The NES Clock

It's NES cartridge clock time.  Now if you Google image NES Clock you'll get a plethora of hits.  Some made by individuals like myself and others for sale with a cartridge of your choice.  Today we'll go step by step and make two of our own.  The first step is to get a 3.8mm inverted hex bit (available on ebay) to  separate the cartridge pieces and remove the awesome 1980's ROM chip set.  This is where there are several variants in procedure and design...the backside.  Also alot of people seem afraid to drill a hole in the center of the cartrage (through the label) and instead elect to offset the clock to the left.  That will not work with particular setup.  Standard analog clocks are about 0.5" wide where as the inside of a NES cartridge is only 0.4."  The back of the clock unit also requires some space for a AA battery and a time adjustment wheel.  So somehow the backside of the cart has to be cut to allow the rear of the clock to be exposed.  I have seen many methods:  jigsaw (which I DO NOT recommend), dremel tool or some other insane risk of personal safety.  I do not plan on showing off the back of a wall clock so I took a different approach.  A round cutter...courtesy of my father-in-law.  A round cutter is mainly used to cut holes for door knobs.  In this case we'll use a 3" round cutter blade.  So we are going to line up the drill bit in the center of the middle screw hole on the back of the NES cart and round drill away!  Now on the front cart piece we will drill a .25" hole exactly the plastic part for the screw is and then sand it down so that the clock can sit fairly flush against the inside of the cartridge.  The center of the clock face or the axis should be approx 2.4" from the left, right and top sides.  Now hot glue the clock in there with enough room for the outer clock gear (the hour hand) to turn and presto you're half way there!  Use two of your security screws the re-attach the pre-drilled backside and add an optional wall hanger via hot glue.  And the rest is simple!  The kids love it almost as much as I do.  -kaokensho