MIDIbox of the Week (MIDIbox64 of Pierrot)

T.K · September 5, 2004, 8:28pm

The MIDIbox64 from Pierrot - one of the most beautiful cases I ever saw!

Pierrot · September 5, 2004, 11:24pm

( thank Thorsten )

Screaming_Rabbit · September 6, 2004, 1:54am

Hey Pierrot

Even that it’s not my type of design… this a piece of art!

Greate job and I bet a hell lot a work :o

You should send the pics to the museum of modern art in New York, perhaps they would want to exhibit it ;D

Congratulations and greets

Roger

PS: I have no further questions, cause I already saw it in the French forum

jeroddumas · September 6, 2004, 2:02am

Great what do you control with it, and how did you make that case???

Steven_C · September 6, 2004, 3:48pm

Nice! So are you an Industrial Designer then? ;)

pay_c · September 6, 2004, 6:02pm

Great work! Muuuuch respect! (Is it a bought case? Is it??)

And those nice Tannoy monitor boxes there! ;D

Pierrot · September 6, 2004, 7:29pm

Hello everybody !!!

Thank a lot for what you say !! :D

So, to anwer to you questions, yes , it is an hand-made box.

The front panel is composed of a wood panel , and the sides with wood piece.

All is sanding down , put in shape wth many kind of files.

Then , there are many layers of putty ( special for cars’body)…and after many hours of sanding and polishing , I put many layers of paint.

The LCD"body" is still made in wood , and the differents parts around leds, and buttons ( play, pause, stop , record , etc) are in plastic card .

All the buttons are and made too , with polyurethan resin ( lots of work too :P ).

So, i you have any question , i’m happy to answer :D

Thank

Bye bye

Pierrot

p.s: Steven_C : no, i’m not industrial designer ;D …still student :) ( but you are right, I like design )

goyousalukis · September 7, 2004, 2:38am

Wow, that’s a beautiful case. I wish you had some photos showing the build process. I would never have guessed that it is made of wood. Great job!

Justin

Pierrot · September 15, 2004, 1:38pm

hello everybody !!

Yes Goyousalukis , i’ll put pictures of how are made the case , buttons and electronic part in some days, but I was very busy those last weeks !

Wait again please , sorry !

bye

Pierrot

Pierrot · December 21, 2004, 2:13am

Hi everybody !!

Sorry to have been missing since so long time … so , the pictures I promished to show you how it is inside the midibox , and how are made the buttons :

[ftp]http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20007.jpg[/ftp]

[ftp]http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20008.jpg[/ftp]

[ftp]http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20009.jpg[/ftp]

[ftp]http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20023.jpg[/ftp]

[ftp]http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20024.jpg[/ftp]

banneduser · December 21, 2004, 2:29am

Wow!

That’s plain incredible! I don’t even want to think how long making all those buttons and knobs took..

BYe, Moebius

Pierrot · December 21, 2004, 2:37am

Hello Moebius !

mmm ..yes it is long and a bit boring , it took around 1 month , to do all (2 panel , and made 260 buttons (beause there are 2 machine, the second is not still finished ) ,all electronc, and building, preparating all..)

Bye Pierrot

goyousalukis · December 21, 2004, 4:38pm

WOW! Talk about DIY!

So you made a “master” knob and then made a cast and then made your own knobs/buttons?

That is an awesome Idea - What materials did you use - How long did it take for them to harden? Did you paint them or is the color cast in?

Once again - beautiful job!

Justin

ladybug · December 22, 2004, 10:30am

wow !!!

this is awesome!!!

and its all DIY !! (did i say awesome allready ?)

where can i learn how to make those knobs/buttons ?

what materials did u use for the case ?

wood is the base but how did u make ir that round ?

MORE PICTURES PLEASE !!!

was it worth the money?

i mean… would’nt it be cheaper just buying the knobs/buttons ?

Pierrot · December 23, 2004, 3:02am

Hello Everybody !!

I see that lots of people would like to know how all is made … so I’m going to try to explain :

*First , the maters: it is made in wood , paper , plastic and mastic( all wath you want Â ! ). there are no rules to do it, just to respect some things like don’t make thin parts, with salient / re-entrant angles , and avoid to make complicated shapes ( prefer shape with smooth corner).

*the matrix: it is made with a “caouchouc aux silicones” ( in french Â ;D ) it is a “synthetic Â silicon rubber” composed of 2 pastes ,that need to be mixed together and that make an elastic part.

* To make the matrix, apply some synthetic rubber around the masters , and let the rubber polymerize.

