Thanks, glad you like it. Others have adopted my build method and even improved on it with 3D printed jigs. I didn’t have a 3D printer at that time. Nor had I used CAD software. Another person improved on my software too.

Thanks for your kind words and glad you like the project. It has evolved a bit since making that video. I had the 3D printed parts laser cut in MDF in the end. Mind you, speaking of 3D printers, I can and will whole heartedly recommend any of the Bambu Lab printers. My first printer was an Up Mini. Okay for its time but the build plate was too small for my needs. My next printer the TiVo Tarantula (which came highly recommended at that time) was definately a tinkerers printer and I had mixed results with it. Loads of mods to try and make it work better with little luck. Bed adhesion being the biggest issue. I then went for the Creality CR10 Smart. A much better printer all round but still not adequate. You think you've dialled it in and then you get an unexpected failed print a week later for example, printing the same part too. Again bed adhesion and warping being the main issue. I think it may have been poor filament choice in the end. I soon became fed up trying to dial in the printer all the time. Just recently I bought a Bambu Carbon X1 and this is the printer I’ve always needed. It just works with no tinkering unless you want to. Even old filament that had failed me previously, printed just fine on this machine. Don't get me wrong, there are failures sometimes, mostly my fault. Bed adhesion is really good and no warping. I have only used PLA mind. The Carbon with AMS (a must add on in my opinion), can be purchased at the moment for just over £1100 in the UK. I’m actually considering a P1S or a A1 as a second printer, permanently set up with a 0.2mm nozzle. In fact, the A1 would be perfect for that. Small parts requiring fine detail. Bambu’s slicer is a dream to use, it is based on PrusaSlicer. Plenty of very good documentation to back up the printer and slicer. The comb is a dream to use by comparison to all other printers I have experienced. Other 3D printer manufacturers are playing catch up to Bambu now. The only downside to Bambu is that you are hooked into their eco system. Although you can go off grid with it if you are happy to use SD cards rather than wireless to transfer printer files. A mate of mine has a P1S and loves it. He used Creality Ender 3’s before that and says Bambu is streets ahead. Go Bambu and thank me later ☺️

PS. I’m going to try printing the clock parts on my Bambu just to see how well it prints it. Not thought to do so until this moment.

PS again. Bambu has its own MakerWorld. Also very good. You can download models others have made straight to the printer, even via a Bambu Handy App from a mobile device. Oh and I forgot to mention, Bambu printers are faster than most other printers, and still retain quality prints.

@@stevemanley3685 LOL. 😊 I'm Currently Considering that Bambu Carbon X1 as a choice (Scary Coincidence, or can you read minds ??).. ( I like what I see) and now Reading Your Recommendation .. It Gives Me great Confidence that it May Be a good choice. Plus very nice that Someone with (Hard Knocks) Experience (Such as yourself).. Is a Big Help with making a Decent Choice.. (Thank You Very Very Much) .. and yes I expect some print failures (At first because just learning) .. Perhaps Bad Filament.. or (Many others I can imagine) The list can be long (for a Reason Why 😕).. But, the X1 as a Choice.. Should Eliminate Half of the Potential Problems 🤞🤞 (Thanks Again Cheers)

@@x_CrossHair_x 🤣 No I can’t read minds, I wish though. Just a pure coincidence I’m afraid. Glad I’m able to help with your choice. Bambu have produced a printer for the masses and not just another one for those who live to tinker under the hood. To many machine makers have left their customers to figure things for themselves or rely on those who are willing to tinker to step in and help via KZfaq etc. The build quality is excellent as are most prints. Firmware updates are a breeze. The printer will self calibrate on first use, and before every print. Adds a bit of time to each print but the reliability makes this acceptable. Just start a print and let it get on with it. Check the first layer for sure, as this is always critical to successful prints. Keep the print surface clean using dish soap and warm water. Or isopropyl alcohol. I use the smooth PEI plate from Bambu almost all the time. It needs NO clue for PLA, holds and releases well. Printer comes with a cool plate. Bambu recommend glue that’s supplied with the printer even for PLA, but I could print PLA without glue most of the time on the Cool Plate. A lot of folk like the textured PEI plate. I have one but prefer a smooth rather than textured bottoms to my prints. Please let me know how you get on.

They are common anode LEDs.

