Parts List

Warning

The following parts lists may contain errors and are published without any warranty. Please carefully review before ordering components.

Tools

Before digging into the parts list, let’s have a look at the tools needed to assemble the wordclock. Generally, these can be categorized in three categories: definitely needed, access required, and nice to have.

Definitely needed:

These tools are used at various points during the assembly of OpenWordClock. Make sure to have them at hand before starting the project.

• Soldering iron

• Screwdriver

Access required:

These tools are needed to create the components of the body. Nonetheless, if it is not feasible to own them, you should still get access to these tools, i.e. in your local maker space or fablab.

• 3D printer

• Laser cutter

• Foil plotter

Nice to have:

Albeit not strictly needed, the following tools come in handy throughout the assembly.

• Hot air SMD soldering iron

• Crimping pliers and supplies

• Tweezers

The final list contains consumables, that come in handy from time to time throughout the project.

Consumables:

• Wood glue

• universal purpose glue or superglue

• solvents for cleaning (i.e. isopropanol)

Body parts and fasteners

The table below lists all parts necessary for the assembly of the body of an OpenWordClock. All laser cut parts are cut from a single 600 mm x 900 mm sheet of 3 mm thick MDF using this template. For a nice surface finish, I recommend using MDF with a white surface coating. The stock material as well as the edge band can be sourced in your local hardware store.

The corner blocks are 3D printed in PLA with 5-15 % infill and can be printed with rather thick layers (0.15 mm). As these are internal parts, they are not seen in the final outcome.

Body Parts

Qty.	Description	Material	Comment
1	Baseplate	MDF (3mm)	Laser cut
2	Vertical long	MDF (3mm)	Laser cut
2	Horizontal long	MDF (3mm)	Laser cut
10	Vertical short	MDF (3mm)	Laser cut
9	horizontal long	MDF (3mm)	Laser cut
1	Top	MDF (3mm)	Laser cut
1	Bottom	MDF (3mm)	Laser cut
1	Left	MDF (3mm)	Laser cut
1	Right	MDF (3mm)	Laser cut
4	Corner block	PLA	3D print
1	Edge band > 25 mm wide		approx. 2 m

The body is held in place by a bunch of fasteners listed in the table below. The table also lists fasteners needed to attach the control board and the front panel. These should also be available in your local hardware store.

Note

The table lists screws explicitely as torx screws. However, any other suitable screw head fits the purpose as well.

Fasteners

Qty.	Description
16	M3 heat set insert
16	M3x6 Button head torx screw
16	M3 Washer
4	M2x6 standoff
8	M2x5 Button head torx screw
8	M2 washer
16	Magnet round 5 mm x 2 mm

For the front panel, the required materials and parts depend on the preferred style of front panel. The table lists the parts for the two styles of front panel, that I have worked with.

Front panel components

Qty.	Description	Dimensions
1	Polystyrene sheet (3mm)	450 mm x 450 mm
1	Foil stencil	ca. 500 mm x 500 mm
or
1	Laser cut stencil in material of choice	450 mm x 450 mm
1	Polystyrene diffusor (0.5 mm)	approx. 0.2 m2

Control board and electronics

The control board of the OpenWordClock can be realized in two ways: Either you take an off-the-shelf Arduino Nano and pair it with a DS3231 RTC evaluation board or you decide to order and assemble the custom control pcb according to the schematics provided in the repository. For the custom PCB, consult your preferred PCB producer; usually it is possible to order a small quantity of boards. The table below lists the components needed for the latter case. The part numbers refer to the part on Digi-Key, where I sourced all components.

Note

The tables list the quantities needed for a single control board. However, ordering in bulk may significantly reduce the price for the individual board. That is true for the board on the one hand side, and for the components on the other side as well.

From my experience, ordering 10, instead of 1 board, may cut the price per board in half.

Custom control pcb comonents

Qty.	Description	Value	Digi-Key part No.
1	Custom PCB
1	Battery holder BS-7		BS-7-ND
1	Battery CR2032		2984-CR2032-H-ND
3	Capacitor	1 uF	445-FK24X7R1H105KR000-ND
5	Capacitor	100 nF	399-9877-1-ND
2	Diode 1N5818		2368-1N5818-ND
1	Micro-USB connector		WM1714CT-ND
1	Pin header 90° 1x3		WM19494-ND
1	Pin header 90° 1x8		WM4106-ND
1	Pin header 2x3		WM23646-ND
1	Pin header 2x4		WM8140-ND
1	LED	Green	732-5017-ND
2	LED	Yellow	732-5018-ND
1	LED	Red	732-5016-ND
4	Resistor	10 k	10.0KXBK-ND
4	Resistor	1 k	1.00KXBK-ND
4	Resistor	4.7 k	4.7KQBK-ND
4	Resistor	1 M	1.0MQBK-ND
1	Thermal resettable fuse MFFSMF050		MF-FSMF050X-2
1	Miniature push button		450-1650-ND
1	DIP switch 3x		208-3
1	USB controller FT232RL		768-1007
1	Microcontroller ATmega328 p		ATMEGA328P-PU
1	DIP socket 2x14		ED3050-5-ND
1	RTC DS3231MZ		DS3231MZ+
1	Memory AT24CS32		AT24D32D-SSHM-B
1	Crystal oscillator	16 MHz	2151-AS-16.000-18-ND

Independent of how you realize the control board, the following electronic components are needed. These are the buttons to control the clock, the LEDs and any other components to guarantee functionality.

Other electronic components

Qty.	Description		Digi-Key part No.
1	5.5/2.5 mm low voltage barrel plug
1	Power switch
3	Push button
1	5 mm LED socket
1	Photodiode (5 mm LED packaging)
1	LED strip WS2812B (30/m)	5 m
2	Wago clamp 3x
1	Wago clamp 2x
1	Wire red 0.5 mm2	ca. 2.5 m
1	Wire black 0.5 mm2	ca. 2.5 m
1	Wire blue 0.25 mm2	ca. 2.5 m
1	Signal wire various colors 0.14 mm2	ca. 2.5 m

Here, the red and black cable cary power to the LEDs, the thinner blue carries the signal. Various color signal wire is used to connect buttons and the photodiode. The WAGO clamps help to connect the LEDs.