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Comment by asteli | Hacker News Reader

They're really cool! The original Solari board modules are mega expensive though. I looked at getting some to make a clock, and it probably would have cost me in the thousands.

As an indirect result I now have a project in the works to make them. The concept is simple, but building them to be inexpensive is a challenge. Every extra bracket or fastener gets multiplied by _n_ modules.

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There's a great Github project for building your own Splitflap/Solari displays from the ground up for $20 each https://github.com/scottbez1/splitflap

Right now it's focusing on 40-character flaps (not super convent for clock-making), but it's open-source so I'm sure you could modify it for your purposes with some effort.

That's just for the enclosure. It looks like it comes out to 60-70$ depending on how you build it. I'm targeting sub $50, but it's tough. Good resource though, didn't know about those cheap geared stepper motors.

followup: actually I went to the the builder's youtube video and they're claiming $25~$30 per module. so pretty good.

I too have been wanting to make a split-flap display. I would be interested to hear more about your project if you have any posts or resources somewhere.

I've been taking notes as I go, going to put together a slide preso at some point with stuff I learned in the process.

I'm a lazy engineer, so I avoid doing tedious hand-crafted stuff. I'm using 30pt museum board for the flaps currently (I was going to use plastic, but found that matte paper types of material work really well).

Thus most of the work has gone into designing something that's highly repeatable with minimal labor. All the cards are printed and then laser cut, the bracketry will be CNC waterjet and has a single bend, the center hub is 3D printed. I'm making it DIN rail mountable for easy installation and maintenance.

Here's a sneak peek. https://imgur.com/a/2ROn6Nd

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