For the kitchen with everything… Kitchen Nexus - Part 1

	The Idea I use mobile technology all the time, and everywhere.  When the Google Nexus 7 came out I loved it, it was just the right size, and just the right price.  Pretty soon, I found I started to consider specific uses for the platform outside of mobile computing.  The low cost means that you can have a Nexus for everything, one for the bathroom, one for the living room, one for reviewing documents for work.  You don’t feel that its a waste. Our house does have plenty of gadgetry in it, but for the most part it is hidden away.  I like things to be neat and simple and I don’t like trailing wires.  The kitchen has escaped for the most part, but this is odd since we spend a lot of time in there, its the hub of the house. We liked the idea of the internet fridge, but cool though they are the price is somewhat daft.  “Besides”, I said, “I could build one of those easily…”.  I guessed it would be a throw away comment but my wife thought that would be a great idea – “we could put that Tesco app on it” she cried.  I thought about it for a bit and decided that an android based kitchen appliance would be a good idea, you could watch TV, listen to catch up Radio, use Skype, shopping list, leave notes, check traffic….. you get the idea.  In this series I’ll share with you the Kitchen Nexus…
The Eureka Moment For no particular reason I can fathom, one day I was idly playing with the Nexus in the kitchen where we have some glass cupboards and I discovered a curious property of the Nexus 7 – it appears to work through glass.  I know what your thinking, its a touch screen, of course it works through glass.  Not so, most touchscreens do not work through glass.  My phone a HTC One does not, neither does the Nexus 10, or the Galaxy Tablet or Note.  For some complicated an boring reasons, the one on the Nexus 7 does.  This was the inspiration I needed to start the project. Previously, I’d thought about taking the nexus apart and mounting its own screen in a cut out just big enough for the electronics, but if you’ve ever taken the back off, you’ll understand why this just isn’t going to happen. I went to Wilko’s and bought a glass photo frame – the glass was just 2mm thick, and it was just a little too big.
	Eventually I went to a local glaziers I’d used before for some custom worktops. (John Lawlor http://www.allglassrepairs.com/)  The guy there understood what I wanted to do right away.  He used 2mm glass I’d brought but it was too brittle and wanted to break along a different line that I wanted.  Glass gets brittle with age he said, and he found a piece that would do.  And he rounded off the corners perfectly by hand for me.  You could use a photo frame. I wanted a smooth black finish – the best way is to etch paint into the back of the glass, from the front it will look like piano black.  Exactly what I wanted.  The John had a spare can of black that he gave me.  Next I marked off the area about 3mm oversized from the screen.  When the Nexus is mounted, you won’t see the boundary, it will just look totally black when switched off.
The bit I don’t want paint on is now masked, I added curved corners using a scalpel.  Before spraying, you need to ensure it is extremely clean otherwise it will ruin it.  I cleaned the glass with paint thinners being careful not to melt the tape.  Masking tape didn’t work for me.  Once clean I applied about 5 coats, each time just letting it cover the last so you can almost see through it (a dust coat).  Finally, I lifted it up to admire my work.  In some areas it was a bit too thin, so I added a final coat, and I also did around the edges, so the edge of the glass was black.  Somehow some spray had found its way to the front, thinners soon sorted that out.
	Finally I ended up with my home made screen cover! Before making anything permanent I needed to check that the nexus still works and that the touch screen is satisfactory.  With all of those checks complete we are ready to mount the Nexus to my panel. Once again, this must be scrupulously clean, if you get a cat hair under it, it will annoy you forever, and it could produce a pressure point in the screen. I placed the Nexus on the glass and tacked the corners using Dow Corning black silicone sealer.  This will bond it.  I fiddled with it for a while checking the screen was aligned. Finally working from the back, I sealed around the unit rather than between them and waited for the silicone to set…

Coming soon - Got an old Nexus?

A post on a simple way to gadge up your kitchen and re-use your old nexus 7...