Plinko Board Build, Day 6: Leg Work, Paint, and the Start of the Electronics

October 29, 2022

Liz, using the digital angle finder to determine the best angle for our board. This will ultimately determine how we fashion the end of the legs/stand.

The dividers, glued in place. Looking really nice.

While I was upstairs working on the electronic pieces, Liz was downstairs doing all the woodworking tasks. We’re adding stringers to the legs, and needed to cut into the legs.

The video we’ve been referencing a lot (the great tutorial by Bob Clagett (of I Like to Make Stuff)) shows him using a Jigsaw to make these cuts. Liz ended up using the table saw, and using a series of kerf cuts instead.

The legs, with stringers, assembled and painted!

The board, with a bit of paint along the exterior.

This thing is really starting to shape up.

The whole day today, I was upstairs doing a lot of planning and sketching and prepping, for all the various steps I needed for the electronics.

I had a hard time getting started, as it felt like this irrevocable step fraught with the potential for things to go wrong. But time was ticking, and I needed to get the lighting elements in shape.

I purchased 3 Neopixel LED strips. Two were for the sides, and one was meant for the bottom row (to highlight the candy). So I ended up cutting the 1 meter long strip into smaller segments. Which was really daunting.

Breaking out the switches, in preparation for soldering wires to them. Compared to soldering the LED strips… this was a breeze.

I’m not sure how I even accomplished my first and second solder attempts. I was so ham fisted today, I was leaving huge gobs of solder left and right.

As much as I struggled, I can’t even imagine doing anything small and with precision. I really need more soldering practice.