Wright Industries

NOTE AM/FM Nixie Clock Radio

Material Selection

I’ve been very busy lately with university assignments, so I haven’t been able to spend as much time on my current projects, but I’m done now! Well, assignments that is, I’ve still got final exams to study for but that’s an issue for later.

Nonetheless, I managed to set aside some time between now and the last update to explore some materials for building the main construction of the Nixie Tube clock.

Materials

Nixie Tubes + Nixie Driver

Obviously the construction of the clock requires Nixie Tubes. This design uses 6 of the front facing IN-12 Nixie Tubes, and 4 INS-1 Bulb Nixies (it’s unclear to me whether these are actually called INS-1 or if they’re even traditional Nixie Tubes, but they look cool and are available so I’ll stick with this name).

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

To drive the Nixie Tubes, a single K155ID1 IC is required. These are the original ICs made by the soviets to drive Nixie Tubes using BCD, but there are many modern ICs available in the same footprint and functionality.

Fig. 3

Nixie Tube Socket Pins

To connect the Nixie Tubes to the PCB, I’ll use these generic socket pins designed for the IN-12 Nixie Tubes. These are quite cheap and easy to use. It’s better to install these rather than soldering the Nixie Tubes directly to avoid damaging the Nixie Tubes as well as easier manufacturing.

Fig. 4

Speakers

I would have loved to include some larger, high quality speakers in the clock, but this was unfortunately not possible due to the desired form factor. As such I decided to use 2 Visaton K 20.40 speakers. These are commonly available, generic 2W 8Ohm speakers with a small footprint and should give a good balance of size, quality, and cost. I will use one for the left channel and the other for the right channel.

Fig. 5

Timber

I spent a good amount of research trying to find the wood that really spoke to me. I wanted to use a timber that was native to Australia, and similar to other beautiful furniture woods such as walnut, and ended up on Tasmanian Blackwood. Tasmanian Blackwood is a premium hardwood with a warm brown color and looks great oiled, making it ideal for furniture.

Fig. 6

Brass Mesh

I wanted to use some brass mesh in front of the speakers to provide some nice aesthetics, and I think it may sound better than through just the fabric I intend on using for the front panel.

Fig. 7

Fabric

For the front of the clock I will use this charcoal fabric to provide a nice black contrast to the glow of the Nixie Tubes and the golden shine of the brass.

Fig. 8

Brass Sheet

For the edges of the clock face I will use this brass sheet to accent the wood construction and the orange glow of the Nixie Tubes, this is my favorite aesthetic part of the clock (apart from the Nixie Tubes).

Fig. 9

Brass Wire

To line the brass mesh for the speakers, I will use this 1mm thick brass wire. I’m not sure how I will connect it yet, but I think I can solder the mesh onto the wire to form a solid connection, and then sew the mesh into the fabric.

Fig. 10

Standoffs

I decided to use 3 different standoffs to separate the PCBs and join the PCBs to the clock body. I ended up choosing 20mm F/M standoffs for joining the PCB to the front face, 13mm F/F standoffs for joining the PCBs together (screwed together with the other standoffs), and 5mm F/M standoffs for joining the PCB to the back face.

Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Acrylic Sheets

For the back of the clock I wanted to give a unique look inside of the clock, and decided on using a clear acrylic sheet on the back of the clock. This will be laser cut to provide openings for the peripheral ports. I’m not quite sure how I will secure this to the clock body yet, I think I’ll use some sort of clear-setting epoxy.

Fig. 13

Assorted Consumables

To finish off the clock construction I will need a few consumables such as oil for the wood, gloves, rags, and sandpaper to provide a premium finish. For the oil I decided again on a local product, Organoil Hard Burnishing Oil.

Fig. 14

Finishing Remarks

All in all this can be a lot to keep track of, so I decided to create a BOM Excel sheet to keep track of it all, as well as future orders.

If you have any questions or suggestions about any of the decisions I’ve made, please contact me and let me know, I’m always open for suggestions. Thanks again for reading.