Hi, thanks for your comment. The construction of the cube should be no different, but the direct electronics driving the cube will need to be different. Eg. For common anode, the anode is connected to a positive voltage and the cathodes for each R, G & B LEDs are switched to ground to illuminate them. For common cathode, the cathode is connected to ground and the anodes for the R, G & B less are switched to a positive voltage to illuminate them

I can’t recall of the top of my head as to what driver transistors and driver chips you would need. The shift registers can stay the same.

@@stevemanley3685 Thank you very much for your info, i shall try and work it out with the help of youtube😂

@@wasdaletimelapse7658 Having thought about it, You will of course have to redesign the circuit boards. You might get away with the main LED board if you’re lucky, but the anode driver board will most likely need to be re done. The shift register boards might be okay if an alternative shift register chip for driving common cathode LEDs is available and are pin compatible.

0 people saw this kind of mistake until i noticed you. maybe it all has to do with typo.

Thank You, glad you like it.

Thank you, kind of you to say. I have actually improved the design several times over the years, but not yet created a follow up video about it. I have had several custom LED board designs, custom control boards designs and laser cut facias made and still I have more ideas floating around in my head to improve the overall clock design further. It has cost me a small fortune so far, and I’ve been distracted with other things for quite a while, but your comment reminds me that I should come back to the clock and do more with it.

@@stevemanley3685 My concept was to buy an old wood mantel clock houseing on ebay and make a backlit colored clock for the innards. I really love your designs, next level stuff, really...

@@Enigma758 Sounds good. A friend of mine, Paul Parry of BadDog Designs has done some clocks along those lines, featuring Nixie Tubes as well. In fact he was going to place one of my PCB’s, facias and control electronics in a Mantel Clock. He is waiting for me to finalise the next version of code. Personally I like to design and build my cases myself. This so far involves wood turning and has also involved some CNC machining. Let me know if and when you’ve done one.

@@stevemanley3685 I will search for BadDog Designs, thanks for the pointer. I will definitiely let you know if I do something along these lines too!

@@Enigma758 Take a look through the Commissioned Work Photos: www.bad-dog-designs.co.uk/woodclocks/2/

Thank you…

Hi, Sorry to say that I don’t currently have a circuit diagram for the DS3231 and Arduino. After I made this video, I revised my clock design and started using the DS3231, but with Teensy LC’s and I haven’t used Arduino since. The clock design and build have gone through several revisions and enhancements since this video was made and is currently on hold because other projects have got in the way. I did do a Teensy version of the original clock with custom LED PCB and control board PCB with DS3231 and the MSGEQ7 circuit. The LED PCB included an extra LED in the centre and all the LEDs were of the RGBW type. It works very well. The latest version is still in development and does away with the MSGEQ7 audio circuit, which has been replaced by a more complex but more versatile Audio Codec chip. To drive the audio chip, it requires the more powerful Teensy 3.2. The LED PCB has been updated even further and has multiple LEDs in most of the display segments. All these developments are not ready for sharing.

Hi Alan, Glad you completed your cube and got it working. If you look in my Dropbox where you got the burn-in code from, there is some additional code written by a guy called Dagan. His code uses Bit Angle Modulation (BAM) to get more colours displayed, plus some different effects.

Thanks. I was going to try that. Best

@@alanalexander6715 it’s well worth trying Dagan’s code.

Hi there, thanks for the kind comment. Re the shift registers, if you have added a shift register then yes you would need to add the relevant number of bits in the appropriate place in the data stream. If you have changed the order in which the SRs are connected, the alter the data stream accordingly.

All though the data is sent in via the first SR in the chain, it is the last few bits that the first SR ends up with, the data is pushed down the chain as it fills, thus the first few bits end up in the SR furthest away. The teensy can be used, but yes, it does use timers in a different way, probably easier to use. I can’t recall exactly right now and would have to google it, but it is along the lines of ‘every xx milliseconds’. There are other methods to achieve it, but google timer interrupts on Teensy. It will mean some re coding is required.

Hi Alan, thanks for your comment. Re the files, I do believe that someone tried to get the main base PCB made at JLCPCB and had issues with. uploading and verifying the Gerber files. So I re-drew the PCB in EasyEDA for him, but I can’t recall if I uploaded it for all to use, so I’ll have to check and get back to you on that. It was very unfortunate that the web site hosting the blogs lost or screwed up the blogs in a data migration and couldn’t be bothered to fix it. I did rewrite some of them into PDF and it was a lot of work not having the original blogs that had been through a professional editorial process. I had intended rewriting the remainder, but until now, no one has asked. It’s a bad time for me to do it right now because of other projects on the go, plus I’m just about to move house, so nearly everything will have to go on hold until that completes or allows. I do have the original Word files somewhere, which are rather raw and may not have images imbedded. My own pride wouldn’t let them go until they are tidied up. Sorry if that’s not what you want to hear.

