.
Plexi experience Well , just wanted to give a tip My dad bought some plexi to make a wind screen for his scooter and I got the left over ... and made a stand for a gift I got from my gf ... but thats not the point Its Poly Carbonate Plexi ( Or Lexan ) the good thing about this , u can hit it with a hamer , and it wont break .. it dosnt scratch fast ! .. and the Biggest advantage , is that u can bend it in a bankscrew , without having to use warmth , and it wont color white (like I had before with some other plexi while heating) Its the best Plexi , I'd advice this for just about anything U can even make REAL windows out of this stuff this stuff rocks its alot more expensive then normal plexi Its about 25euro's for 0,5 m on 0,5 m but for things like a computer case its great !! thats it hope it was some good advice ::EDIT:: Btw , very nice job , looks great !
I don't think many people appreciate how difficult some picture taking is, these VFD's were pretty solid but you wanna try taking pictures of an inverted red LCD... so damn hard Great work mate, and glad the VFD got to you safely (and in time for Christmas too!). Cheers, Rob. p.s. if you make any nice LCDC screen for the display don't forget to post them in the review thread, I know lots of people will love you, the 126x64 was a little deprived by me in that arena
sure, send me one and I will take loads of pictures. Will post any screens I make if they are any good. Right now they are all just text, all one of them, hehe. Thanks for all the comments guys. Sleeper, most of those tools are my fathers, but same thing. hehe, that cracked me up for some reason. hehe I didnt know you could bend lexan without heat. news to me. I do know about the discoloring that can occur, luckily mine didnt even change at all. Bending that quarter inch thick stuff is more of a chore too, harder to make even bends, it kinda bows out at the edges, but it still looks good.
WHOWWWWW Great job that VDF is realy beutifull Well Cheese i can bet a red inverted LCD is hard to take a picture , , well m ine is also a litle bit dificult to take some without the picture being unfocused but i think it's the camara (yah right now blame the poor camera ) Has for the screns i dont' know what format LCDC (have to check on that) uses but i have some cool screns for my grafic LCD in BMP format. Samtech
I like what you've done. However I think as an addition, I would have covered up most of the stand with some of the black film which macroman used in Macroblack...infact you might be able to cover the whole thing, as a VFD is bright, and have it shine through? Might neaten it up abit, as I don't think, IMHO, being able to see the surround of the VFD is very pretty. Plus the black will match your new monitor!
Oh I am not done yet.... Here is a preview of what is going on the front to the stand... yup, thats scrap Lian Li aluminum. However I may still tint the plexi so that it looks entirely black when off. Maybe the second version of the stand will be square and look better than the current crooked one. EDIT: oh by the way, any reason this got moved????
Nice Stand - Some tips Hello Hprcrazyguy, Well done, you made an excellent stand for the VFD, it looks very professional. I’d like to make a couple of suggestions though, and these do not reflect on your hard work, but may help anyone else that attempts a similar mounting. First the fixing screws. Please don’t tighten them with any great torque and bow the PCB. I suggest the use of some tubular spacers that just fit between the PCB and the back of the Acrylic. This will allow you to do the nuts up tight and not deform the PCB. Second filter and colour. If you look in some of the DIY stores and hobby shops you can find coloured Acrylic. Try a blue, green, amber or yellow. This will enhance the VFD contrast and make the display image very sharp and clear. Hprcrazyguy, this is a great “how to” and thanks for all your efforts, I’m sure that a few of the other case modders will benefit from your experience. Phil Itron (UK) Ltd EDIT: Thanks to Hprcrazyguy for letting me use his picture. Phil
Thanks Funks I did notice as I was tightening the screws the PCB bending and was like "OMG!!! WTF!!! Stop you fool!!!" And then stopped and loosened them. That was freaky. And I may go look at some color acrylic today, or I may remake the stand seeing as how it isnt square. That will be done before I go chopping up that scrap aluminum so I guess I could do that today. Or I could just play some games. We'll see....
