from Hacker News

Reviving a Flip Clock from the 70ies

by jankar on 4/8/24, 12:22 PM with 7 comments

  • by anonu on 4/10/24, 12:18 AM

    The good 'ol split-flap displays. Lots of good maker projects out there on this and some commercial providers as well.

    Getting your hands on some of the old train-station split flap units is pretty tough. They can go upwards of $300 a character on ebay...

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-flap_display

    https://www.oatfoundry.com/split-flap/

  • by kaashif on 4/10/24, 1:49 AM

    > 70ies

    "Seventy-ies"?

    That aside, I appreciate the documentation about things that were tried and didn't work during this process. I often find myself adding those kinds of details to documentation to prevent others going down dead ends.

  • by pettycashstash2 on 4/8/24, 3:18 PM

    Wow nice. Love the look and save it from the landfill

  • by every on 4/10/24, 1:47 AM

    While not exactly nostalgia, I can remember the sound of the flips in my bedroom at night from some 50 years ago...

  • by whywhywhywhy on 4/8/24, 12:54 PM

    Such a nice looking object

  • by deckar01 on 4/10/24, 3:33 AM

    There is good open source cutter plotting software available, but Cricut sues everyone who bypasses their app. I suspect their hardware is being subsidized by these asinine paywalls to monopolize the consumer cutter market.

  • by jankar on 4/8/24, 12:22 PM

    Reviving a slave flip clock from the 70ies using an ESP32 and a DC driver.