Foot switch to LED distance

[Jerry J]

I am getting ready to drill my switch box and since this is my first time I have a few questions.

- How far apart should the standard dpdt foot switch be from the LED (with plastic bezel on the LED)?

- How far apart should the 9v DC input be from a 1/4" phone jack?

- As far as drilling, I have a powder coated box, I know to center punch and drill a pilot hole first. Should I drill from the back side so I don't chip the paint? I will be using a uni-bit type bit that I bought from Harbor Freight.

Probably stupid questions that I should be able to figure out but figured that I would check anyway.

[GibsonGM]

Last first: I always drill from the outside in, just seems to work better that way.  Careful not to dent the box with the center punch ;o)    I just use a very small bit to get a hole started, no banging the box.

All I do is lay the parts out next to each other to see how to space them (no actual measurements, sorry).    I get the stomp switch in first, then put the LED bezel next to it, mark w/pencil, etc etc.   Take your time and it'll be ok!  Err on the side of caution...

[Jerry J]

Last first: I always drill from the outside in, just seems to work better that way.  Careful not to dent the box with the center punch ;o)    I just use a very small bit to get a hole started, no banging the box.

All I do is lay the parts out next to each other to see how to space them (no actual measurements, sorry).    I get the stomp switch in first, then put the LED bezel next to it, mark w/pencil, etc etc.   Take your time and it'll be ok!  Err on the side of caution...

That makes perfect sense. Thank you for your assistance.

[JKowalski]

I am getting ready to drill my switch box and since this is my first time I have a few questions.

- How far apart should the standard dpdt foot switch be from the LED (with plastic bezel on the LED)?

- How far apart should the 9v DC input be from a 1/4" phone jack?

- As far as drilling, I have a powder coated box, I know to center punch and drill a pilot hole first. Should I drill from the back side so I don't chip the paint? I will be using a uni-bit type bit that I bought from Harbor Freight.

Probably stupid questions that I should be able to figure out but figured that I would check anyway.

Drilling from the outside in is better for chipping. At the end of the cutting, the blade is pushing out from the material and will tend to cause aberrations. When the blade starts, the sharp cutter is carefully controlled and the material it is drilling is rigid.

If you drill from the chassis inside to the outside, clamp the enclosure to a piece of wood so that you drill enclosure->wood. The wood will prevent the "pushing out" at the end of the cutting since the blade still has material to go through.

For the "how far apart" it doesn't matter, whatever looks aesthetically and functionally pleasing to you. Everyone does it different.  

[Processaurus]

With the powder coated boxes, I put a piece of rubber sheet in the small vice I use to hold it while using the drill press, no scratches that way.  They also make these rubber tipped clamp things that hold the work, for drill presses, like in this picture:

Denting can be possible when enthusiastic center punching, I have a metal table edge I can hang the box over to support the inside face of the sides being pounded.  Setting the box on a piece of 2x4 would work as a support for center tapping the top.

I personally have found I can go straight to the uni-bit, no pilot holes.

I hate the dc jack on the side, because it makes pedalboard wiring messy, and try to put it at the back, as close to center as possible.  That allows using the Boss brand daisy chains, which are short between each plug.

The best is to put the LED where you can see it come on, when your foot is pressing the button, but it can go anywhere, really.

[Jerry J]

This was all much easier than I thought it would be which is a good thing. Thank you all for your replies and assistance.

First off I taped my hand drawn layout to the box. Then to center punch I have one of those spring loaded center punches. I set it to the lowest setting and punched the center to all of the holes so denting or bending of the box. I pulled the layout drawing off and drilled small pilot holes mainly to get a feel for drilling into the box. Then I chucked up the cheapo Harbor Freight uni-bit. On the first hole I was getting a bit carried away then realized I did't quite know where the 1/2" step on the bit was. So I wrapped a piece of blue masking tape at the stop point.

I did stop before drilling the LED holes as I was thinking that the holes for the Heyco hole bushings seemed aweful big. So I decided to order actual LED bezels. I'll wait until those show up before I drill the LED holes.

I also forgot to mention that I cut a 2x4 block that snuggly fit into the box just for backing during the center punching and drilling.