Solid shaft vs split shaft pots?

[khm9]

Hi all,

I'm about to buy bunch of pots for my future builds. Since I'll buy lot of them I don't want to make a mistake and regret it later.

I came across solid shaft and split shaft pots on tayda, price difference on tayda for solid shaft pots is $0.5 and for split $0.39.

Which one are more suitable for pedal building? which ones do you use?

[stallik]

The split pots I get are splined so requiring splined knobs which are not my ideal choice cosmetically. For that reason I choose to use solid shafts. The pots are the same otherwise

[deadastronaut]

solid...

[samhay]

I mix and match.

[khm9]

So, if I were to buy knobs which have screws would I need solid or split shaft?

[slacker]

So, if I were to buy knobs which have screws would I need solid or split shaft?

Solid for knobs with screws. I would pick the knobs you want to use first, that then decides what pots you buy.

[PRR]

I blew you off in PM because there are many sides to this and I am not hip with the latest fashions. (Guitars, guitar amps, guitar accessories, and other electronics all do it different.)

My old narrow information:

"Split shaft", the knobs pull right off. Only thing holding them on is friction in the slightly sprung split. This does work great for many things. 90% of home hi-fi, and a larger number of home music systems (when they had knobs) were split-shaft. Go around your gear-pile and you will find a lot of splits.

Related is "D-shaft" with similar knobs, usually pull-off.

"Serious" electronics favors set-screws on round or slightly flatted shafts. If done well, these don't come off until you want them off. (They are often not done well.) I happen to have a very old very expensive Pioneer stereo amp and it has set-screw knobs. Very fine Japanese setscrews and I probably do not have the tool to loosen them. Larger setscrews use small straight screwdriver.

When a gear is "all knobs", such as an old studio console, knobs are the most important thing to the user. Pull-off knobs will get lost. Set-screw knobs are not always reliable in heavy work or with hasty repairs. "Collet knobs" grab the shaft like a drill chuck. The screw is in the center of the knob. This is covered with a snap-in disk, which also allows cheap color-coding of knobs. These are very costly, and sometimes want a special wrench you can't find.

I salvage a lot of pots and if the knob pulls-off, but is suitable, I use it. If I want another knob, it will probably be set-screw. On split-shaft you need to fill the split with a scrap of metal so the screw will set solid. D-shaft may need a filler strip, and at this point I would look for another pot. Round and slightly-flat shafts were made for setscrew knobs.

Split shaft usually gives ONE knob height. You may find splined knobs with more or less "skirt" to come closer to the surface, but you may have to excavate the back of the amp-shop to find a just-right one.

Round shaft is usually sold "too long", you measure twice and cut to length, get the exact knob height you desire. If you cut a little short, the set screw can set it up off the faceplate, though a heavy boot will force it down and drag. If you cut a little more, it is probably scrap.

Do not forget that for all "me" projects, 1/4" fuel hose grips most pot shafts and is 1/10th the cost per "knob" of actual knobs. Agree that Buyers may not be impressed.

[khm9]

So, if I were to buy knobs which have screws would I need solid or split shaft?

Solid for knobs with screws. I would pick the knobs you want to use first, that then decides what pots you buy.

I love these knobs, and I'll mostly use them:



So solid are the way to go?

[anotherjim]

Well of course, you can attach a screw knob to any shaft provided that shaft isn't too small for the reach of the screw. If slotted-spline, I've never known the screw to coincide with the slot at the angle I've wanted it to attach it. The spline is diecast so quite hard, I've never felt the need to fill the slot, the knob screw is so puny that it's driver slot will break off before is could be tight enough to close up or snap the shaft into the slot. Using a jewellers screwdriver, I can't apply enough torque to damage the screw.

D shafts are fine so long as the knob pointer is going to end up aligned the right way for you - tough luck if it isn't.

Very often, if you expect to buy a lot of parts in one hit from one supplier, maybe to hit the minimum order for free postage or whatever, you find they haven't thought things through, and the pots you want only have split-spline, you can bet the shafts will be too long for the knobs you want, push on or screw. I don't know what the deal with long shaft splines is, obviously for equipment with an extra cosmetic panel covering a real chassis panel, but how many DIY or Lab builders are going to make anything that way? I find the die-cast spline shafts a real chore to cut down, they wear down the teeth on the humble junior hacksaw rapidly.

Solid alu' shafts have to be best. Easy to cut down and the knob set screw will bite in a bit for some lock.
Plastic/Nylon solid are ok, but can break off - some even have a recess around the base of the shaft, maybe for some gater/washer that I've never seen fitted, that is just asking to snap leaving zero shaft for you.

[duck_arse]

those D shaft push-ons come in two types, the plastic ones, much like the ordinary splined push-on, and the ones with the metal clamp/ring, like you (used to) get on washing machines or harman/kardon amps, for eg. they grip, realllll goood.

tayda sell splined and round shaft pots, in millions of values, but only one or two ugly push-on knobs. still seems strange to me. and from experience, a set-screwed knob with whatever adaptors you can make to match it to a splined shaft, will still tend to "nose", dip opposite the screw. drives me mad, looks awful. users hardly ever notice.