Hi Again Alan, Yes I can confirm that V2.0 Gerber files for the Main Base PCB are available for all on my DropBox account: www.dropbox.com/sh/wxrfckxhbkx8yk9/AADxd8ruqwuGQUnVjG7HMIDpa?dl=0

Having thought about the two previous answers, Yes, the zipped-up PCB or Gerber files are enough to order the PCBs, but use the V2.0 zip file for the Main PCB. When you order PCBs from JLCPCB, you will be prompted to upload the zipped file. You will then need to select a few options. The default is usually acceptable, except for the solder mask colour. Green is default, but if you want white or black for example for the Main PCB, then that's where you choose the option. There will likely be a minimum order of 5 PCBs and you select the quantity in multiples of 5. A bit of a waste for the Main PCB, but you can use one as a jig for assembling the 8x8 panels, after you drill out the relevant holes of course. The Anode and Shift Register boards are default for everything. I was a bit mixed up about the blogs. Yes I have three to re-issue, but they are not as important as the three I've already done. A blog for the Anode board and further programming were never written, and I'm not able to do it any time soon, for reasons stated above. The Final Assembly is already one of the three completed re-writes. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your quick response. I appreciate it very much. Good luck with the move! I will send updates as I move along on the project. Alan

Hello, again. Well, I have been testing and forming the leds. Just another 300 or so to go. I have made the jigs, and ordered the parts, which has been a daunting task with supply issues. The Gerber files worked great and .y pcbs are on their way. I had to go on ebay, to get the shift registers, as they are back ordered to 2023 at most suppliers. I have questions about the power supply and wiring, you used, and what type of switch power cord arrangement did you use? Hope your move was completed quickly, and without too much stress. Best wishes Alan

Thank you

Thank you 😊

Thanks Randy. About a year ago, I would have said it was not within my capabilities. You never know unless you try. My mate Max seeded the idea, then After watching James Bruton’s video, I started to think I could give it a go. It took around 3 months to get this far, mostly learning more about Fusion, which was great fun, and I managed it. Now I need to focus on the software.

@@stevemanley3685 I ordered some small servos probably a year ago. They are still in a drawer. Eventually I am sure I will start some small project to try to experiment with servos. Not in my capabilities now but I don't doubt I can get there at some point if I try. I also want to try a RC car/vehicle just for fun. 🙂

Thanks Rutger.

Thank you, and good luck. Let me know how you get on.

I can see all your messages in my Notification, but unable to reply to them.

I wish you all the very best with that. It will be a lot of work.

@@stevemanley3685 Ooooooh yes, but I want to finish a project that also impresses myself when I look at it. I finally have the ability to pay for the components with my job because they ain't cheap haha.

I would agree, I think it brings out the colours a bit more.

@@stevemanley3685 more distinct colors, sharper edges. The other design has a more blur effect.

Sorry Andrey, I don’t have the time to look into this for you. If you want to change the design then that is up to you. I suggest you build a prototype using the different chips on some kind of breadboard. I really do have a lot on my plate and issues with much higher priority right now.

Hi Andrey, the single resistor feature of the tlc5916 and that it is suited for common anode operation seemed a logical choice at the time. The 74hc595 will indeed need 8 resistors and can source or sink 35mA. So it may well be an adequate alternative. I can’t remember the chip now, but if I were to build another cube, I’d use a chip with built in PWM on its outputs. There are many hardware solutions to building a cube and if you wish to try something different to my solution for what ever the reason, then go for it.

@@stevemanley3685 Steve, what kind of PWM chip?

@@stevemanley3685 each LED, 512 controlled by PWM. what kind of a chip is this. could you give me information, and I will try to make this project

@@stevemanley3685 Steve, I found a TLC5947 with PWM. will such a chip work?

@@MrAndrk83 Andrey, like I sad , I can’t remember. It was yeas ago, but I do think it may have been 16 channels. To be honest, If you want advice about the current design then I’m happy to advise as best I can. If you want to change up the design, the by all means go ahead, but Unfortunately I have other priorities and I do not have the time to do the research for you.. It looks like you have already started researching anyway.

