Second post: cutting
This is the third post.
This post is how I cut holes for and installed the buttons. There are pictures at the bottom for how the alarm clock turned out.
I used this hole-saw drill bit, which was 1'', and I needed something a little bigger than 1 1/8". 1 1/4" would be too big.
Clamping the lid. I put a wooden spacer underneath that was flush to the lid. This way the underside of the cut would be cleaner.
Pictures after drilling.
Here you can barely see the pencil outline of the desired hole. I have to sand away that much.
Poor man's sander. After sanding by hand a bit, the sandpaper taped around the hole saw would fit. This method worked pretty well. First I sanded it by hand, then spun it with a drill. I was careful not to let the hole saw slip or cut me while I held the lid.
Sanded holes.
Test fit, it worked well.
Test fit.
Mounting the button circuit board.
These mounting posts originally held the CD player circuit board too, so I had to substitute these extra silver washers to make the screw tighten.
Here's how I soldered the buttons. I just connected them to the leads of the existing buttons so that they would still operate.
I left enough slack in the wires so that one could open the lid and see inside and so that they could bend easily to a good closed position.
Here's soldering the wires from the backup battery (for when the power goes out). This is the first time I used heat shrink tubing; I heated it with a lighter, which worked well enough.
As you can see from the above picture, I forgot to put the wire through the hole in the circuit board before soldering back together. So I had to cut it, put it through the hole, and solder it again (it wouldn't fit around). :P
Closed lid.
How the wires reach under.
Finished alarm clock.
What's visible when you open the lid.
Hope you thought that was interesting!
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