[Buffalo Bill]

Hey, so I gots a few questions for building my cMoy, I guess about products. Anyways, this 'Hammond Constructed Case' that I've seen on zMoy and a few other cMoys here... where can I get it and how much? If I followed the tutorial from tangentsoft, will it fit nicely?

Also, for my LED, where do I buy those fancy caps that make a better finish?
http://www.dansdata.com/images/cmoy/amp640.jpg
(preferably something that looks like that in the picture)

Lastly, is there an alternitive to solder? I'm not very good; after alot of practice I'm still slow and make alot of clumps... or should I keep practicing?

 

[Pars]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buffalo Bill Hey, so I gots a few questions for building my cMoy, I guess about products. Anyways, this 'Hammond Constructed Case' that I've seen on zMoy and a few other cMoys here... where can I get it and how much? If I followed the tutorial from tangentsoft, will it fit nicely?

You can get these at Digikey, Mouser, Allied, etc. How much depends upon which one (size) you decide on. I wouldn't go with the smallest one, particularly for your first build. I can't recall whether Tangent's guide discusses sizes or not. I would probably build it, get it working, and put in a mint tin first, then as you get more experience, get a Hammond case.

Quote:

Also, for my LED, where do I buy those fancy caps that make a better finish? http://www.dansdata.com/images/cmoy/amp640.jpg (preferably something that looks like that in the picture)

You can get those at Radioshack, or any of the above-mentioned places.

Quote:

Lastly, is there an alternitive to solder? I'm not very good; after alot of practice I'm still slow and make alot of clumps... or should I keep practicing?

Sorry, no alternative to soldering. Grab an extra board at Radioshack and practice on it a bit. Take your time (particularly when you start building. There are some soldering tutorials available online (do a search here for "tutorial". Make sure you heat both the component lead and the solder pad or whatever you are soldering it into, and use a small pencil iron (15-25W). Good luck.

 

[sbelyo]

A tip on soldering:

If you are making globs of solder, your iron isn't getting hot enough.

Rememeber to keep your tip clean

Touch a little solder to the iron tip before you make a solder joint. This does two things, It finds the tip's hot spot and also generates more heat.

Then place the tip to the area where you'd like to make a solder joint and let it heat the area for a second and then apply solder a little at a time.

You don't need much solder for a good joint and it should be shiny after you're done.

Use a piece of steel wool or a dry sponge to keep the tip clean. Anything with liquid will reduce the tip's tempature.

As far as the led holders I would try ebay. There's a guy on there that sells them for around $0.40.

Any case that is 1" high and between 2.5 and 2.75" wide will work. The length depends on how many batteries you need 4.6" will fit two 9 volts.

Once you build a few you'll be able to shrink it down.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Alright awesome! 'Nother trip to Radio Shack! I'll keep an eye out for some cases, too. Thanks!