Close up of the lit numeral 4.

It's 9:59:40!

2006-11-21 - Finishing up the clock housing

I used the leftover walnut I had from the clock face, split it down the middle, and cut my 45 degree angles for the sides of the housing to attach to.  I also had to mill out the back of the last tube hole to fix some alignment issues with that number.

Here I am milling out a space for the circuit board to fit using a forstner bit and a hand drill.  This would have been much easier and more precise with a drill press, but I didn't have one at the time.

The finished pieces, drilled & dowelled, ready for glue up and clamping.

All glued up! I have to clamp the sandpaper to this flat surface and rub the board so all the pieces are flush and smooth.  A sander would have made this easier, but this is a project on a budget!

Sanded smooth, flush and square, ready for tung oil finish and assembly.

The tung oil is applied in 2 coats, and left hanging in the garage to dry.

2006-07-08 Wiring is DONE!

The assembled clock face with tubes and bezels,

I had to hand wire all these connections from the leads on the back of the tubes back to the homemade plug that fits into the side of the circuit board.  I had to measure, crimp, and keep track of over 60 connections from the circuit board to the tubes.

2006-07-07 - IT WORKS!!  I tested the outputs with the multimeter, set the power from 240volts down to 175, which is in the operating range of the Z560Ms.  I got half my cathode connectors wired up with some help from some parts from Fry's.  I plugged in half my tubes, and they count the time!  Can't wait to plug in the rest of the tubes.  I have to fix one part of my walnut board where the milling machine got loose and drilled too deep, but it's close to being finished.

2006-07-03 - Finally finished assembling the clock board.  Now I have to make the tube connectors.  I also finished milling out my walnut plank so the sockets I got from Hungary will fit.

2006-06-27 - My Clock Board kit from Germany arrives today.  Can't wait to get it put together.  I will have to solder all the components and make the connectors, as I didn't buy the tube board.  I am spacing my tubes out wider than their tube board allows.

2006-03-27 - Greg Beaman finished my tube bezel copies for my Z560Ms. Excellent work!

May 4, 2006 - My 10 z560M sockets and tubes arrived today from Hungary.  Thanks Istvan!.  The sockets and tubes fit perfectly with the machined bezels.

2006-01-15 - Got a set of three Z560M tubes from Budapest.  These are much better tubes than the russian IN1s I got previously.

2005-10-05 - High voltage power supply from Alltronics arrived today, after a trip to Radio shack for a wallwart and some jumper leads, my first nixie tube LIVES!!

2005-07-09 - My Nixie Clock project will be underway soon.  I finally found a set of 6 IN-1 russian tubes from Lithuania, and a set of 6 TI SN74141N Driver chips.  Now all I need is a power supply to get the tubes working, and then to begin research and design on my PC board.