Greetings,
Having had a go at building a couple of OD boxes and started off a phaser, I have couple of questions for those who build pedals.
Firstly - which drill bits would you advise for drilling out the enclosures? I have used some Axminster HSS, but the finish isnt great. I was thinking of getting some stubby bits.
Secondly - how do you (easily) organise your resistors??? Having bought a couple of selection packs from ebay, i find it a royal pain shifting through them all each time looking for specific values.
Cheers in advance,
Adam
Comments
Still might need a separate bit or two for inbetween the steps. A pillar drill's ideal but light clamping & steady hand will get it done.
I use little stash bags for resistors caps etc, ones with a panel you can write on.
regarding the resistors - i sortof meant how you might easily order the values. For instance, do you put all the values beginning with '1' together in increasing size? Do you limit it to ohms, kilohms, megohms? Are any of the multi-drawer organisers useful? I know, daft question.
Adam
I don't have tons of resistors & such so putting a size per bag works for me, keep 'em in takeaway placcy boxes. They stack too as a bonus. My mate has a load of small plastic boxes but he's got tons to store. Similar to the drawers really in effect (pun alert!)
For resistors I sorted them by value into two multidrawer things when I bought selection packs, then I just bought the values I needed for projects.
Also a proper drill vice. And goggles or safety specs, and of you're doing lots (or sanding the enclosures) some barrier cream isn't a bad idea.
Drilling - I find that a proper clout with a centre punch is pretty much as good as a pilot hole.
Always use a bit lube when drilling aluminium, as it stops it sticking to the drill. It's even more important for softer alloys which can be more like trying to machine butter than metal. Once aluminium has stuck to a drill, it'll just lead to galling, which at the minimum will give you a horrendous finish, but can result in the drill bit welding/jamming in the hole and snapping.
Getting a good finish on thin soft material can a be problem. For small holes i.e. less than a few mm diameter, use a larger drill to create a chamfer (it's often easier doing it by hand), and for larger holes, invest in a deburring tool. Search ebay for Noga deburring tool, to see the type I mean, then remove Noga for some similar but cheaper options.
I'll have a look for the deburring tool, and use a bit of lube when cutting - would any general oil do or does it need to be a specific cutting fluid?
Cheers.
Adam
This stuff is soft, a blade will deburr it, but deburring tools are handy and can be cheap. Don't need anything fancy for these cases.
Or at worst, cut a hole the size of the pedal box into a piece of 3/4" MDF and clamp that firmly to the drill base so the box cannot spin as the drill breaks through.
Do not under any circumstances be tempted to hold the pedal box in place by hand while drilling it. You need your fingers for the rest of building it and playing guitar.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I find that a bit of lube on the bits is a good idea, as those diecast enclosures can be a bit on the sticky side.
Although I don't use a drill vice when drilling into the top of the enclosure, I always do when drilling into the sides. This is mainly due to the sloped sides, and I place an old lolly stick underneath the enclosure to ensure that it's supported properly on the shorter edge. It also ensures that the surface to be drilled is perpendicular to the drill.
Regarding sorting resistors, I have three Farnell packaging boxes in which I keep the resistors. Every value is placed into those useful Ziploc "baggies', and sorted in order. I just have too many values to put into component drawers. When you're stuffing circuit boards, you don't really want to be hunting all over the place for the right component. Sorting them properly will save you a lot of time in the long run.
I have a similar storage system for most other components, though ICs are stored in those little anti static boxes, and JFETs and MOSFETS are stored in anti static bags.
I do have a load of old RS component drawers which I rescued from my old workplace (they were going to chuck them into a skip) and I keep things such as potentiometers, knobs, jack sockets, basically everything that isn't suitable for the Ziploc bags.
I said maybe.....