Almost too Embarrassed to Ask

[Guitarist335]

I have been tinkering with stomp box build for a while now, but I have yet to put something I built into a steel stombox. I'm about to attempt it.

One question:

The actual physical pub circuit board- how do I fasten it inside the box? In other words, how do I set it in the box and get it to remain still.

Thank-you

[glops]

Don't be embarrassed!

It really depends what type of board it is. If it's not a PCB where the board is mounted on the pots, you could use standoffs and screws, or plastic PCB mounts if there's holes in the board that would mount on those. When I started I built everything on perfboard and I used double sided sticky tape doubled or tripled up and stuck the board on that and then would off board wire everything.

[garcho]

Look through the pictures thread for some ideas. After seeing the myriad ways everyone has accomplished what you're trying to do, or failed (e.g. given up, not cared), I hope you'll feel better about asking your question  

It's not the simplest thing to achieve AND have a stompbox that doesn't have screw heads on the face. Most manufacturers of guitar pedals and seasoned DIYers use "PCB-mount" hardware to hold everything in place; usually hardware on one plane, like the pots and stomp switch on the face. It takes a bit of trial and error and planning to get everything to fit when you do that DIY. But once you've made a bunch of pedals, it just becomes one more familiar step.

The "real" way to do it is to have mounting holes on the pcb and stand-offs attached to the enclosure like this:

[Mark Hammer]

I'll use standoffs to mount a large PCB in a rackmount build, but hardly ever, if ever, use them for a a standard floor pedal, preferring to simply insert some material to insulate/isolate the PCB from the chassis and contact with anything else.

More recently, the widespread availability of pots with leads that allow for using the pots themselves as standoffs to secure the board has made the task a little easier.  Of course, the board layout needs to be compatible.

In the good old days, MXR used what was standard-sized pots, which didn't leave much room for PCBs in a 1590B-sized box.  One of their strategies was to use tantalum caps instead of more common electrolytics, largely because they could be bent over on their side, reducing the height/thickness of the board+components.  Big electros that stick up where you don't want them to are a regular nuisance.

[Guitarist335]

Very helpful.  Much appreciated all.  Glad to hear this is a normal consideration.  Thanks for the support too.

[mdcmdcmdc]

Make one order from tayda electronics and then you'll have enough bright pink bubble wrap to cut up and insulate the boards of a hundred pedals.

[Marcos - Munky]

I'm a 1590A dude, so there's no space to think on how to mount the board. I just glue a piece of cardboard on the bottom lid to keep things from touching the lid and shorting, and the wires usually are enough to keep the board from touching the back of the pots, since the wires lays between pots and board

For builds where I have more space to play with, I usually try to go with a layout with board mounted pots, so the pots hold the board in its place. When I don't use board mounted pots, I attach a piece of cardboard/thick paper to the back of the pots or to an empty space on the enclosure using hot glue, then put some hot glue on the exposed face of the paper and press the board against it. It ends up like this. Not the most professional way to do it, but it works.

[anotherjim]

It depends. I've never had to screw standoffs to the enclosure but I might sometimes have fitted some to the board just to stop it from touching metal.
Many commercial pedal PCBs expect right-angle leg pots to attach to the box and that works for stripboard/perf too.

For many simple projects, the nearly 30mm depth of the box allows the board to fit on normal straight pcb leg pots and hang vertically below the top.
Another tactic is to make the board "L" shaped and use a plastic PCB mount jack socket on the leg of the "L" remembering to fit it at a slight angle off the board to match the angle on the enclosure side

There will be wires and sometimes the wires themselves can run over the board preventing it from touching the lid but that's not a good idea for high-gain pedals as it can cause squeal due to feedback.
Very often I recycle vac-formed plastic packaging and glue it under the lid to stop anything touching or you can fold the edges for a "U" shape that fits over the board just like in some commercial pedals.

[bamslam69]

Sometimes I've used standoffs, but sometimes I"ve just wrapped the pcb up in tayda bubble wrap and shoved it and the birds nest wiring into the box and hoped for the best.
I don't have any grand plans to sell them, so there!

[Electron Tornado]

I use these plastic standoffs:

http://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/board-mounting-hdw-mini-pcb-plastic-bulk/

http://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/board-mounting-hdw-plastic-bulk/

[StephenGiles]

Bluetac on its own works as a spacer, so does a velcro arrangement which saves drilling - my drill has rusted up!

