On 3/13/2013 11:23 AM, Dan Helphrey wrote:
Assuming I can determine it's feasible at all, my plan is to do a
Kickstarter campaign; I am tentatively imagining somewhere in the
neighborhood of 200-300 clocks, so with 4 digits each that'd be 800-1200
tubes. If the Kickstarter campaign were to really catch fire (hey, never
hurts to dream), it could be a lot more, so one of the things I am trying
to find out is what the effective maximum number available are.
Do you have a photo of your dad's clock we could see?
These days, the clock itself is not very interesting; it's the packaging that
people go for. And you will get a lot of argument about taste and style, as
these are highly subjective. You've already heard a few arguments about the
number of digits.
The 5870 tubes are rather narrow, being designed for use in 12-digit
calculators. That's why I use them in my wristwatch. Unfortunately, they don't
look as nice as the other tubes that are a bit larger in diameter and have
better-proportioned digits.
If I were doing this, I'd build ten clocks and see how well they sell, then make
25 more, etc. There is no reason to commit to a large quantity of parts these
days, given the availability of prototype PC boards and CNC machining. You
should be able to find 50 5870 tubes from a broker pretty easily, although the
price won't be super great, at least you'll only be out 50 tubes if it's a bust.
--
David Forbes, Tucson, AZ
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