After the rubber is beame solid, just remove the master, and you get a matrix ! ( note : don’t use special turn out product ! it detain the rubber’s polymerization )

pictures here :

http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20bouton%20moule%20et%20master%20vu%20de%20face.jpg

http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20ensemble%20bouton%20moule%20et%20master%20dessus.jpg

http://crozit.free.fr/bouton%20vu%20de%20cote.jpg

http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20caouchouc%20aux%20silicones.jpg

* The buttons: it is made in polyurethan resin ( 2 constituents )

http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20resines%20bi%20composant%20polyurethane.jpg

The resin I used made with a mix of 50% of resin ,and 50% of hardener. You just have to mix them 20 second, and put into the matrix , and wait for 10 minutes.You’ll see the resin become trouble, and become totaly opaque and beige.

http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20boutons%20brut%20vrac.jpg

to make all the parts ( around 260 parts for me ), I needed around 3 days.

Note that the color of the parts is beige ( this strange pale yellow) , and i tried to color them in puting into the resin a universal colouring ( black ) ,but it made a strange chimical reaction : it make lots of bubbles ! lool

That is why all parts are painted with acrylic paints

http://crozit.free.fr/Photo%20peintures%20acryliques.jpg

for the price of all those parts, including resin and all, it is around 150 euros ( around 180$ I think).

So, next time, I’ll buy it , because it take to much time to make, and the result is nice but not so good than with comercial parts ! lol

In fact I wanted to control all the design of my midibox, that is why I made myself the buttons and the case …but itis relly to much work ( 1 month ! Â :P) and I have one other to fiish for a friend ! ??? lol

So, I Hope that You’ll understand my bad engish and hope you understood all Â ;D

Bye

Pierrot

ladybug · December 23, 2004, 10:07am

thanks Pierrot !!

this is realy interesting, RESPECT for the hard work/patience.

i dont think i will ever do those buttons/knobs but still a few questions :

i see the hole in the knob is round ! how did u fixed it ??
me personally more interested in making the (wood) case.

please send more pictures of how u made it

what do u mean by “wood , paper , plastic and mastic” ??

the wood and mastic i understand but how did u use the paper and plastic ?

i REALY liked the shape of this case !!! rounded ! no corners !

i want to make one myself !

so can u tell more details (as detailed as u can) ?

general question : is there a preference for wood/plastic/metal case when thinking on electronics ?

thinking of ‘grounding’…‘static electricity’ … etc.

and Pierrot: that is a VERY nice studio u got there…

what kind of music r u creating ? where can i hear it ?

Pierrot · December 30, 2004, 9:37pm

Hello RasOfir !

To answer to your questions :

For knobs: [ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/Photo%20schema%20bouton.jpg[/ftp]

For Buttons : [ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/Photo%20schema%20bouton%20switch.jpg[/ftp]

For the box :[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/Photo%20dessin%20ensemble.jpg[/ftp]

The front panel is in wood Â ( 5 mm of thickness ) and all the holes are made with a hammer drill , and square hole are made with a square file…

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/Photo%20panneau%20brut.jpg[/ftp]

and all is assembled with glue, and nails Â

After asembling, I put on all the surface lots of mastic ( used to repair car’s body)…and had to sand down and polish a lot Â ;D ( ouch , my fingers Â :P)

For plastic and paper, …I don’t know what to say .. lol

I used lots of plastic cards ( used for model building) , old pens ( with plastic body ), and lots of thing I found and who get the good shapes to do what I wanted ..it you who have to choose !

For electric problem ..I haven’t with my midibox …but just take care of the hot part of the Core ( transistor ) with wood : problem of fire maybe… ?I don’t know

For the Music and my home studio ( but very small Â :P ;D) Â thank you !

I make electronic music,exatcly, Â House music

( I try to do it in the french tradition of the house music , that mean disco, funky and filtered Â :P ) … some picture here :

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/Photo%20hs%20avec%20basse.jpg[/ftp]

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/Photo%20hs%20ensemble%20deux.jpg[/ftp]

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/Photo%20midibox%20branchee.jpg[/ftp]

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/Photo%20racks%20face%20deux.jpg[/ftp]

For music, ..I have some tracks there ( but only made with software, I have not still the time to make complete tracks with my harware ..)…there are remix, and full played tracks :

“don’t stop” ( stupid mix)

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/dont%20stop_stupid%20mix.mp3[/ftp]

“funky ?” ( chocolate mix)

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/funky_chocolate%20mix.mp3[/ftp]

“Every day Every night”

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/Every%20day%20every%20night.mp3[/ftp]

“I’m facinated” (Reconstruction mix):

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/I%20m%20facinated_reconstruction%20mix.mp3[/ftp]

“So Long” ( Disco Classic Mix):

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/Krokro_So%20long_Disco%20classic%20remix.mp3[/ftp]

“Lounge Music” :

[ftp]http://krokro1.free.fr/lounge%20music.mp3[/ftp]