Pictures!

[NazzTazz]

ST-9 based overdrive:
"Gain", "Tone", "Level": no comments.
"Fat" boosts +7db 200hz -> 2khz
"Style" switches clipping diodes (1n4148, 1n34, 1n4148+1n34, IRF540+1n34...)
"Boost" switch gives +6db on output, and more bass response.



I definitely should use led "clips"...

[John Lyons]

[davent]

^^^Stunning as always John!!!

In the book 'rethinking acrylic' by Patti Brady there's a couple mentions of doing paper to paper  'wet' Toner Transfers using various acrylic mediums (even straight acrylic paint) as the means for transfer. Thought that if you can do paper to paper why not paper to enclosure. Had some Golden^® GAC 200 on hand and gave it a go. Did nine seperate transfers and abused them in various ways, wrapped them around corners, sanded with 120grit, went at them with an xacto knife, overly aggressive with the paper removal just extremely rough handling and for the most part they stood up pretty well, was even able to transfer lines software said were less then half a pixel in width. Were some left behind paper fibers (but not in the toner) that only showed up when i misted on a clearcoat, they stood up at attention. Used pretty messed up fonts so it's hard to tell but was getting 100% transfer and no distortion of toner like you might with a heat and pressure transfer. Have some refining of method to do but i see lots of potential for this.

Also tried it onto the back of clear acrylic where i got pretty good results. Should also work great as a means to 'silkscreen' the tops of pcbs.

Used satin Varathane as the clearcoat on the enclosure (1590G, really too shallow a size for regular sized jacks and 3pdt switches). No gut shots to show as there aren't any guts but i'm open to suggestions!

On youtube there are a lot of videos detailing this 'wet' toner transfer, usually referenced as 'image toner transfer'.

dave

[John Lyons]

That looks great Dave! I like the parchment-like texture and depth you have going there.
Sort of paper mache look as well. Dig it.

[Earthscum]

So you paint, apply your image (face down) to the wet paint, wait for it to dry and soak the paper off?

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Not only Made in Canada..... but in the basement as well!!!

MAJOR MOJO THERE 

Beautiful work Dave!!! Me likey 

[kato]

Kato... nice build.
Where did you find those amazing knobs?

Thanks. The knobs are a mystery. I asked the guy who sold them to me; he doesn't remember: 'probably ebay' he says.

Kilo makes similar black aluminum knobs but they're pricey: Digikey 226-1113-ND, and 226-4021-ND.

[Colonel Angus]

Wow Dave!! That's super awesome and very original. Can you go into detail about the process? Did you paint and then do the acrylic transfer? I have been messing with decoupage and this would be an ideal method to apply text and labeling.

[slacker]

That looks great Dave. Is it the same sort of technique they talk about here http://www.ebsqart.com/Education/Articles/Mixed-Media-and-Collage/9/Live-Studio-Image-Transfer/37/ sounds like fun.

[tasos]

Kato... nice build.
Where did you find those amazing knobs?

Thanks. The knobs are a mystery. I asked the guy who sold them to me; he doesn't remember: 'probably ebay' he says.

Kilo makes similar black aluminum knobs but they're pricey: Digikey 226-1113-ND, and 226-4021-ND.

Probably one of these?:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4pcs-15x15mm-1-4-Black-FOR-BOSS-PEDAL-SHINY-ALLOY-KNOB-5336-/120908415090?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1c26b40072
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-40x22mm-Black-FOR-BOSS-PEDAL-CD-VOLUME-TONE-CONTROL-KNOB-/320811066207?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4ab1d4635f

[kato]

Probably one of these?:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4pcs-15x15mm-1-4-Black-FOR-BOSS-PEDAL-SHINY-ALLOY-KNOB-5336-/120908415090?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item1c26b40072
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-40x22mm-Black-FOR-BOSS-PEDAL-CD-VOLUME-TONE-CONTROL-KNOB-/320811066207?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item4ab1d4635f

They're all aluminum with a set screw. Total overkill for my slacker build with graphics printed on recycled paper. I didn't know I was supposed to use coated paper!!    I should probably replace them with plastic knobs for consistency.   Anyway, if they don't need to be all metal, All Electronics has this one for 1.75..

[~arph]

John,

I just know that someday I'll buy one of your pedals just to put it on display in my living room. And build a true bypass box for it so I don't have to step on it if i want to use it.

[davent]

Thanks guys!  It is pretty much as Earthscum described, apply your acrylic medium to the enclosure, lay your reversed laser/photocopy image into the wet medium, burnish it smooth, let dry and then wet the back of the image and rub the paper away. Simple as that!  Slacker's link has a good description of using acrylics (as well as other methods) to do the toner transfers as well as transfers with inkjet images. Haven't tried any of the other methods for transferring or transferring inkjet images. I'll be taking info on acrylics from that article to improve on what i've tried.

... Is it the same sort of technique they talk about here http://www.ebsqart.com/Education/Articles/Mixed-Media-and-Collage/9/Live-Studio-Image-Transfer/37/ sounds like fun.

From the various articles/videos i've seen, there're all kinds of acrylic mediums being used, gels, fluids and pastes even just straight acrylic paint. I painted the box let it dry then used Golden's GAC 200 as the acrylic transfer medium, it's sold as a hardener/adhesion promoter for mixing into their other products, in liquid it's milky but dries clear and sandable hard. http://www.goldenpaints.com/technicaldata/gac100s.php  Also tried the GAC 200 as an edge sealer when masking/painting and it worked great.

I treated the transfers like decals and cut them down so there was little excess paper around the image and that resulted in a visible edge (which was one of the reasons to pursue an alternative to waterslide decals) where the medium squeezed out as well as i'm sure a good source for the paper fibres that got trapped in the medium. Wiped up the excess but obviously didn't get it all up. So leave lots of extra paper around the image. For burnishing i just put a piece of wax paper over the image paper and rubbed with my finger or piece of paper towel, worked ok but could have been better, i'm going to invest in a brayer.  Going to try removing the image paper as described in slackers link, i was overly aggressive to start and not using enough water, even so the transfers held up surprisingly well, stood up to scouring pads and light sanding, tough.

I've tried the Varathane (waterbased polyurethane) on a couple pedals over the years and it never truly goes water clear, a faint milky haze remains, you can really notice it over the colours of the enclosure baseplate. Trying out Polycrylic on a pedal i'm finishing up now and so far it seems much better...  still not as good as the StewMac waterbased lacquer i've run out of, the lacquer is totally clear and new coats of lacquer melt into the previous coats which makes life simplier when it comes time to level sand the clearcoat.

Take care all!
dave

[azrael]

Wow, seems interesting! Any chance of writing a tutorial?

[cloudscapes]

[davent]

Those are gorgeous!!!

[darron]

amazing. amazing. life seems so much more beautiful now. thank you.

[diydave]

This is just amazing!
Last pedal I've build, I've just glued my print (which was printed on fotopaper) on the box and sprayed it with clearcoat. Worked rather well.



But this is stunning.

[rousejeremy]

It's always a good day when Cloudscapes posts pictures

[midwayfair]

It is a rotary for the shape w/ LEDs? This is very cool.