• Power supply

    RobG • 08/28/2024 at 19:11 • 0 comments

    A DIN-rail mounted 5V power supply module fits perfectly in the space behind the board. This one from "Meng Well" 😂 (a cheap clone of Meanwell).

    Now the whole thing is just about finished, and can be mounted on a wall and mains powered. Just some lettering and other decorative details to finish off.

  • Seeing stars

    RobG • 08/18/2024 at 20:58 • 0 comments

    After discussion with my artistic director we settled on a new design for the flags: 

    Polished brass, red paint and paper, much like the originals but nicer I think.

  • Re-assembly

    RobG • 08/16/2024 at 15:13 • 0 comments

    The woodwork's back from my friend and looks amazing! After a coat of black paint to the inside, I was able to slowly reassemble all the parts. First checking that everything fits ok...

    ...then refitting all the wiring, including a new wiring loom made from cotton-covered wire:

    ...and the remote control module on the back:

    Still to do:

    - paint the flags, historically this was some red and white stripy/star pattern

    - decals/paintwork on the glass

    - figure out a power supply

    - hang on the wall!

  • New flags

    RobG • 08/01/2024 at 19:19 • 0 comments

    Seven shiny new flags ready for painting and some kind of stripey design decal to be applied: 

  • Mmmm shiny.

    RobG • 07/29/2024 at 10:15 • 0 comments

    Before and after: 

  • Fabricating

    RobG • 07/27/2024 at 09:31 • 0 comments

    I've fabbed up a couple of broken/missing parts, plus made a good start on seven new flags. I don't think I'll keep the original two as they're pretty rough-looking.

    I dropped off the woodwork with a mate who's offered to clean it up and make a new frame to hold the glass - the original seems to have been lost sadly. 

    Oh, and an 8-channel 433MHz radio remote kit is on its way from China... :)

  • Polishing and more cleaning

    RobG • 07/23/2024 at 07:43 • 0 comments

    Nothing too exciting yet, just stripped all the hardware off the woodwork so that each piece can be cleaned a bit more thoroughly and the brass polished: 

    A few problems along the way: several of the woodscrews fell apart when removing them - the brass is so brittle their heads cracked in two. One of the brass connecting plates has also cracked in two, and another is not too far behind, so need to be careful with that one. And the cotton/silk covering on the wire is incredibly fragile and easy to rub through. I really hope I don't have to re-wind any as they'll look completely out of place with modern wire on.  

  • What have we got?

    RobG • 07/15/2024 at 06:29 • 0 comments

    The 'before' photo: a very dusty tangle of wires, bells and woodwork. 

    First step is to get the worst of the dust off with brushes and compressed air:

    After polishing each set of contacts with some fine wet-and-dry, amazingly all seven sets of coils still work fine! Passing ~0.5A causes each hammer to waggle, which would strike the bells if I hadn't removed them for cleaning.