beatseqr – Page 2 – Steve Cooley Fine Art

Top panel final

October 18, 2023August 11, 2011 by beatseqr

It took a few iterations, but I think this works. Oh. Haha. I just realized how similar this look is to the version 3 acrylic cases. That’s probably why I like it. Anyway… I know the whole world is collapsing, but I’m pretty much done with research for version 4.51. I have a few of these boxes, then capacity for about more 10 boxes. Then I start to run out of some parts that are end of life’d, and I’ll have to re-evaluate my options.

What I do need to do is set up some customer relationship management infrastructure. But, I can do that behind the scenes.

Artwork overlay test results

October 18, 2023August 6, 2011 by beatseqr

Interesting. Took a *long* time. Food for thought.

Top panel laminated artwork overlay experiment

October 18, 2023August 5, 2011 by beatseqr

I’m going to test out a laminated paper artwork overlay. Here’s a first pass. Actually … Second pass. First one sucked bigtime. This one feels pretty good. I’ll post another photo when it’s laminated and mounted to the case.

Top panel cnc jig

October 18, 2023July 21, 2011 by beatseqr

Welp, this is the last jig I needed to make for beatseqr production. It holds the top panel portion of the case so the cnc router can do it’s job. When I was just making one beatseqr at a time I had much much less efficient jigs to hold things on the cnc table, so this is a huge improvement. I’m getting repeatable results that I’m happy with when I cut multiple cases in a session. There’s less guess work, less waste, and less cursing… So overall a good situation.

Also on the final infrastructural push, I designed and built a fume extractor for soldering. Which makes me happier when I’m hunched over a circuit board soldering for hours. Here are some photos :

Doing More with Beatseqr demo video

October 18, 2023June 22, 2011 by beatseqr

I made this video last night. I was just running through some of the features that I use when I’m using a beatseqr.

Horizontal cnc jig results

October 18, 2023June 19, 2011 by beatseqr

Alright, this jig I made to hold the dremel flex shaft horizontally worked *beautifully*. I hand-programmed the gcode, and I obviously have some more fine tuning to do, but overall, I’m on the right track!

Here’s the nice clean hole the jig produced. Adjustments required, but almost there.

Here’s the jig that’s holding the case down.

Video of the jig in action:

Horizontal cnc mod

October 18, 2023June 14, 2011 by beatseqr

Alright so one of the last hurdles to jump before I’m ready for production is being ready to cut holes in the sides of the enclosures for the USB cable. I’ve been doing this by hand with a dremel with *extremely* variable results. :-/ So, when my pal Jim was up for a visit earlier this year, he helped brainstorm on some ideas and this was the concept we ended up with. Using the dxf files for the cnc machine, I was able to locate the hole pattern and design a new piece that will bolt on to the existing z axis gantry. This new piece, with the help of some shape lock, securely holds a flex shaft attachment for a dremel… Which in theory should let me jig a beatseqr enclosure to the table and cut nice clean square holes without and problems or sloppiness. In theory. But man, I’m getting really close to having the infrastructure in place to do what I want. Getting pretty exciting up in here!!

Solving problems: LRF support

October 18, 2023May 31, 2011 by beatseqr

When I have a bit more time, I’ll post a video, but I just couldn’t locate mechanically fastening LRF’s to the specs I need. So I drew up a concept on some paper, redrew it in illustrator, exported it to dxf, imported it to sheetcam, and cut a casting mold. I used the smooth-on shore hardness 40 silicone since I’ve decided it’s too tough to work with for my buttons… Turned out pretty good! Maybe a little too tall. But it will be easy enough to slice off this mold and try again. I’m loving the time from concept to iteration. Very fast!! And I’m not committed to hundreds of failed designs. Just a couple few. I’ll even use these for experimental projects.

How the Buttons fit in the v4.51 case

October 18, 2023May 24, 2011 by beatseqr

Pretty good! This case is a “scratch and dent” kind of situation, so I feel pretty good about how the silicone buttons turned out with the new casting mold.

Version 4.51 silicone button array development

October 18, 2023May 24, 2011 by beatseqr

Research and development continues with cutting (and recutting, and recutting) the new silicone button casting mold. I’ll be verifying the dimensions tonight, but things are moving along nicely. I may be able to get one of the new v4.51 boards close to fully assembled. Which I am very
much looking forward to. The last major task is to engineer a jig to hold a dremel flex shaft that will attach to my cnc machine. This will let me cut a hole for the USB jack with precision and repeatability on the case. After that, I’ll be able to kick into a higher gear for producing units and kits. Whew!

a sea of machineable wax chips. This mold would end in disaster.

Present and future casualties of my learning process

Try number 3. This one went well after 5 days of chipping away at it.

Smooth-on dragonskin-30, a two part a/b platinum cure silicone, in the happiest place on earth: a beatseqr button mold