@mykle1 @yawns @bhepler @ninjabreadman @cruunnerr

After a bit of a hiatus due to other projects, I’m back at it. Think I should open a new post as the site suggested?

I got two cheap ~20" monitors and cut two panes of glass to size. I figure the first one I do will be kinda an MVP (minimum viable product) approach, and with the second I’ll customize it more to my preferences.

My main question is how to securely attach the wood rear frame to the monitor. This isn’t a glue situation is it? I’ve got few heavy duty glues but that still doesn’t “feel” secure.

The guides I’ve seen seem to gloss over like it’s obvious. To me at least, it’s not.

Remaining little questions:
How thick should/must the wood for the frame be? How much heft does it need to properly support the monitor/mirror? How much space can I safely save by cutting it down to get it closer to flush with the wall?

At least in my mind, the back frame shouldn’t encompass the entire perimeter but be strategically located on the back of the monitor. But maybe I’m wrong here, as I suppose it serves the purpose of blocking the view of the inner workings.

Thanks for all your help along the way. I’m looking forward to sharing pics of the completed beta build as soon as I can!

Think this is too old/bad to be a good fit for such a project?

https://bellingham.craigslist.org/sys/d/excellent-condition-samsung/6476424727.html

@Mykle1 Is there a reason people seem to favor computer monitors for this project than TVs? There are some cheap flatscreens in my area for pretty cheap.

@Mykle1

The Jimmy arrives today and unless I can come up with a better idea I’ll just be trying to crack this thing open like a monkey with a rock.

I got it for just $25 and could probably find another use for it, so I’m half tempted to look for another cheapo that may be easier to open. I dunno man. I dunno.

@Mykle1 Heh I might do the woodwork on my next one. I plan to make at least a few of these.

He’s a very talented woodworker, he could make it look better than I ever could. Worth a few beers at the very least. I need both the rear frame and bezel cut, so maybe a 24 pack is in order :-)

@Mykle1
Also you may have mentioned this earlier and I’ve forgotten, but what size is your monitor? I’m considering upping my size… =-/

@Mykle1 Dang, that’s pretty good lookin’. I especially like your frame. I think in some ways the frame makes or breaks it. With a poor/ugly frame it loses it’s “future tech” feel and instead looks tacky. But what you’ve done with a high quality frame keeps the mirror crisp and communicates that it’s not some poorly thrown together novelty/oddity. I think it’s similar to when you see what was once a very nice car that’s been beaten up and not lookin’ good.

I’m probably not going to try to go bezel free for my first build, but as it happens my next door neighbor is a big wood working guy. I’m gonna ask for his help with that part of this. I just gotta think of some kind of gift I can give him in return…

@Mykle1 Could you show me how this mirror looks from the front? Do you have it vertical or horizontal?

@cruunnerr said in Prepping my first build. Care to check my work?:

@bhepler said in Prepping my first build. Care to check my work?:

• Give a thought to power. Are you routing the power through the wall? Through a hole in your internal framework? Consider that at the moment, you have to power the Pi and the monitor, so that’s two cords.

That is a good keyword. If u just want one cord u can think about using a step-down converter.
Don’t know what Voltage your monitor will be using. In my case my monitor needs 12V and the RPi 5V as normal.

So i choosed a big 12V power supply (5A or 60W) to power both.

Then i ordered a DC-DC Step Down converter: https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Converter-Step-down-Regulator-Stabilizer/dp/B019RKVMKU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1516968110&sr=8-5&keywords=lm2596&th=1

connect the 12V output of the power supply to the converter input and parallel to your monitor.
adjust the converter output to 5 - 5.1V and connect it with your Pi :)

You can see an example here: https://forum.magicmirror.builders/topic/6048/my-first-mirror-until-now/12

This looks like the way to go, though perhaps a bit more advanced than I am. I think I’ll give this a go when I build my second mirror :-)

@Mykle1 Awesome, thanks for your thorough response!

I’ve hit a snag with the monitor, I don’t know how to get the bezel off. Videos online for this same model (but apparently different sub-model) have screws and clips in places where mine does not. I’ve got the Acer AL2216W sd. Would it be ideal to just use brute force on it? Hell no! There’s gotta be a better way, but I haven’t found it. I ordered a jimmy and may just wait for it to arrive to try and crank that thing open. Any advice would be much appreciated :-)

@Mykle1
Hmm I may go that route. I like how well contained everything sits in your rig.

What I should have put in my original parts list is that I snagged one of these guys Cablelera Power Cord Extension and Splitter, NEMA 5-15P to NEMA 5-15R x 2, 16 AWG, 13A, 125V (ZWACPQAG-14) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FRODUR4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Hh2AAbABEH35N (sorry, on mobile) to deal with the power issue, though it miiiight not be the most elegant solution.

Perhaps theres a forum more suited for this kind of post, feel free to let me know and I’ll get outa here.

In any case, I’m getting ready to build my first rig and could benefit from the wisdom of those who actually know what they’re doing.

There are a couple things I’m doing that aren’t exactly to spec for the majority of these builds, so advice from those with some experience will be especially valuable. The most significant of which is the use of the BDF PRBL Window Film rather than the true 2 way mirror.

Firstly, my parts list:

Raspberry Pi 3B + peripheral needs, hdmi, power supply etc

Glass from a picture from picked up from Goodwill

BDF PRBL Window Film

Wood for internal framework, better looking wood for visible frame

Acer 21" computer monitor I got for $25 - Slightly less than 1080 resolution, something like 1050. DVI out, no HDMI. I have DVI to HDMI cable.

Liquid Nails - I don’t have actual nails and screws at the moment. I’m not sure what size to get or if they’ll be necessary since I have the Liquid Nails product.

Pre-Build questions:
Well firstly, does that parts list look alright? Am I missing anything?

Non-Standard stuff

I’ve heard of some people having success using the window film stuff I have in place of the two way mirror. If you’ve done that I’d love to hear what kind of mistakes to avoid and your general experience/advice.

I like the idea of actually having a bezel free mirror. Is there a reason this is impractical?

I’d like my mirror to be larger than the monitor area. Is there any problem with, for example, positioning the monitor in the top half and just having the bottom half be a regular mirror?

Thank you for taking a look at this for me. I hope to have it put together over the next couple of days =)