Mechanical assembly always takes longer than I think it will. I figured one evening would be all it takes to build this thing, but by the time I figured out the size of the acrylic, cut a wood base for it, tested the layout of the components, then drilled and mounted everything I had run out of time.

→

Insert

• Image

I reclaimed a chunk of protoboard for the Piezo. The IC breakout board on the left will be used for the rotary encoder. In this image you can see the three holes at the bottom of the acrylic for screwing it to he wooden base (there's a 15 degree bevel on that piece of wood).

→

Insert

• Image

Much later in the evening I have everything mounted using nylon stand-offs (easy to cut with a utility knife and cheap at the hardware store) and 40-4 machine screws, washers, lock washers, and nuts. My hardware store only sells this stuff in stainless so it's a bit more expensive but still worth it to source them just down the street.

You have to look closely to see the 3 LEDs. Radio Shack sells some plastic grommets for a 1/4" hole that the 5mm LEDs just snap into. Off to bed, soldering will happen tomorrow (full disclosure, I'm writing this up after the fact as build mode was all consuming of my time).