Comment by cweagans
3 years ago
IMO, the bezel is way way way too big for how much screen space there is. Instead of red oak, I'd suggest looking at walnut or cherry -- something with more color and a little less texture might help the screen to take focus. You could also look at separating the screen from the bezel with some kind of mat board or something (another commenter linked to an instructable that did this).
I'm also not super clear on the the exact use case for this. Have you considered making it more of a portrait orientation, making it a single day view, and maybe adding some additional information (maybe some todos from Todoist or something?)
The wood is actually beech, though this particular batch I got for the prototypes had a surprising amount of texture. I am planning to use lighter colors in future.
Regarding your second point: I'd love to support a multitude of layout options some day.
Huh. Alright then. Either way, I'd recommend leaning toward a less textured, richer/darker color and species of wood. If you go lighter, it's going to look a little washed out IMO.
Also, in your quality control for the wood bits, make sure that those mitered corners all line up evenly across the entire joint (examples of what I'm talking about highlighted here: https://monosnap.com/file/MkTzAjJhx7v7DkL5kOKypQNFKVyrNU). People who have purchased any kind of fine woodworking will see this and see something somewhat poorly made, even if the actual electronic hardware and software parts of the product are rock solid. The presence of those gaps means that one or more of the following things are true: 1) the miters weren't cut at a perfect 45, 2) the wood wasn't dried long enough, 3) the pieces were cut too short, 4) the wood was moved from a high humidity environment to a low humidity one (causing it to dry out and shrink slightly). 1 and 3 can be solved by closer inspection/better processes for the people/machines cutting the wood. 2 and 4 are harder to remedy if it's possible at all. I'd guess it would mean a new supplier + factory doing the wood bits.
Not necessarily saying that layout options would be _necessary_. Just pointing out that something more focused on showing immediately relevant information (i.e. scoped to _today_, rather than this entire week) might help to more clearly define the value of the product to a prospective buyer.
Personally I prefer the subtlety of using lighter woods (maple would be my preference).
A darker wood enhances the contrast with the white e-paper, but is over-the-top (IMHO).
I guess I see a lot of people new to woodworking do the maple+walnut thing to make a bold statement but I don't feel it stands up over time ... if that makes sense.
Thank for the tips on the woodwork. I am not sure if a darker color would make the screen look brighter or darker.
I had noticed those gaps in the frame as well. I agree they look poorly made :)
I think they are mostly from the fact that this was cut with a hand saw, and the cut wasn't even throughout the Z axis. I am hoping that I will be able to fix this as I go from a prototyping process to a more refined production process.
Another commentator brought up CNC milling the wood - what do you think of that idea?
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To me the value is in seeing the entire week. I already have my outlook notifications for things happening on the current day.
You might want to consider making the screen flush with the front of the wood. As-is, the frame is going to case a shadow over the screen.
Or split the difference and stain with a gray stain to create wood grain that matches the grays of the screen.