Build Instructions

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• 1

  3D Printing

  Grab the STLs from Thingiverse or directly from this page.

  Just a heads up, this is a very long print compared to a quick weekend project, it's about 4 days of straight printing. In the video you can see how long each part took to complete. I spread them out over a week and had 1 failure and one almost 😬 where the support broke off mid-print. Luckily I was around to pause and hot glue it back to save the part.

• 2

  Finishing

  It was the first time I tried this kind of finish and I must say that it makes a total difference but it requires considerable effort. It's up to you whether you want to go this route or if you're happy with the current state of the parts.

  ⚠️ With all the sanding and dust involved, I strongly advise doing this outdoors or in a well-ventilated area as well as wearing proper protective gear.

  Post-processing

  I started by lightly sanding all visible surfaces with a coarse 240 grit to knock down the layer lines, after that I wiped it down with isopropyl and applied a thin layer of glazing putty to fill most of the cracks and defects.

  Once it dried, I went over it with 240 grit again, then 320 to further refine the surface. You can sand until you start to reach the high points on the PLA, this way only the dips and cracks are filled in and you don't alter the geometry of the model. Flat surfaces are quite easy, only the details and corners can be a bit tricky (patience).

  Again, a proper wipe down with isopropyl and it's time to use the filler primer. This will help fill in and expose the smaller crack defects and will also reduce the amount of sanding needed.

  I worked up the grits from 320 to 600 after the filler primer dried and I was ready to paint.

  If you want you can still do more filling with glazing putty and more coats of filler primer. Rinse and repeat until you are satisfied with the smoothness of the surface.

  Painting

  Making sure the surface was clean and dust free, I applied 2 coats following the instructions on the can. Once it was completely dry after about 24h, I applied a matte clear coat to the visible sides to protect them.

• 3

  Soldering

  There is few SMD parts to get out the way first in both the control panel (3 leds and 2 resistors) and the little power adapter boards (2 resistors)

  Next, the switches and the rest of the TH components. You might need a set of helping hands to hold the boards steady while positioning the components.

  Control board

  Make sure the switches and audio jacks are aligned properly, there is a bit of play and if you solder them crooked the buttons will end up looking weird. ⚠️ Both of the headers are soldered pointing to the inside of the case.

  Power Adapter (Option 1: with the UPS)

  The jumper on the power adapter is shorted and you can supply power to the UPS from the terminal block with 20-22 awg wire or the USB C receptacle. The main rocker switch will be connected to the on-off jumper on the UPS.

  Power Adapter (Option 2: no UPS, direct power to the Pi and screen)

  The jumper on the power adapter is connected to the main rocker switch to control the power coming in. The Pi and the screen are supplied from the USB C and Micro receptacles or the directly from the the terminal block.

  Speakers

  Lastly, solder the speakers to the control board with the shortest length wire possible to be able to fit them inside the 2 allocated slots in the 3d printed spacer.

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