Hey All,
Thought I make this little tutorial on making a drill template for stompboxes so you can easily
drill 10 or so enclosures for a small run or a preferred layout you frequently use.
In my case a small run of 10 Fuzz Faces for a local 'boutique' guitarshop.
To start off, your milage may vary as some people have less steady hands or have a different
way of "eyeballing", But I've done this with a cordless hand drill on a workbench so it should
prove good in use for most.
First some pictures of what we're making:
DrillSleeve inside
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=37112&g2_serialNumber=1)
DrillSleeve outside
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=37115&g2_serialNumber=1)
DrillSleev fitted
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=37117&g2_serialNumber=1)
Drillsleeve fitted inside
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=37119&g2_serialNumber=1)
Result with parts fitted
(http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=37123&g2_serialNumber=1)
For the DrillSleeve you need the following tools/materials:
-Cardboard (Use the kind used as backing for notepads, about 3 mm thick, or buy it at an art store.)
-Sharpie/Fineliner pen
-Ruler (and preferably also a Gauge)
-Hobby Knife (Preferably a scalpel if you have one –I love scalpels for DIY, just be very sure in your
ability to handle them! A small box-cutter will do as long as the blade is not to thick. It needs to be
enough to cut the cardbox without freying the edges.
-Clear Tape (about 40 mm wide is ideal, packing tape will work as well.)
-Rubberband
Step 1: Put the enclosure upside down on the cardboard and take your sharpie (fine tip) or fineliner
and using the enclosure as the ruler, draw around the edge. Make sure that what will end
up being the top side of the enclosure is against the cardboard as the aluminum enclosures
always taper a bit. The bottom is about 2 to 3 mm bigger then the top. Set the line to the
'virtual' edge (edges are rounded). You want the DrillSleeve to encase the box tightly.
Step 2: Take the box off, and measure with your ruler whether the lines line up with the box.
If they are good, use you ruler to draw the sides 'flat' on the cardboard. Measure the
height of the enclosure (Gauge is best) and draw the sides around the enclosure,
measured from the lines of the enclosure's top. It should look like a big '+'... :D
Step 3: Cut the cardboard 'cross' out with a ruler and knife (scalpels are unmatched for this work)
Make sure you try to keep the cuts as clean as possible.
Step 4: Turn the Cardboard cross upside down and Apply Tape to the 'folding edges'
These are the four remaining cuts you will do next, but the tape will reinforce
the point where the cardboard will be folded around the box.
Use your nails to rub the tape into the cardboard so it completely sticks.
Step 5: Turn it around again and carefully cut the lines you drew with the enclosres
top still on. IMPORTANT! Cut the a bit over half way through, and try to
bend it. If it doesn't go easily, give it a little more until it bends easily with still
a little bit of cardboard attached.
Step 6: You now have a cardboard box that will fit exactley over your enclosure!
Use the rubber band to snap fit the sides around the enclosre and keep it
a snug fit. Measure your desired location and use a sharpie to pinpoint the hole.
Step 7: Use a 1 mm drill in a hand drill to drill the hole in the cardboard. Use a bit of wood
underneath it for support and to prevent holes in your benchtop. Clean up the hole
by sticking the drillbit through it or with a toothpick.
Step 8: You can now use the template by putting your drill sleeve on the box and sticking
a sharpie through the hole to mark it.
Up next is drilling the hole.
Some Tools are essential (the drill) and some make the work a lot easier (centerpunch),
I'd recommend to have at least the following:
-Centerpunch (quite important! you need to have something to make a little dent in the box
this saves a lot of frustration caused by wondering drillbits... My new automatic centerpunch
is a joy to use and cost me about 8 bucks. You just press it down and a spring action will
make a nice dent for your drill to stay on.)
-Drill
-Correct drillbit (a 1 or 2 mm drill for steel, get high quality, they are more accurate drill
quicker and last longer. Should cost you only around 3 dollars for a good one.
-Unibit (or similar. This is not a luxury, it is essential for drilling a stompbox.)
Step 1: Use a centre punch to indent your sharpie marks in the aluminum.
Step 2: Use the 1 or 2 mm drillbit to drill the pilot hole, pay attention that the drillbit correctly
drills in the dent from the centerpunch.
Step 3: Use a ruler (Gauge is better) to check that the hole is in the same place as marked
on the DrillSleeve. I do this only once to check whether the template is good.
Step 4: Put the Unibit on and drill into the pilot hole, IMPORTANT! only drill half-way so you
can take the drill off and see whether the pilot hole is nicely in the middle of your
Unibit hole. If it is, go on, if it's not, make adjustment and check by measuring.
Step 5: Go up to the size you need, possibly check measurements.
After 2 Boxes or so without any errors you can probably leave the measuring and just
mark, dent, drill them with good results. The template should last quite a while with
the intended use. I've do a couple so far, and as you can see they come out great!
Cheers,
ANY
GEOFEX 1999
Quote from: Gus on October 16, 2008, 07:54:04 AM
GEOFEX 1999
And your point being?
