Installing pots

[boogietone]

I use em. The Visio drill template I use for a pot includes a hole for the tab.

[davent]

i usually cut the thing off with wire clippers and wait 1-2 seconds to hear it land somewhere on the other side of the room.
it's a fun ritual. until a piece shorts my motherboard or lands in my coffee or something.

in all seriousness, though, i've been increasingly tempted to actually use that tab, because it can be really tricky relying on the nut sometimes.

Dave: i've seen those locking washers a lot with toggle switches & commercial pedals - i know this is probably rudimentary machining knowledge, but the teeth give it some grip against the enclosure itself, right? just trying to picture how they work because it could be quite handy. don't think i've ever used them properly with switches, as they still turn easily (i don't use the tabbed washers they come with).

Edit: i think i'm picturing it now, i can see how those could be handy. probably doesn't keep things in place 100%, but better than the gymnastics i have to pull to stop pots spinning atm.

If you are taking them off you really just want to snap them off with a pair if pliers, as projectiles there no fun in the eyes.

The lock washers that sometimes come with switches are quite dainty compared to the ones we use for pots and jacks, they're coarse toothed with some heft to them, crank down  tightening and they imbed themselves in the soft aluminum of the enclosure and pot body, they aren't going anywhere.