Monome 40h Kits

kabuki · Post by **kabuki** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:28 pm

Rogue Scrunt wrote:
kabuki wrote:I have an acquaintance that imports rare hardwoods. I am thinking about doing a case in all wood, that would be designed to switch out with an aluminum top plate later if I want...

All black oak or cherrywood, methinks.

why do black if you do imported woods?

it would make more sense to me to do it kind of natural.

to each his own,

If you are going to do black wood, use some cheaper domestic wood.

or, re-purposed wood, recycled from a furniture shop

Perhaps I am confused. There is a type of oak called Black Oak. It is naturally dark but with a fine grain and ....

WALNUT! I was thinking of Black Walnut... man do I feel silly.

Here's what it looks like.

http://monome.org/articles/2007/04/26/peek-at-the-100h/

If Black WALNUT isn't an option, I might look at teaque or Cherrywood.

kabuki · Post by **kabuki** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:40 pm

Looking closely at the monome wiki dissassembly pics, the LEDs are flush mounted and there is a diode to be solderd fore each led/button.

Easier than I thought.

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 1:18 am

Let me chime in here as a furniture maker.

Yes, there is Black Walnut.

But there is also a species called English Brown Oak which is somewhat hard to come by here in the States.

Also there is a "black" type of oak - it is called "Bog Oak" - and it is created when an Oak tree falls into a peat bog. The chemicals in the peat eventually stain the entire log... very very dark. Black, you might say. I'd guess it is pretty rare - I've only seen it cut into veneer, which is how most highly exotic woods end up these days. (Though a quick google turned up a place selling some solid stock - from trees over 4,500 years old!!)

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 1:35 am

I don't have as strong an opinion about Cherry, although it is difficult to find good Cherry now... all the good stuff has been used, and that's kind of scary to think about

But it is an issue with Teak -

Remember that there are some moral issues involved with using some types of woods - Teak is one of them. Not to mention the fact that it requires special techniques to work with. It's f**&ing hard as hell and will mess up your tools and needs to be washed down with solvents before you glue it because of the oils in it...

"Plantation" Teak I guess is more acceptable - i.e. it has been farmed.

Check with your local lumber supplier about eco-friendly hardwoods. There's plenty of crazy-looking conversation-starting woods from exotic locales which you can use relatively guilt-free.

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 1:37 am

i also realize that the quantity of wood we're talking here is pretty small!

I guess I had to vent for a minute there

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 1:47 am

Are you planning on buying a kit? I'll trade you my soldering skills for your woodworking skills.

Surreal · Post by **Surreal** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:33 am

ok. if i buy this...i have to sell my trigger finger. i HAVE to.

and i have to learn how to solder. and i have to get faceplate made.

guys, help me out here...i have the money. i need to keep it. but, having just set up live/midipipe for my looping set..i fiend for feedback.

i am losing this battle. i am losing hard.

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:45 am

I am hoping to buy a kit.

But the whole point would be to help develop my soldering skills!!

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:51 am

longjohns wrote:I am hoping to buy a kit.

But the whole point would be to help develop my soldering skills!!

Damn... but good for you, this will be a great way to learn and it's a great feeling to use something you made.

I'm a city dweller, no room for woodworking tools, any tips on buying the right tools for cutting the holes? Dremmel tool? This would be a great excuse to finally get one. I've seen hardware stores cut plywood and 2x4s for customers, can I get them to cut the stock down to small strips?

If you'd consider selling cases I'm sure you'd turn a classy job. I think it's still another 2-3 weeks until we'll get parts.

Surreal · Post by **Surreal** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:53 am

this may be a silly question...

but what are the necessary dimentions for the bottom plate? i mean.it has to hold the pcb up and all that...is there a pdf i missed? i am sure there is a way to figure it out...but i would rather like it laid out. so i don't botch it and waste money

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 3:56 am

I laid out a link to the top plate, it's about 8" square, as for depth, earlier today I linked to pics of the finished kits just posted on the monome site, 2" should do it. More deets here:
http://monome.org/40h/kit/

Check the first page of this thread, I did a research dump there.

Surreal · Post by **Surreal** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:06 am

yeah...but...shouldnt it all be snug or something?

wait...the best way would be to mount the pcb board to the top plate and have the case be snug...right?

i just don't understnad how the pcb and buttons will be held rigid. like i said...probably covered ...but i can't find it.

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:08 am

most stores would probably charge you for cuts... plus they probably aren't up to a precision cut.

But if you have a hobbyist-type woodworking store near you (Rockler, Woodcraft, etc.) then you should be able to buy small pieces of at least a limited variety of woods - and probably not need anything much more than a miter saw to make a frame out of it. Most people know at least one person with a saw they could borrow.

Even Home depot has some small dimensional hardwoods - but might be limited to Oak, Poplar, maybe Maple...

Or consider how a strip of moulding could be almost exactly what you need. Again, you might easily find Oak and Poplar but maybe not other things...

This is making me wish I still had access to a CNC router. But alas, no more, I have switched jobs

Surreal · Post by **Surreal** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:08 am

aha

i looked at the dissasembly tutorial. screws into the faceplate.

Tone Deft · Post by **Tone Deft** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 4:17 am

surreal - they're parts called 'standoffs' jameco, digikey and maybe radio shack have them. I'll post part numbers from online stores for any parts that monome doesn't provide. The monomes did a clever thing by getting their faceplates made with tapped screw holes in the bottom side of the faceplate that don't go all the way through to the top. Check the faceplate drawing they have, all the details are in that drawing.

LJ - any links to cheap ass tools appreciated. I can go to Tap Plastics and get a full case made for ~$150, I talked to them last week, I'm thinking $50 worth of tools at most.