I think it's a great tutorial and the effort you've put in should be appreciated by everyone here!
thanks, thats a great tutorial, I will try this next pedal i build
Quote from: alanlan on October 16, 2008, 08:26:46 AM
Quote from: Gus on October 16, 2008, 07:54:04 AM
GEOFEX 1999
And your point being?
I think it's a great tutorial and the effort you've put in should be appreciated by everyone here!
I think the point was not to discount the quality of the tutorial (and it is a nice one :) ), but rather to add the credit for the original concept and design.
that's a neat idea.
If you're doing several of a build where most of the components are mounted on the top, an easy way to make a one sided drilling guide is to take your box after your guide holes have been drilled and put it on a copier machine or a scanner and make a 1:1 copy of the image of the top of the box, then cut that out and tape it to the top of an undrilled box.
Nice job on the tutorial. Thats a really nice way of doing things - and it works well. Takes out the "guesswork".
I actually had one made a while back from sheet metal - that way it was fairly impervious, and would last - unfortunately I cant find it after my last move :( ...so much for "lasting".
Gus with all due respect if you think Geofex invented a cardboard drilling template you've never been around a machine shop for the last 50-75 years.
Quote from: Boogdish on October 16, 2008, 09:46:22 AM
If you're doing several of a build where most of the components are mounted on the top, an easy way to make a one sided drilling guide is to take your box after your guide holes have been drilled and put it on a copier machine or a scanner and make a 1:1 copy of the image of the top of the box, then cut that out and tape it to the top of an undrilled box.
Great idea. I'll definitely give it a try. Thanks.
Dave
Quote from: reverbie on October 16, 2008, 11:18:42 AM
Gus with all due respect if you think Geofex invented a cardboard drilling template you've never been around a machine shop for the last 50-75 years.
No question - I did not invent drilling templates, nor did I invent making them out of paper. I adapted the thing to effects boxes and posted it on the internet for people who were not familiar with machine shop techniques - and who didn't have a boutique stompbox business, which were uncommon nine years ago.
There is a whole range of templates from paper or similarly fungible stuff up through cardboard, pressboard/MDF, plywood, aluminum and tool steel. What varies is how much mechanical demand you make on them and how long you want them to last. We've had some postings here about a plywood drill template/jig as I remember, but it's been a while.
I originally thought about using cardboard or thin plywood. I decided against it because for me it's easier to get the spacings right on a drawing program, then print one sheet of paper for each box. I was painting first back then, and the paint got less scratches if protected by paper right up to the last moment. Paper's easy to spray with spray pressure sensitive adhesive too, and that's what I did.
But there is value in knowing all kinds of soft, semi-soft, and hard jigging and fixturing techniques. There's always room for another twist on technology.
Just pointing out R.G. had a writeup and template that can be printed out
I have worked with machinists. Before digital readouts and CNC I had seen steel sleeved holes in metal templates for drilling with locating dowel pins for indexing.
I am aware it is a very old method.
I posted a word and a year. I think sometimes people overlook the links at this web site.
I've got a radio shack folded aluminum enclosure that fits a 125b pretty snugly. That's gonna be my drilling jig.
EDIT: Oh, and thanks for the nice writeup. :icon_wink: Yes, this kind of stuff has been documented in the past but a picture is worth a thousand words. The photos really help and I appreciate your effort.
Yes, thanks for the pics and runthrough text.
I use a template printed on transparency film and a center punch (drywall screw).
john
Quote from: Gus on October 16, 2008, 11:48:50 AM
I think sometimes people overlook the links at this web site.
happens a lot! (http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=71126.msg573414#msg573414)
Another problem is that of course we read it... but can't remember where..... :-)
Thanks for the tutorial and Gus, thanks for the reminder!
Quote from: Gus on October 16, 2008, 07:54:04 AM
GEOFEX 1999
See, I've been on RG's site quite a bit and never stumbled upon it... I know it's not a new thing.
Hope it's an enjoyable read none the less, I tried to incorporate as much of the process as possible.
Also, the 'rubber band' system for wrapping around the cardbox works very nice compared to a paper wrap-around.
Cheers,
ANY
Variation on a theme.
Jiggerealla (http://www.geocities.com/thetonegod/jig/jig.html)
Andrew
I'll be blatantly honest here:
1. The Jiggerealla looks interesting but I have never been able to understand the drawings for it. I've been over them many times and I still don't get it. Maybe a 3D CAD drawing would help. Maybe it's just my eyes. Whatever the case I've never been able make heads or tails of it.
2. It's not easy finding much of anything at the GEOFEX site unless you pretty much know exactly what you are looking for to begin with. I vaguely remember a 1590bb template there from long ago but when I just went there I couldn't find it from the front page. I mean, maybe a link is buried in the fine print on there somewhere but I don't have time to look for it. Web design has come a long way since 1999 and there are a lot easier ways of finding info now.
