Pictures from laser cut acrylic

A tad foggy :(, hopefully it works properly.

Laser cut... more edge woes.

I got my piece of laser cut acrylic back from the shop. It cost $15.00. Not too bad. My only concern is the edges seem a bit cloudy still. The excess acrylic edges came out clear. I am thinking because the extra pieces are small,about a 2” width, that is why they are clear. My actual piece is 18” x 15”, and I am thinking due to that the edges appear foggy.


Pictures will be posted soon. 

Laser-cutting in town!

So after almost a month of searching, I have found a place that does laser cutting. It dawned on me that a place that does laser engraving should/may be able to do laser cutting. The maximum size the store can do is 20" x 18", which is perfect as my screen is 16.5" x 10.5".

The best part is the store is only about a 10 minute walk from my house. The downside... I had been at the store about half a dozen times before I realized they may possibly fulfill my needs.

They estimate the cost to be about $15- $20 for the cuts. That is not bad considering I was about to pay $25 for a new piece of acrylic, plus shipping across the continent, plus taxes, plus customs (across the US-Canada border).

Polulu- laser cut acrylic

So I received my quote from http://www.pololu.com/.

For my basic rectangle (20" x 15"), I was quoted $25. That is laser-cut!

I don't know how much shipping will be, I will look into it more. If shipping is reasonable, I will have it sent out.

After this the IR LEDs are my next order.

Holdbacks- complaints - problems :(

I wish I could figure out the acrylic edge polishing. To be honest, it is the only thing that is holding me back. I only have the LEDs and a PS3 eye left to purchase. I want to wait for the LEDs until I have proper acrylic in order.

Pre-Polished!

I found a site through the NUI forums called PeauProductions. I've seen it before, I have just never really looked at it. On the site is a link to http://www.eplastics.com. You can order pre-cut, pre polished acrylic. I'll take a look and compare prices with the company that I posted about before.

Laser cutting!

So I found a site. www.polulu.com. They specialize in laser cutting. Since there are no places around me that do this service, or at least no place i can find, I requested a quote. If I purchase through the company (or not), I will post all details.

So... back together again

I put the LCD back together for a while. Strangely, I had left over screws and metal pieces O.o It worked, so it seems these are extras :). Unfortunately, I just have a lack of time to figure out the acrylic polishing technique. I will do some more research and when the time comes I will continue with the project. Until then.... dual screen!

Break

Taking a bit of a break from building. Once I have some time I will start up again. IR LEDs and a PS3 eye is pretty much what is left to buy...

August 13 2009 - Disassembling the LCD

Step 1. Acquire LCD.
Step 2. Look for obvious screws.
Step 3. Get mad because its not held together by screws.
Step 4. Realize its about 30 clips
Step 5. Un-clip 30 clips.

Quite made me mad, apparently Dell monitors are "non-serviceable", meaning the clips hold them together. Therefore if say the power button plastic breaks, Dell expects you to buy a whole new monitor! Luckily, I couldn't care less for the case as the boards and the LCD matrix is all I want. I took some pictures starting with the stand off.

Figure 1. The monitor (My friend who had the screen in the background)




















Figure 2. Those damn clips.




















Figure 3. The LCD with no case.



















Figure 4. The LCD with no metal backing.



















Figure 5. All nice and compact metal backing. ready Metal backing. to insert into a box for multi-touch. Why thank you Dell. The components can be left right in the case (hopefully, depending on if the wire can reach properly).




















Figure 6. The metal off of the LCD matrix.



















Figure 7. The LCD matrix.



















** I am hoping to use the black plastic the matrix is currently in, and embedding that in a piece of MDF. **




Figure 8. How to bring it home from work. (2 towels, a foam mattress, a laptop case underneath, all in a 'green' grocery bag.) The clamps are just to hold the towel up.

August 13 2009 : The First Process.

So the acrylic piece is nice and sturdy, great condition. The only problem is that it wasn't laser cut. I have to sand it, and polish it :(. So once again I was sitting at work. I brought the piece with me. I clamped it down onto the table,and first went over each side with the fine grit sand paper sponge. I then went over each side with the 600 grit sandpaper with lots of water to keep it cool. 2 of the sides were too rough for the sandpaper, so I took a file and filed the side to a relatively straight level. I then sanded it. The sides are nice, straight and smooth. I will polish them soon.

PS. I am receiving a high def 19" wide screen LCD from a friend today. I can't to take it apart. Once I know the exact dimensions of the matrix, I can cut out a hole in the MDF (slightly smaller, about 1/9" or 1/8' smaller) and then dremel a lip out. I plan on using a router to round the outside edges out. Once that is done I can insert the matrix, and bolt the acrylic to the top of the MDF. That will sandwich the LCD matrix down. I then have to wait :(. I need to order the LEDs online. They will take 15 working days to get here. Once they do, I can solder them together, about 30 - 50 of them. Then arrage them out side of the acrylic glass edge.

The PS3 eye however, should arrive in the next week or so. I'm ordering it from a local store.

More to come later :)

August 12 2009: The First Purchase

Acrylic 18" x 24" x 0.220" was purchased. It is saw cut.

600 grit wet/dry sand paper was purchased.

Fine sandpaper sponge was purchased

A large piece of MDF (4' x 6') was purchased. The corner was damaged. Thus it was 75% off. 98%of the board is still in perfect condition.

August 12 2009: The Beginning

Ok, so I was sitting at work, browsing the internet. I was using Firefox with StumbleUpon. I came across a Youtube video of a multi-touch screen. I've been looking for a project for a while (one that wouldn't be too expensive, but still worthwhile. I did some research and found a tutorial on Maximum PC, which then also sent me to the NUI forum; a forum dedicated to multi-touch DIY.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/maximum_pc_builds_a_multitouch_surface_computer

http://nuigroup.com/forums/

I also found a blog from a (then) 17 year old, who built one of these surfaces, FieryFerret.

http://blog.fieryferret.com/2008_03_01_archive.html

From the blog, I decided to download Google Sketchup. I came up with three designs, although I don't know if the second is possible (due to camera angle). I'm including the pictures below.



Version 1: The big arcade-like box.









Version 2. The monitor (potentially impossible due to camera angle).










Version 3. The desktop box. My current plan.