tFB Pedalboard Build Instructions

digitalscream

Firstly, thank you for purchasing a tFB Pedalboard - your support is most appreciated!

In the package, you should find:

1 x left end piece (this has the blue web address plate on it)
1 x right end piece
1 x middle piece
4 x cable management clips
1 x drill jig

18 x 25mm screws (for the end pieces, and the back of the middle piece)
6 x 16mm screws (for the bottom of the middle piece)
4 x 8mm screws (for the cable management clips

Additional stuff you'll need:

- Strip wood for the slats. This should be 12mm thick and 44-45mm wide. This is the B&Q link for the wood I used on the demo board (at 2.4m long, one piece should be good for a 60cm-wide board).

- Drill, with a 2.5mm or 3mm bit

- Cross-head screwdriver

- Wood clamp of some sort (nice to have, but makes life a lot easier)

STEP 1: Cut the wood

This is pretty self-explanatory; you should cut the wood into four pieces of the exact same length. Bear in mind that the slats extend 25mm into the end pieces, so cut the wood to be 50mm longer than the usable board width you want.

There's no need to sand the ends beyond removing any splinters; you won't be painting them, they'll be hidden inside the end pieces. 

Don't paint/finish the wood yet, though, because there's drilling to be done.

STEP 2: Drill the main mounting holes

Insert the end of the slat into the drill jig, such that the very end is exactly flat with the outside surface, and clamp it in place along the long flat piece of the jig.

Using the 2.5mm or 3mm drill bit, drill both holes, all the way through the wood.

Repeat for both ends of all four slats.

STEP 3: Drill middle piece mounting holes

Here comes the slightly tricky part - you need to decide where the middle support is going to go. Usually, this will be exactly in the middle, but that's not necessarily the case if you have a different design in mind. Once you've decided exactly where the centre of the middle support will be, measure 12.5mm away from it and draw a perpendicular line in that position, across all four pieces of wood.

Next, insert each piece of wood into the drill jig in turn, line the appropriate edge up with that line, clamp it in place and drill. IMPORTANT: The back piece will need to be drilled all the way through the wood, but the other three pieces only need to be drilled about half way through, so be careful.

STEP 4: Drill cable management clip holes

You're on your own with this one - you can put them anywhere you like. My method was to assemble the board (without screwing anything in place) but with the three upper slats upside-down, then place my pedals in their intended layout (you may need to raise the front of the board to stop the pedals falling off). At that point, I could see where I'd need the clips, and marked their positions accordingly.

Then I just drilled a 3mm pilot hole in the centre of the slat, about half way through the wood (roughly 6mm deep).

STEP 5: Paint/finish the wood

Another one where you're on your own. Go nuts, it's your board. You may find it useful to put screws into each side, just finger-right, to lift the slat while you're painting/spraying it; as an added bonus, this is an easy way to make the screws the same colour as the wood, so they "pop" a bit against the black plastic.

STEP 6: Sand/paint/finish the plastic (optional)

Bit of a tricky one this - totally optional, but you can paint the 3D-printed parts. You'll need to sand them with 240-320 grit paper, then use primer, sand again and then you should be able to spray to get a smooth surface. I would suggest a couple of coats of durable lacquer as well, though, given that these things are designed to be gigged.

STEP 7: ASSEMBLE!

At this point, you're ready to put your board together - it's pretty simple, the 25mm screws should be used for both end pieces and the back of the middle piece; they will extend all the way from the top, through the wood and into the plastic beneath so that it's braced top and bottom.

For the middle piece, the 16mm screws go in from the underside and should not get anywhere near coming through the top of the wood.

For the cable management clips, use the 8mm screws. There is only one screw per clip, so that you can rotate the clip to get particularly awkward cables in there.

NOTE ON ATTACHING PEDALS:

The board is designed to handle pedals of all sizes, including mini pedals - there is nothing more irritating than those 50mm-wide slats in pedalboards, spaced far enough apart that I can't satisfy my OCD-like tendencies and line my mini pedals up with the front of all the other pedals, and have them attached to two slats; that's why I've chosen 44-45mm wide slats and the spacing between them. However, this means that the standard 50mm hook-and-loop tape won't really work here. There are two options: either buy 38mm-wide hook and loop tape, or use small pads of 3M Dual Lock for each individual pedal.

I chose the latter option, because it leaves more of the painted wood visible, but it's entirely up to you - there's no right answer, and the point is that this board should be exactly what you want, not what I think is best.

STEP 8: LET US SEE IT!

Now that you're done, take a few photos and show it off in this thread:

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/262932/thefretboard-diy-pedalboard-kits-thread