Smeg...

You know when your college wireless signal is rubbish when your sitting in the hallway typing away on blogger to get the last of the work done.
Ive finished my Statement for Assessment and all the other bits and bobs that needed to be done (thank the smeg) And now all I need to do is finish updating this blog that Ive missed out on for a few weeks.

Where to begin.
Well when I last left you all I was having technical issues with my electrical circuit to put it quite simply, what I was advised to purchase from the staff at my local Maplin store just wouldnt run off a 9V battery, That and the holder I purchased was wierd and beyond wonderful. It was a nightmare because it never came with instructions and what you would assume to be the connection prongs was actually a holder for securing it to the wall and oh my lord it was just chaos. But never the less a quick look in the Maplin Catalogue, phonecall and a trip up to the store a quick exchange, finally got the problems sorted out. The next day I was able to attach the lights myself into the circuit. I couldnt have managed all the problems if it wasnt for the college's local technition Alex Johnson. Normally Im fully capable with making electronics but atleast I know it wasnt just my fault haha.

To think something so small can be such a big hassle.

The rest of the time Ive been busy working away making the pattern, assembling the box and getting all the annoying things resolved. Some of which I would love to do a redo on.

The pattern half finished.

Pattern in the box

Lid on the box to see how dark it is without paint... sadly not dark enough so I'll have to paint the inside black.

Alex helping me with the electronics.

And this was only the Wednesday!
By the Thursday, I had the electrics finished and set about making my puzzle box switch. I made it from Balsa wood and because I was rushing with it and then I had to make small adjustments to be perfectly honest it is rather fragile because of the nature of the wood and i'd love to just scrap it and redo it. And this feeling grew and grew with my large box for the final piece. I am hating it, My sizes are off by millimetres so the perspex was a nightmare to secure and I used balsa wood to make a tounge and groove in the edge of the box. Then I realised there still wasnt enough darkness with the blackened inside to completly hide the patterned perspex. Then one problem evolved into two and the final straw was when I had just managed to secure the perspex into position when someone in my class decided to touch the patterned perspex to feel the texture, pushing it out of place before the glue set fully. This was once the top was secured on meaning Im now unable to reset the entire insides less i rip the whole box apart.

Ofcourse by this point Ive lost all faith in my work and can now only validate it as a conceptual piece. Therefore what Im presenting to the tutors and public is just a concept and not a final piece. If i had another couple weeks I would redo the entire box, the puzzle switch and even the perspex pattern.
The only large upside is that as far as this project is concerned I have completed it to a standard and its ready for presentation.