Those aren't shots at Andrew or R.G. Every contribution is helpful and I appreciate the effort that everyone makes. But I love these photo essays and for me they are the most effective way of communicating a step by step process in this format. I just read MarkM's essay on etching boxes the other day and it was very impressive. A few years ago there was a guy at AX84 that did a detailed step by step photo essay on building an amp combo cabinet that was fantastic.
When it comes to circuit origins, pointing out who did what first is a good way of establishing context. But for building techniques I don't think it's so important, and I say the more the merrier. More info is good...
I usually use the search on Geofex located on the left sidebar to find things. I threw "template" in there and got:
http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/boxtemplate.htm (http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/boxtemplate.htm)
The template is linked in the article.
Quote from: DougH on October 16, 2008, 05:36:53 PM
1. The Jiggerealla looks interesting but I have never been able to understand the drawings for it. I've been over them many times and I still don't get it. Maybe a 3D CAD drawing would help. Maybe it's just my eyes. Whatever the case I've never been able make heads or tails of it.
I think that just a few more photos in angled views would be of some help with not too much efforts (well less than a 3D CAD). I looked at the jig late at night once, and I was scratching my head too.
Quote from: BINGEWOOD on October 16, 2008, 06:16:28 PM
I usually use the search on Geofex located on the left sidebar to find things. I threw "template" in there and got:
http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/boxtemplate.htm (http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/boxtemplate.htm)
The template is linked in the article.
Precisely my point.
If you know exactly what you are looking for, you can find it. But chances are you will never find it through casual browsing. So if you didn't just happen to be at that site looking specifically for "template", "drill pattern", "drill jig" (hmm... wonder if those search terms work too?) you wouldn't be aware that the article even existed.
Two things come to mind.
One is that in fact Geofex is hard to navigate, no question. I had an offer from a fellow to go rework it for me to make it easy, but he skipped out and never did it.
Two is that with that knowledge, I keep telling people to go read it all. There is remarkably little there that a pedal builder will not some day need to know, and it will answer the next question as well as the current one.
Google does index the entire site, and serves as a useful adjunct to the search function on the site. Someday I'll have the time to quite spewing information and make all the info nice and tidy... :icon_biggrin:
Well, it is less difficult to find something at GEO than in my computer... :D
Quote from: R.G. on October 17, 2008, 10:41:42 AM
Two things come to mind.
One is that in fact Geofex is hard to navigate, no question. I had an offer from a fellow to go rework it for me to make it easy, but he skipped out and never did it.
Two is that with that knowledge, I keep telling people to go read it all. There is remarkably little there that a pedal builder will not some day need to know, and it will answer the next question as well as the current one.
Google does index the entire site, and serves as a useful adjunct to the search function on the site. Someday I'll have the time to quite spewing information and make all the info nice and tidy... :icon_biggrin:
https://webpagesthatsuck.com (https://webpagesthatsuck.com) :icon_biggrin:
(it's actually a good read for anyone who runs a website...)
Quote from: R.G. on October 17, 2008, 10:41:42 AM
in fact Geofex is hard to navigate, no question.
Yeah, blog-style websites (or sites that are organized by submission date to some degree) and forums like this are pretty inefficient for providing access to "reference" information. The reason is that they are organized like the filing system on the top of my desk at the office- where the most often accessed and recent information surfaces to the top of the pile. :icon_wink:
But you knew that...
(Not to mention that web sites are a PITA to maintain anyway - the reason I took mine down years ago).
And this has been discussed ad nauseum re. this board in the past. Probably a good time to put in another plug for supporting the wiki. IMO, fully developing/supporting the wiki is the only way this will get "sorted out"...
Hey guys, I didn't see the need to take more pics as no one had given any criticism until now. If it is more pics you need it will be more pics you will have. :)
I am always willing to listen to suggestions to make things better for everyone's understand. Don't be afraid to drop a line with suggestions.
Andrew
Quote from: The Tone God on October 17, 2008, 03:25:58 PM
Hey guys, I didn't see the need to take more pics as no one had given any criticism until now. If it is more pics you need it will be more pics you will have. :)
I am always willing to listen to suggestions to make things better for everyone's understand. Don't be afraid to drop a line with suggestions.
Andrew
Well the problem is perhaps: how do someone know what he want if he don't understand what he see. What I mean is that most things that LOOK too complicated is often skipped without comments. Someone might think he will look stupid to ask questions ( even more to a God :D ). Not that it is in reality complicated...
Quote from: The Tone God on October 17, 2008, 03:25:58 PM
I am always willing to listen to suggestions to make things better for everyone's understand. Don't be afraid to drop a line with suggestions.
Actually, I do have a suggestion. If you're making a run, use the cardboard variety and quite small holes. Then mark the hole positions with spray paint through the "sleeve".
Oh, wait. Make the sleeve be 1/4" thick luan and use hardened-tip screws for the hole locations. Then just folding the thing around the box marks hole positions. -