how would you get this switch in a box.
(http://www.allelectronics.com/images/gold/large/PB-213.jpg)
i have spent the past hour trying to make a hole big enough for it but i think i need different tools.
the button is about 1.1" wide.
let me know what you think. thanks.
unless its metric, i would think it would be exactly a 1" hole you need...
and for that...you need a 1" drill bit :-D
it might be tough finding one that can drill metal...i have a wood one at home...they are like...pointey and flat...I cant decribe it.
I dont think Unibits go that large, does anybody know?
Go to home depot :-D
I was just thinking a couple of days ago that video game buttons would be cool...you read my mind :-D
Is that one of those old-style game console buttons?
I have a unibit that goes up to 25mm, which is just a tad below 1".
If you're working with aluminium, most woodbits should be able to stand up to some use as long as you keep speeds down. These go up to very large diameters.
You'll have seen these bits: flat, with a little centering point in the middle. Like this:
(http://wrongcrowd.com/arcade/pics/drillbit.jpg)
On the other hand, this kind of hole is also (in Al) quite easy to do "by hand". You draw the hole outline (scraper/scratching pen, I use a template), drill a host of small holes around the inside of the outline, break out the inside disc and use several metal rasps to clean up the hole, enlarging where necessary.
Once you get the hang of this, it should take no more than 5-10 minutes.
hih
Use a wood bit - you know, the flat ones that look like a "W". You can get a bunch for $7 at TruValue. I use them all the time on alum enclosures. Use a little oil to lube it.
Use a metal hole saw.
BTW, can you say what you are using this for? I have been looking at those same style buttons for an effects project I am working on. Where did you end up getting it, and for how much?
I was just at the arcade this weekend and thought to myself "I gotta use these buttons on an effect!" Please do let us know where you got them!
(http://images.lowes.com/product/066366/066366940992.jpg?wid=158&cvt=jpeg)
This site has em http://www.ultimarc.com/controls.html
Also here - http://www.happcontrols.com/
I saw that the pushbuttons with horizontal microswitches are better than the vertical. Did some research the other day.
DYNOMITE!
RDV
Go as wide as you can with the drills that you have, then finish it off with a Xacto knife. Or use RDV's suggestion.
GreenLee Hole punch set, from 3/8 to 3 in., expensive but if you do electrical work, needed !,
JD
The hole saw photograph posted by morgansaw is the right tool. I used to work for a MW transmitter manufacturing company and we used those saws to make holes up to 2" in diameter on 3mm (1/8") thick aluminum sheet. After you finish the hole you just need to sand off the borders a little. That kind of saw is available at hardware stores.
By the way, it comes with a 5mm (5/6") drill bit or similar that works as a guide for the initial drilling/cutting. If you already have made a hole larger than that, it will be more difficult to start the drilling--try using a piece of wood firmly attached to the pedal so the guide has somewhere to stick to. The pedal must be *firmly* and *safely* secured by some means before you start drilling, otherwise you might get hurt.
Good luck!
:oops: Soory, I meant morganpedals.
They make "cutting wax" for use with hole saws if you need to use them a lot. Candle wax will work just as well. Especially on aluminum.
if that button is 1.1" wide, it's got to be at least 2" deep. are you sure you want to use such a deep switch in a stomp box? must be a tall stompbox.
they do indeed make 1" varibits. i have one. they make them as large as 1 3/8" too. they aren't cheap though.
http://www.lenoxsaw.com/spvaribt.htm
BTW, Happ Controls in the USA make a much shallower button if you can't manage to accomodate that one because of it's depth.
http://www.happcontrols.com/pushbuttons/601200xx.htm
Price is $1.75US each. Arcade game buttons are cool because they are pretty tough, and even if the microswitch should fail it's a snap to replace them, and the microswitches themselves are widely available.
Mike (MAME machine construction veteran ;) )
I thought of building a MAME cabinet but then came to my senses and realized I was leaving for college :lol:. Stompboxes are definitely a lot easier to haul around, not to mention it's easier to convince yourself you need another one. Maybe in a couple years I'll build that cab...
Anyway... Yes, the longer buttons are meant for thicker wood or metal panels. Shorter buttons should be cheaper and easier to deal with.