[merlinb]

Sticky foam pads on the back of pots for me

[Mark Hammer]

Somewhat late in the game, but the site says Steve will have more stock in early August.  The Small Bear "Bare Box #1" has standoffs built in for a board that sits dependably above the stomp switch.  Should have caught on more than it did.  It's a good little enclosure.  Nicely priced, too.

http://smallbear-electronics.mybigcommerce.com/the-bare-box-1/

[davent]

I usually design my pcb's and put in space/room to allow for standoffs, a couple of aluminum standoffs that are either JB Weld(ed) or screwed to the enclosure depending on enclosure aesthetics. And have used many of the other already mentioned options depending on circumstances.

[bt2513]

I recently put masking tape over the back of a tagboard project and hot glued it to the side of the enclosure (1590B). There wasn't going to be enough room for the board, the stomp, 2 pots, 2 jacks, and the DC jack so I was able trim the width of the board down and make it slim enough to glue on the side of the box.

[amptramp]

I had one pedal that I built where I had a separate plexiglass sheet under the top cover that had holes for the pot anti-rotation pegs.  This is fine if you have a pot with maybe nine threads on the collar but many of them now only have six threads and you can't use a separate panel for the anti-rotation tangs.  In this case, the best idea is skirted knobs so the anti-rotation pegs come through the front surface but are hidden under the knob skirt.

[davent]

I had one pedal that I built where I had a separate plexiglass sheet under the top cover that had holes for the pot anti-rotation pegs.  This is fine if you have a pot with maybe nine threads on the collar but many of them now only have six threads and you can't use a separate panel for the anti-rotation tangs.  In this case, the best idea is skirted knobs so the anti-rotation pegs come through the front surface but are hidden under the knob skirt.

At least with the Hammond enclosures i've used the top is thick enough that you don't need to drill through the top  to have a deep enough hole to engage the anti rotation stub but you'll need to shorten the stub, that metal being so soft only takes a couple file strokes to take off what you don't need.
dave

[BJM]

I built a few pedals with PCB mounted jacks, which hold the PCB in place. The normal ones for top-mounted jacks and the other ones (I don't know the name, pls see the picture) for pedals with jacks on opposite sides of the enclosure. If you use the rings you get with them the jacks fit in the enclosure and the nuts can be screwed on from the outside. Downside is the drilling must be very accurate (which I occasionally had problems with  ). I'm not sure it they were designed this way, the best fit for the nut is when the jack is a bit inside the hole in the enclosure but not stickin out. On the other hand, I have cheap Chinese mini-pedal where the builder did it exactly like this. Also the pots were soldered onto the PCB which calls for a very precise drilling template.

[davent]

I built a few pedals with PCB mounted jacks, which hold the PCB in place. The normal ones for top-mounted jacks and the other ones (I don't know the name, pls see the picture) for pedals with jacks on opposite sides of the enclosure. If you use the rings you get with them the jacks fit in the enclosure and the nuts can be screwed on from the outside. Downside is the drilling must be very accurate (which I occasionally had problems with  ). I'm not sure it they were designed this way, the best fit for the nut is when the jack is a bit inside the hole in the enclosure but not stickin out. On the other hand, I have cheap Chinese mini-pedal where the builder did it exactly like this. Also the pots were soldered onto the PCB which calls for a very precise drilling template.

If it's possible to solder the jack to the pcb after the jacks are first mounted in the enclosure, you'll get the best least stressed results, takes into account the angled sides.
dave

[garcho]

takes into account the angled sides.

+1

The more often a human touches something, the more chance that thing has of breaking. Not only are jacks a human-user-interface point, they get jammed and crammed, cables get stepped on, loose nuts, etc. Add to that, the sloped walls of the enclosure vs. the basically two-dimensional PCB and you have a recipe for broken traces, cracked fiberglass, and other problems, some of which can be a royal PITA to troubleshoot.

If you're using PCB-mount hardware to hold the PCB in place, in my opinion, it's much better to use the pots and stomp switch, regardless of difficulties drilling. It's worth the time to measure all that out exactly.
Nothing breaks faster than the wiring around jacks and the PCB they're attached to (if they're attached). Of course, I've seen well made, name brand pedals that have PCB mount jacks, but I think they usually mount the jack onto the enclosure first, and then solder the board to the slightly angled jacks, to finish the assembly. That is, if they're using a Hammond-style diecast enclosure that has sloped walls. The other method I've seen is to have an entire cut-out for the jacks (and usually also the DC jack) that goes down to the bottom plate. That doesn't strike me as a particularly DIY friendly option, but I've gotten over many other DIY fears, so maybe I should give that one a go, too. Any way you cut it, you have to deal with the sloped walls of diecast enclosures.
It might seem counter-intuitive that using a PCB mount stomp switch would be a safer option, but only the actual "button" that gets pressed down moves, what's attached to the PCB is as still as the enclosure.