@Steve manley Sounds like a very awesome project. To be clear: I'm mostly interested in a copy(Direct or traced from screenshots) of the vector outlines of the display shapes. (And to a lesser extent LED placement) Was mostly interested in getting your thoughts on what would be a direct copy of your(and his) aesthetic before sharing any resulting files.

Hello, thanks for pointing it out, I’ll look into it and update accordingly.

@Steve manley Many thanks for such a prompt and brilliant reply. I will definitely try the V.2 files and try them with PCBWAY to see what happens. The price on JLCPCB does sound rather good. Unfortunately mother took a tumble a few days ago and things are not great at the moment, the hospital even let both of us visit at the same time. She has kidney failure at the moment and things are looking a bit bad, just keeping fingers crossed as there is not a lot else we can do. I really do like your design and I might have a go at redesigning the base to use through the board fixing holes for the 4 boards that are underneath. Your wooden base is simple but brilliant, I really like that as well. I might redesign that as well to use a nice brass screw on the corners so that it could be dismantled if needs be. Also your wooden base lends itself for covering with a perspex/ acrylic case. My idea would be to order enough for 5 units and then see if I could either assemble and sell them or sell them as kits to help defray costs. I will definitely let you know how I get on but things wont be fast at the moment.

@@philipmansfield1248 Very sorry to hear about your mother, I do hope she improves. I’m also glad you have been able to see her. If I were to do the cube again, I’d place most of the shift registers on the underside of the main board as SMT devices, and use different chips with built in pulse width modulation. I’d also go black on the solder mask. Personally I’d try and avoid through hole components other than the LED structure, but as I copied and adapted my design from other folk, by all means adapt what I’ve done to your suit your needs and requirements. I wish you all the best and please do share what you do. It may benefit others.

@Steve manley Hi Steve i checked out the V2.0 files on PCBWAY and they come out the correct size. but they come out at $85 for 5 boards plus shipping. What program did you use for designing these boards? as I mentioned in my earlier reply I would like to make the pads through hole for fixing. Checked out JLCPCB and their prices are a hell of a lot cheaper and so is shipping.They do not show the white board though, but you can change that on the order form at no extra cost.

@@philipmansfield1248 I did say in my original reply that I used EasyEDA for V2. I used Fritzing for the original design. I wanted to use Eagle but as I had a hobbyist licence, I was limited to small PCBs only. I have also used KiCad. I do have a full Fusion 360 licence but find the PCB design tool frustrating and buggy, so I’m drawn to using EasyEDA more often than not. What’s nice about it is that it links into JLCPCB for ordering boards and JLC seem to be the cheapest in my experience.

@@stevemanley3685 Hi Steve, many thanks again for your kind words about mother, not heard anything this morning so that is good news. I shall definitely persevere with this and thanks again for your kind assistance. I will keep you informed and let you look at what I produce for your comments before building anything. We must be very like minded as I was thinking black for the base board myself. Could you give me a clue to the shift register smt devices and chips that you would use then I can check them out on Farnells. I already have an account there.

Hi Neil, thanks for your comments and glad you like the project. I have checked the links and they are all working for me, so I’m unable to explain why you’re unable to access them. Presuming that you were able to access the files, I’d have to say that you are Likely going to have difficulties using them. It is very unlikely you would be able to get the LED rings with exactly the same dimensions as the ones I used, which would mean the 3D printed parts would have to be customised for your rings. In addition, the Simblee module for remote controlling the clock ( not actually shown in the video ) is now obsolete with absolutely no support for it. After the IOS 14 update on my iPhone, I can no longer remote control my own clock through the Simblee App, which has been withdrawn from the App Store. So I should really remove those files and links. Simblee aside, the code if run on a Nano and wired to the correct Real Time Clock module, should still work though.

@@stevemanley3685 Thank you for your reply I will keep trying the links to see if I can get them to download Just tried a couple time before the and still connection refused again thank You

Funny thing I went to your other video and was able to download it with no problems Again Thank You

@@NeilHodgsonDARKHOURS Fantastic, glad you were able to get hold of them eventually.

Hi Jim, Sounds really great, I hope it all works out for you modifying the boards and making them yourself. Please do share a video, I'd love to see what you achived. Steve

Hi, I’m not 100% sure, but I’m not aware of a pin compatIble replacement for the TLC5816, so to change the IC would mean a change to the circuit and PCB designs, in which case, yes the IC can be changed. If I were to re-design the the circuit myself, I would most certainly change the IC, but I have no plans to do so at this time.

