cheap car stereo for the workbench project

[Jack Crow]

Hi all,

As you know I have been trying to replace a big Harmon Kardon receiver with something that has a smaller foot print.
Almost there. One connector adapter away at this point. Today was the day.

On various youtube channels there are articles on cheap car radios.
This was one of the more reviewed units.
21 bucks and change out the door at the local Walmart.
It has no 'mech' (tape deck, cd drive) in it.
The box is all electronic.
Will support Bluetooth wireless from the music player in the smart phone.
An OK tuner for FM, have not tried it much on AM.
Will support memory sticks for that format.
One more cable or connector I can patch the headphone output of the computer to the Aux input of the stereo.
One of the best things is the little remote control unit. Very slick.
Not a bad bit of gear for not a whole lot of money.

I can see this being real popular in garages, work benches, and outbuildings. Low cost and risk.

In my world, using the two sides of a shelf (plus the edge) is simply efficient use of space.
Made an under shelf bracket to hold this radio.

4-8-2018 012.JPG

The attachment sleeve is 50mm deep, so I made the bracket to match.
4-8-2018 013.JPG

The idea was to make one part twice since a DIN is a bit too wide for the printer.
Make two half's and glue them into one part.
Made a measurement error when I printed the first side.
Turns out I was 3 mm too short.
So rather than waste the part, I made the second side 3mm longer.
That completed this project.

Went ahead and corrected the first drawing so if I need more of these, it will come out right.
Deleted the 'custom' units.

The big holes are to save on plastic and reduce the mass of this project.
They are 35mm wide.

There are four cut off screws in the join to line things up.
4-8-2018 015.JPG

Used a very nasty and toxic Locktite Plastic Bonder epoxey from the auto parts store.
Fumes form that are very bad for the head.
On PLA it works well. The whole bracket was fairly stiff.

4-8-2018 016.JPG
Front view is fairly cool.

4-8-2018 017.JPG
This is the bottom view looking up.
Just to show how it all fits.
The radio has nearly no mass, so 10% fill is not a problem.
Did not need the four mounting holes I built into it.
Two did the job fine.

It's playing right now into a pair of old Minimus 7 radio shack speakers.
More than enough volume to fill this small work shop.

Guess the next project is to make a little 'pocket' to store the remote in so it won't take damage on the work bench.

Be well all.
Jack Crow

[RetireeJay]

Hmm... Glues for plastic are interesting.

It's very tough to glue Nylon. There is a Loctite epoxy which will work on nylon. It has very strong fumes from a plastic solvent that's part of the mix. I learned not to stir it up in a plastic cup!

PET (T-Glase, which is PETT) glues up just fine with ordinary 2-part epoxy. I expect PETG will also glue up just fine with 2-part epoxy.

Googling adhesives for PLA, I ran across a reference to "welding" it with methylene chloride. So just go to your hardware store and get PVC cement - that stuff does have some odor and some warnings on the label, but it's not gonna kill you very quickly; plumbers use it by the gallon. Use in a well ventilated space, of course - and keep it away from any source of ignition.

[Jack Crow]

RJ
No argument from me.
Hope your well there.
Jack Crow