Here's another pic of shallower buttons. Just run an ebay search and you can find a bunch of cheap buttons.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6104280522&ssPageName=MERC_VI
Now, out of curiosity, how are you wiring these up? Are you using some sort of buffer + FET switching scheme? I'd love to put stompswitches like these in future builds 8)
The look of that makes me wanna put that on anything, even if it's only for turning an LED on 8) That looks cool!
fi want to begin by thanking everyone for their reply. the posts are a great help.
smashinator: i got this button at allelectronics.com but the i like the ones mikeb showed us at happ electrnics (see link above). the ones at happ are not as deep and look like they would work in a hammond enclosure.
mikeb: thanks for the link.
zvex: when io saw the button online i wanted to use it in a pdeal. the problem was that i needed a box deep enough (just like you mentioned) the button barely fits in a LMB Heeger enclosure (7.5x4x2.2). in fact i have to put the but on the top rather than the slope =(
the next time i do this i an going to use the buttons at happ electronics and a smaller lmb heeger case so that i can put the button on the slope.
thanks again everyone.
The advantage with those buttons is that you can turn the pedal on and off - REALLY, REALLY fast! 8)
Hyperolympics anyone?
Mike
i have a 1" unibit.
For me when I need to make a hole bigger then say a preamp tube socket I go to a hole bit. Don't get cheap wood cutting saws. Get ones ment for metal. When drilling I dip the saw bit into some greese before cutting and add oil during drilling process as needed. Buy a kit of different hole sizes while your at it. Its cheap enough.
A punch, or one using the punch ;), may have a hard time going through the thick alloy of say a hammond box.
If you only need that hole size once another more messy solution could be to drill out the hole with your biggest bit and use either a file, reamer, grinder or side cutting bit to expand the hole size. Takes a long time but you get there eventually.
Andrew
Antonio - are you using this as the main stomp switch for a stompbox? If so, how are you accomplishing the switching logic - a FET circuit like some of the Boss/Dod/Ibanez/etc use?
I think you can look at The Tone God's webpage for ideas using CMOS (4000 series) for switching (a whole bunch of them).
I've been thinking of using such pushbutton switches, but drilling a big whole is pretty troublesome..... with no vice and with just a power drill. One could look at vandal resistant buttons used in lifts, etc too. perhaps they'll soon appear on super-high-end-boutique pedals.
or perhaps those pushbuttons with an led built in.....
i am using this for a stutter pedal. not really any logic behind it. it is just basically to kill my signal when i want it too. its a very simple design.
thanks much for the sites some of those switches are wicked.
I have used these
(http://wrongcrowd.com/arcade/pics/drillbit.jpg)
on aluminum enclosures before. They work pretty well. I have even used them on a steel chassis once just recently, and they work OK as long as you drill a pilot hole first and if you keep a slow and steady speed on the drill. It also takes longer to drill than aluminum. But, of course, nothing works better than a tool that is meant for the job... 8)
The picture of that button sent me right back to playing Defender and later Stargate. :mrgreen: Right back to 5th grade! :lol:
Take care,
-Peter
you can get twist drill bits designed for use with sheet metal; the spur bit.
(http://www.diydata.com/tool/drillbits/dowel.gif)
Some people call these dowel bits, because they're also useful for cutting very neat holes in wood for dowels.
still... an inch wide? doubt you could get it, and you'd need a small prime mover to get enough torque! Interesting to know all the same.
Unibit is the bees knees for this kind of thing... expensive, but they're incredibly useful.
(http://www14.brinkster.com/crawler486/jack_hammer.jpg)
hello, i dont know if this will help but for cutting large holes in metal i use a cone cutter (http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/browse/Module.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0264306964.1088427966@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccchadcllfikdgfcfngcfkmdgkldfhm.0&cacheID=ukie&3265880779=3265880779&stockNo=3256622url) .
I think I'd take it as far as I could with whatever uni-bit I had handy then mill the rest out with a dremel in a router base with a medium sized jewellers mill (like I use for inlay cavities, they're really made for metal).
I love my UniBit. It only goes up to a 1/2", but I have gotten thousands of miles of use out of it. 8)