My "Scarface" Ruby

[sergscar]

Hi Guys !,
I'm absolutely new on electronics, but decided that Ruby circuitry should not be a difficult project to do, therefore, started to work on it.
First, I made a proto in a used olive oil box, then, improved little by little until reaching the final stuff I post here:





The weight: 350Grs (without battery)
Dims: 14 cms (w) x 10 cms (h) x 7 cms (deep).

I'll post some photos of the back, as well as make a short movie, so you can hear it.
The case was hand-made in wood, painted with Maxi-Rubber first, and a bi-component varnish for extra protection.
Ortophonic fabric was used for hiding the speaker (3", 8 Ohm) and can be powered by a 9V Battery, or a 12V transformer, according to user's preferences. 

For next builds, I expect to introduce e few mods, such as a) Tone pot and b) headphones jack (still wondering how to disconnect the spkr when pluggin-in the headphones...).

Screws are not pretty at all, but I've already found another alternative for improving the finishing.

Hope you like, and suggestions/ideas are always welcome !
See you.

[J M Fahey]

Sergscar: excellent work. Can you provide some more details about the textured black covering paint you used? Thanks.
PS: parabéns Sérgio pelo seu ótimo trabalho.

[svstee]

Very nice, I love the look of that Maxi-Rubber. An idea for you headphone jack:

[sergscar]

J M Fahey, good night
Maxi-Rubber is, in fact that "rubbered" paint used inside car's trunk (under the carpet), and below the cars, for protecting against stones spitted-out by the car tyres. Hope have expressed well... (se você estiver no Brasil, é fácil de achar em qualquer loja de tinta automotiva, o nome comercial do produto é "batida de pedra").
I guess the product can be found all over the world, obviously, under different brand-names.
In case you have additional questions, pls don't hesitate in asking me !

svstee, good night
Many thks for the headphone jack's tip. Is this schematic supplied with "Storm Software" or you created it with it ?
As far as I can see, this would give me the 2 outputs in paralell (maybe I'm wrong). do you have a similar one that disconnect the spkr ?
Sorry for being so abbusive  ...
And thks once again !

p.s.: JMFahey, acabo de ver que estás en Argentina. decime si necesitás te hable mas sobre el Maxi-Rubber, ok ?

[teemuk]

Just use a switching jack.

[sergscar]

Hi Teemuk !
Many thanks your suggestion, I'll look for this kind of jack.  :tu:
I do live in a small town, maybe I have to go to the "big city" to buy it...  who knows ! 

[svstee]

It is a dpdt switch, meaning that depending on the position of the switch, you are running either into the headphone jack or your speaker.
I n my layout, toggle switch down means headphone jack, up means speaker.

[sergscar]

Thanks svstee !,
In case I can found the jack indicated by teemuk, this would be easier (also reducing the cost, since that jack would have 2 functions), however, I've seen that, for headphone's usage, it would be necessary to add a resistor to the + pin, in order to attenuate the output and, in this case, the resistor would also affetct the spkr's output power...
I'm in a crossroad...
Thks to all, I'm learning (and thinking), which is good ! 

[iTzALLgoOD]

Nice work! 
I have built 5-6 Ruby/Little Gem's and always found the covering the box was the hardest part.

Sergscar: excellent work. Can you provide some more details about the textured black covering paint you used? Thanks.
PS: parabéns Sérgio pelo seu ótimo trabalho.

I used Dupli-Color spayable bedliner from the auo-parts store on the last 3.  It works out really nice and it's a lot easier than vinyl or tolex.  It's about $8 for the can but it did 3 smaller size cabinets.

[teemuk]

I have made few experiments with simple cloth fabrics and denim-like materials. You can glue that stuff with plain wood glue so they are much easier to apply than tolex. The biggest problems of them are that they tear and get very dirty easily (being much harder to clean than vinyl-like materials). What seems to work is impregnating the fabrics with several coats of lacquer, which makes the cloth hard and stiff (no more tears) and also prevents it from sucking too much moisture and dirt. You can simply brush the cloth clean from any dust and dirt.

I did not make these but you get the overall idea. Doesn't look too bad when done properly:

[sergscar]

Hi teemuk,
Your work in denim is very very nice, as well as the idea of lacquer coating, for protection.

Have made another version, with the front in wood, which gives a nice "old fashion" look.

Here you have it...