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Pot Matrix build - Finally Finished

Started by beneharris, February 07, 2016, 07:33:34 PM

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beneharris

This took me an insane amount of time. I had to redo the enclosure once, repaint it probably 4 times, and I kept ordering wrong, or forgetting things. Needless to say I learned a lot. I had enough room on the bottom to move my test rig into, so now its kind of an all-in-one rig tester.












My envirotex pour came out really nicely I thought:



I have each row with individual breadboard jumpers so that I can have as many as 5 pots at a time. I'll never need that many, nor will each row necessarily line up to what I need, but that is okay. The wires are messy, and I have some ideas on how to clean them up, but for now the book is closed on this one. All in all a really fun build, and thanks to Leevibe for sharing his OSHpark boards for this.

I painted it too dark the last time around. I was in a hurry to get it done, and it started snowing on me, and I just was too heavy with the trigger finger. Here is how I intended it to come out; much more visible than what I ended up with:


(That was my first attempt before I figured out my envirotex pour was too soft.)

HamSandwich

Super dope man! Love the look and the envirotex looks excellent. Nice neat wiring too.

m-Kresol

looks awesome! I agree, the envirotex is spot on and you nailed the wiring.

One thing I was wondering though: is there a GND connection to the enclosure? I couldn't spot any and this could lead to LOTS of noise when using the testing rig without grounding the jacks. Just wanted to make sure.
I build pedals to hide my lousy playing.

My projects are labeled Quantum Effects. My shared OSH park projects: https://oshpark.com/profiles/m-Kresol
My build docs and tutorials

beneharris

Thanks guys!

Kresol, no I didn't put a ground in. I was going to try and see if just using the enclosure-jack as a ground would be enough or not. You're thinking it won't be enough? Or do you mean from the DC jack to the enclosure? Because, yes, I did forget that part.  :D

m-Kresol

I kind of doubt it, but the fastest way to be sure would be to try it out :) you could even clip in a finished pedal that's known to work properly
I build pedals to hide my lousy playing.

My projects are labeled Quantum Effects. My shared OSH park projects: https://oshpark.com/profiles/m-Kresol
My build docs and tutorials

beneharris

It'll be easy enough to try out, you're right! Thanks again.

jimilee

Hun, that's amazing, what's it do exactly?
Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

beneharris

Quote from: jimilee on February 07, 2016, 10:06:22 PM
Hun, that's amazing, what's it do exactly?

So basically its an easy way to put pots into a circuit on a breadboard, veroboard, etc. It's got a lot of the most common ones in it, so that way I don't have to wait for an order to arrive to test them. Pop one in, if I don't like it, change it around. Leevibe's original design had a rotary switch at the bottom to select which row you'd be using, but I just wired in individual test leads of each row.

So my real idea for using this is for example, I'm putting together another retrograde right now, and it needs a 500ka, and a 1kb, so instead of soldering pots in, and having a super unweildy mess of wires to test, I can do it all contained in this box. Just put the proper pots in their spot, and adjust them as needed.

jimilee

Thad really fantastic. I gotta learn more about my breadboard.
Pedal building is like the opposite of sex.  All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

Leevibe

Amazing job, Ben. I love your implementation. Your ET came out perfect! Way better than mine. Haha! Beautiful wiring too!

beneharris

Quote from: Leevibe on February 08, 2016, 01:47:21 AM
Amazing job, Ben. I love your implementation. Your ET came out perfect! Way better than mine. Haha! Beautiful wiring too!

Thanks Lee. I really appreciate the encouragement. I had to redo the ET a few times, so it better have come out well, haha.

SmoothAction

Spectacular work here, beneharris. Not only is this a great tool to have on the bench, you've made it look gorgeous too!

Props to Leevibe for the concept/pcb and props to you for great execution.

beneharris

Thanks, SmoothAction!


Just fyi for anybody interested in envirotex, I bought this toaster oven to help bake it and the paint. It came out soooo much better. It has a "bread cupboard" style opening, so its got tons of room to get the pedal in and out without worrying about bonking it on anything. So worth the $35 investment if you plan to go envirotex.

http://www.target.com/p/hamilton-beach-4-slice-easy-reach-oven-gray-31334/-/A-14563456#prodSlot=_1_4

Leevibe

Quote from: beneharris on February 08, 2016, 05:36:57 PM
Thanks, SmoothAction!


Just fyi for anybody interested in envirotex, I bought this toaster oven to help bake it and the paint. It came out soooo much better. It has a "bread cupboard" style opening, so its got tons of room to get the pedal in and out without worrying about bonking it on anything. So worth the $35 investment if you plan to go envirotex.

http://www.target.com/p/hamilton-beach-4-slice-easy-reach-oven-gray-31334/-/A-14563456#prodSlot=_1_4

That is a sweet looking little oven. That would be nice for powder coating.

beneharris

Quote from: Leevibe on February 08, 2016, 06:03:52 PM
Quote from: beneharris on February 08, 2016, 05:36:57 PM
Thanks, SmoothAction!


Just fyi for anybody interested in envirotex, I bought this toaster oven to help bake it and the paint. It came out soooo much better. It has a "bread cupboard" style opening, so its got tons of room to get the pedal in and out without worrying about bonking it on anything. So worth the $35 investment if you plan to go envirotex.

http://www.target.com/p/hamilton-beach-4-slice-easy-reach-oven-gray-31334/-/A-14563456#prodSlot=_1_4

That is a sweet looking little oven. That would be nice for powder coating.

Yep, that is another reason I bought it, I'd like to try my hand at that sometime. Just gotta talk the wife into letting me buy the stuff :)