How close can I mount a 3pdt to the edge of a Hammond box?

[Ripthorn]

Hi guys, just doing a drilling layout for a hammond box, but I am wondering how close you can put the center of the 1/2" footswitch mounting hole for a 3PDT to the outer edge.  Anyone know, or should I just make sure I give myself some leeway?  I am wanting to save as much real estate as I can for other things.

[ianmgull]

I figure about 2-2.25mm for the thickness of the box. The 3PDTs I have are about 17mmx20mm, so I figure half of the largest portion is 10mm. So I usually come of the bottom edge about 13-14mm (the amount of leeway you allow is inversely proportional to your confidence in your drilling technique). Precision calipers help if you're not already using them. Good luck!

[jkokura]

Did you notice he used imperial when you used metric?

Not sure if you can follow what he said, but if you need conversion, I use about 1/8" for the wall, than it's about a 3/4" by 7/8" size on the blue stomp switch. The centre of which would then be 3/8 by 7/16". So add 1/8" for the wall, 1/8" to keep you from brushing up against, than another 3/8th to the centre of the short side so...

5/8" in from the edge for the centre of the hole. What I would do is create a fake box out of cereal cardboard first. Just cut a 'cross' out of the cardboard, fold the edges down and tape it so it looks like a hammond box. Then measure 5/8" from the edge and drill your 7/16" hole (or half inch if you like a little more room). See if you can mount your switch in the cardboard box first. If it's too tight, add a 1/6th of an inch or maybe 1/8", then you're going to be measuring 9/16" or 3/4" in. The minimum I think I've managed was 5/8" personally, but I bet I could go a 32nd closer to the edge if I tried hard. What's the point though?

[grapefruit]

Woah, after reading that post I'm glad we use metric down here 

Stew.

[Ripthorn]

After spending 6 years doing physics, metric and english units are both fine by me.  Thanks for the input guys.

[jkokura]

Woah, after reading that post I'm glad we use metric down here 

I live in Canada. We're supposed to use Metric here because our 'biggest trading partner' was going to switch to metric. They didn't.

But nonetheless - there's such a mix between using Metric and Using Imperial that we do some strange things - Like measuring height in feet and inches but using KM's instead of Miles. I'm more familiar with imperial because of my framing work and from when I was in school when I was young.

Jacob

[solderman]

I use Edistone boxes and 10,5 mm from the outside. That places the switch (Korean 3DTP type that most builds use) allmost in contact with the box. I have not had any problems because of this.

[Derringer]

Woah, after reading that post I'm glad we use metric down here 

Stew.

bah ... you guys are just fearful of fractions 

[Pushtone]

I'm in Canada too and it drives me nuts.

There are two signs I drive by every day.

The first says "fire station 500m".
The second says "hidden drive 100ft"


Base 10 math is much easier.

[Jarno]

This is as close as I dared to go:

I modelled it in 3d, using the 3d model you can download from the hammond engineering site.

[Skruffyhound]

Exactly flush to the inner wall is possible, just space for a piece of insulation tape. If you drill carefully, but it's still a little too tight you can drill your hole slightly larger to gain a little leeway, without adverse effects. Obviously the maximum you can get out of this cheat is 1mm, as to get this you have to drill 2mm oversize which is borderline as far as I'm concerned. All enclosures have a slight draft or slope to the side walls so that all areas of the face release simultaneously when they are ejected from the mould, so as long as the top face of your switch gets in there, there will always be a little more space between switch and enclosure lower down. Hope that makes sense to you. Good luck

[Ripthorn]

This is as close as I dared to go:
I modelled it in 3d, using the 3d model you can download from the hammond engineering site.

So just how close is that?

[Jarno]

\

I have put some dimensions in the drawing, I usually don't, because I print out the drawing 1:1 and then just cut it out, put it on the box and centerpunch the holes.