Guess what's baacccckkk? Yes, after a few months of inactivity, I've bought a replacement LCD screen. Not only is the project back on track, but I have LOADS of progress to share since my last update. Here's some of the highlights for those of you just skimming through pictures:
Be sure to check out all of the full size pics on my Google Photos album.
https://goo.gl/photos/WbA9YUR7urUEgCRr7
In the past few months I've been refining my design quite a bit. I'm using Inkscape to draw all of the 2D vectors to be laser cut. I've cut out six different revisions so far, each time taking more measurements, making improvements, adding features, and repeating. The one nice thing about frying my last LCD display is that I can use it as a placeholder to take measurements and build prototypes without the worry of damaging it. All of that prototyping has led me to the sixth revision. I've stained the wood and cut out all the parts for what will hopefully be the final product soon.
During the design process I've been making plenty of trips to my local screw supplier and Lowes, drawing sketches, ordering parts to experiment with, etc. I'm wanting to put more work into the digital design side of my projects, and less into the assembly, so I'm really aiming to make all of the parts fit together with tabs or held by screws. This is the complete opposite of how I used to build projects; with very little planning but a whole lot of half-assing and hot glue. If v1.0 turns out well and I can make assembly easy enough, I want to eventually sell them, either as fully assembled units or perhaps as kits for people who don't have fancy laser cutters.
Anyways, enjoy all the pictures and I'd be happy to talk more about certain features if anyone has questions.