Hi Tical, After all the years since this project was posted, you are the first to mention this discrepancy. I have checked the circuit diagrams and my physical cube, and I can only spot 2 100uF capacitors as well, so it looks like an error in the parts list. Sorry for that. Thanks for bringing it up.

Perfect Steve. Thank you for your answer and thank you very much for your project

@@tical3988 No problem at all, and thank you for your kind words. For info, I have updated the parts list and re-uploaded it.

@@stevemanley3685 perfect. Thanks for the update, it sure avoids confusion for future users;) little by little I continue to advance in the construction of the cube. Thanks for your time

Hi Ali, I am sorry to say that I do not fully understand your comment. If you are unsure of the all the circuit board interconnections, then please take a look at the wiring schedule: www.dropbox.com/s/jdflm8djeiod0of/Steve%20Manley%208x8x8%20RGB%20LED%20Cube%20Circuit%20Board%20Interconnections.pdf?dl=0 If this is of any help, the CLK, LE & OE signals are shared across all 25 of the shift registers simultaneously. The DOUT signal is connected to the first shift register only. That signal is then daisy chained through all the other shift registers and loops from Shift Register Board (SRB) 1 to SRB2, then from SRB2 to SRB3, then SRB3 to SRB4 via the JB3 Pin 1's to JB1 Pin 1's. Unfortunately with my choice of devices, the CLK, LE & OE signal outputs from the Arduino were not able to drive that many shift registers, so I had to include a buffer chip on the Anode Board to split those signals into 2 lots, thus the CLK1, LE1 & OE1 drive the 1st & 2nd shift register boards only (13 shift registers), and the CLK2, LE2 & OE2 drive the 3rd and 4th shift register boards only (12 shift registers). Each SRB gets power (+5V & GND) from the Anode board, plus I loop a GND wire from each SRB to the next to maintain a signal ground. I hope this helps?

@@stevemanley3685 I worked on the attachment pdf. Thank you for the nice information. I got it wrong when connecting board 1 jb3 pin2 to board 2 jb1 pin 2 off led knowing there is a little glow led

@@alirifaat645 Thats great news, thanks for letting me know :-)

@@stevemanley3685 @Steve Manley yes the news is nice but i am having a problem with bore 1 jb3 pin 2 with connectivity in board 2 jb1 pin2 no led glow

@@alirifaat645 Hi, it’s not easy for me to say what’s wrong as I don’t have your cube in front of me. I can suggest swapping the SR boards around to see if there is a fault with a board or the wiring. If it’s a board, then the fault will follow it around. If the fault stays the same then it’s probably wiring. Also, just try only the first SR board connected in position 1, if that works, then move that 1 board to the other LED positions. This will prove the LEDs are okay. If the LEDs are all good, then add the 2nd board, if that’s okay, add the 3rd then the 4th. This should help you identify where the fault lies.

Thank you

@@stevemanley3685 Nice to see you doing some videos again.

@@theonlymudgel Yes, it’s been a while hasn’t it. It’s a lot of work creating them, but was enjoyable creating this one, even though I’m a bit rusty. The hardest part for me is doing the voiceovers. Its a pity I can’t edit a video that’s been uploaded as I’ve tweaked the source since posting it and improved it a bit more.

Thank you

Thanks for the kind comments. Believe it or not, I’m relatively new to Fusion 360 and the manufacturing side of it has not yet been explored. At some point I will look into it, so thanks for the prompt. The thread being only M3 and the printer using a 0.4 nozzle, it does seem a little superfluous, however, it does give the screws a slight lead over an untapped hole, so I do find it a benefit.

I recorded a great many sound bytes using a new mic and assembled them all in FinalCut Pro, and the levels were all over the place. In addition, I was very tired when I recorded the Fusion 360 walkthrough and my voice was struggling. I did try and match the audio levels manually as I don’t yet know the best way to automate that. I will try better next time 😁

@@stevemanley3685 No worries. I know FCP allows normalising audio, but I don't know whether it can do it to individual segments; I'd wager it can't. I felt you did a good job matching them, I just had the impression the _result_ was a bit too low overall; after all, there's only so much the levels can be cranked up on the receiver's side. I'd recommend looking into using the audio compressor and its Auto Gain function, if available, at a leisurely time. That should help. Best regards, A.

@@Anvilshock Really appreciate the feedback. I did centre the audio around 0db, but auto gain control or compression sounds like something I should look into. Thank you.