January 7, 2025
Description
This is my take on the Reversi Othello board game using TN-1 Nixie tubes. Although the tubes are originally designed for AC, they work just as well with DC.
The board is completely 3d printed and using easy to obtain parts and easy assembly.
Trough the usage of magnets, you'll get nice "haptics" when turning on and off the individual pieces representing the back and white playing stones.
I needed to do a slight "redesign" - you may notice the HV converter box to the side. Originally I planned on using a smaller HV converter which could fit into the body of the board but i needed to switch to a larger one, thus the separate housing. Because of the snug fit of the external housing, no additional screws are required to hold it in place.
Sadly, the nixie tubes vary quite in length, thus the original idea of fastening them in place with the M3 screws only worked for a selected few. Because of this I decided to orient all of the tubes diagonally - not as originally intended - but at least have visual consistency. I used aluminium foil folded a couple of times and cut into strips to hold the tubes in place and create a good connection to the screws.
The game piece covers are split into two parts, the one with no clamps is purely for visual purposes and can be left away.
You'll need:
The board has quite some pieces, so assembly will take some time.
I recommend assembling the individual "quadrants" first.
The distancers holding up the topside of the board need to be glued in. Originally they where part of the bottom cover but I separated them to reduce print time and improve print qualits. (You don't need an M3 threaded insert for every single one of them, only for a selected few)
Regarding the wiring: In my board, I made each quadrant disconnect-able from the other quadrants for easier assembly and maintainability. Everything needs to be hooked up in parallel with two single wires connecting to the HV converter.
As these Nixie tubes have originally been designed for AC use, you needed worry about anode and cathode, they'll work both ways.
Be careful during the wiring not to accidentally introduce a short circuit by letting an uninsulated part of the cable to other screws or wires.
As described in the introduction, the HV converter box is a later addition. With my printer and print settings, I was simply able so press it into the original power plug hole in one of the quadrants.
At the end, you'll likely need to fine-tune your board and game pieces a bit so every piece consistently works with every board position.
What works best in my experience is to have a "level fit" in the game pieces where the magnets are flush with the surface and the M3 screws only extend by a fraction of a millimeter.
For the board, the non-active screws should be screwed in so they're flush with the board surface. Similar to the game pieces, the active screws (supplying power) should be a bit above the board surface. Test and tweak :)
License:
Creative Commons - Attribution - Non-Commercial - No Derivatives
dkummer
