Case Design

To design the case I started by importing the PCB stack up into OnShape. I decided on 13mm standoffs to separate the PCBs as they gave a good separation between the boards while minimizing the footprint.

I first though of adding a wooden base to the clock, attached with more standoffs and screws. I later decided not to use a wooden base, as I wanted to show off the inner workings of the clock.

I then designed the front of the clock based on a very nice design I found by Retio which uses brass parts to give a beautiful accent to the orange glow of the Nixie tubes. My design differs where mine has 6 Nixie tubes, and 2 Nixie bulbs in-between each pair of digits to separate the HH:MM:SS, as well as 2 brass knobs on the right hand side and a brass grille mesh on the left for the speakers.

 

I decided to change the back of the clock to use a sheet of clear acrylic to provide a unique view into the inner workings of the clock. This will be joined to the clock case using epoxy to reduce the screw count.

The exploded view of the clock is shown below, with the clock body and the acrylic back plate being joined together with epoxy, and the rest of the parts screw into each other.

I plan on having the clock case manufactured eventually, but for now I will manufacture the initial batch myself.

If you have any questions about the design process let me know and I’ll gladly explore it some more!