Ok, to get my safe to lock I need something to act as a locking mechanism, The Tech Supplies kit is designed to run a solenoid bolt but what is a solenoid?  A solenoid in it’s simplest form is a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical movement. It is a coil of wire that […]

To design a strong case that will be simple to construct I need to do some research on joining acrylic, hinges and other components Glues: Solvent Cement: As I have used in the past I could use a solvent cement to join the acrylic components. This glue works via capillary action so the edges to […]

Aahhhhhh! it’s stopped working! After painstakingly putting the kit together and testing it, my contrary PIC chip has decided to stop working. Today I plugged it in to find that only some of the keypad keys are working, the LED won’t flash and the buzzer is making a constant low level bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (very annoying when […]

After trawling many companies I ended back on the Tech supplies website, their own solenoid had been out of stock for weeks but no more! I have ordered and received a miniature, PCB mountable ‘pull’ solenoid. First thing to do is to test it connected to my board… and it works! (I seem to be […]

The first test has been somewhat of a disaster, after completing the 2D design drawings of the door, setting up the laser cutter (H+S info here) and cutting my first pieces I found that the settings were off as it failed to cut cleanly and all the way through the acrylic. As a result the […]

Well, as I’ve designed a door to hold all the electronics of this project I need to make sure it will open, I want the box on the back of the door to fit as snugly as possible into the inner box. This will look neat and also reduce the stroke length of the solenoid […]

I’ve finished tweaking my design and have produced an (hopefully) accurate isometric drawing, the dotted lines represent the view of the inner pieces through the clear acrylic:

There are a few things to keep in mind when using the laser cutter: Never use without turning on the extraction! The laser melts through the material being cut and can release harmful fumes. It also causes damage to the machine by fogging up the mirrors and making the laser less efficient. Never look directly […]

  I pulled this safety information from the Boxford website (http://www.boxford.co.uk/boxford/docs/products/t220.htm#safety accessed on 14/01/2011): Safety equipment features Full perimeter guarding with interlocking switches on access doors arranged in the positive (safety) mode for spindle stop and feed hold. Overload cut-out on spindle drive. Positive end stops on all axes. Mandatory graphics run required for new programs before matching cycle can […]