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Comment by jvdh | Hacker News Reader

If you don't want to spend $1400 on a clock, but still want to read time in words, there's another option. You can build it yourself for about a 20th of the cost:

https://bitbucket.org/vdham/wordclock

That one's in Dutch, but it's pretty easy to get a stencil in English and adjust the code.

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Just build my own from scratch as Christmas presents. Saw the orig. Qlocktwo 10 years ago and always thought: the logic is so simple, I build this on my own. The main problem is a professional looking front plate, but after discovering online services for cheap lasering a SVG file, I re-thought my idea. Pro tip: separate every LED, not just the words, because you can use the LEDs as two letter 8x5 segment display to show temperature or a running text. Just finished the clocks a few days ago, so project not documented yet, but will also publish my code, because with the segment letters I added some more functions than on the usual wordclock tutorials. Project hardware basics: * Arduino Nano (also tested Wemos D1 mini for implementing a control app via WLAN sometimes) * DS3231 RTC * LED strip WS2812b

OP here. Nice work! My first few clocks were holiday presents as well. I always like hearing about other people's creative stories. I'm sure the recipient will love it.

/snark

if they don't, then they don't deserve it!

/end snark

OP here. Yes, there are whole bunch of DIY wordclocks. And I would encourage anyone that is interested in the challenge. That's how I started on this route.

I've really enjoyed the process of figuring out how to manufacture these. To me that is an interesting challenge.

I've only found one other "high end" word clock on the market. Personally, I don't like their aesthetics. So I decided to make my own. I realize that many people may not like my aesthetics. That's art and style. To each his/her own.

Also, from $39 to $700 ...

https://smile.amazon.com/s?k=word+clock

And on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/search?q=word%20clock

OP here. Yes, different prices for different levels of quality and design. That is true of nearly all products. For example, take a look at traditional watches.

but I'm interested in selling a limited edition art piece. Not a mass market product.

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