This is not a distraction
I ordered a thing-o-matic. It should arrive in a month. Then another month to build it. Then I can get on to the important task of making beatseqr keychains.
No, but seriously, I think I can prototype top panel layouts and button arrays using the 3d printer. That could be a welcome change from the seemingly endless cycle of wasted time and money while producing new… things. Crap. I’m supposed to not say any more, aren’t I.
A slow march
The new baby in our house is almost 3 months old. We’re still on a pretty unpredictable sleep schedule, so doing much in the garage has been next to impossible. I have, however, acquired a couple of work desks to make my production environment more official. Doesn’t look like much, but it’s a huge step up from what I was using previously.
I really can’t say when I can kick back into gear, but there have been signs of progress lately beyond the desks. I don’t want to say much yet, but there’s something coming to me in the mail soon. Then I’ll be extra not talking about it until its working, then more not talking about it until I can figure out the enclosure and whatnot. It might be fun. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be fun. I’m predicting a high chance for fun.
Version 4.51 multiples
Whew. One more of these units is out on loan, and one more needs a case+hardware… And that’ll be all of this version. 4.52 will be *extremely* minor tweaks…
Top panel final
It took a few iterations, but I think this works. Oh. Haha. I just realized how similar this look is to the version 3 acrylic cases. That’s probably why I like it. Anyway… I know the whole world is collapsing, but I’m pretty much done with research for version 4.51. I have a few of these boxes, then capacity for about more 10 boxes. Then I start to run out of some parts that are end of life’d, and I’ll have to re-evaluate my options.
What I do need to do is set up some customer relationship management infrastructure. But, I can do that behind the scenes.
Top panel laminated artwork overlay experiment
I’m going to test out a laminated paper artwork overlay. Here’s a first pass. Actually … Second pass. First one sucked bigtime. This one feels pretty good. I’ll post another photo when it’s laminated and mounted to the case.









