[sdiy] Potentiometer Heights

[Batz Goodfortune]

Y-ellow Cynthia 'n' all.

At 11:33 AM 7/5/02 -0700, Cynthia Webster wrote:
>Sounds like the title of a new soap opera
>
>Stay tuned for next week's episode of
>
>"Potentiometer Heights"

In which Cynthia shows her prowess as a 1337 haxor.

>Anyway, here I am with a hacksaw going-at-it with a big bag of
>different length pot shafts and wondering if someone has a
>suggestion for an easier way to deal with this dilemma?

Often, I have circumvented the whole problem by designing everything to 
bolt to a sub-panel. The depth of which depends on the length of the shaft. 
No cutting at all but some fabricating involved. Though the main reason for 
this isn't really the pot-shaft cutting deal. The reason is that the pot 
can then bolt to a flange behind the panel. It does not tighten on the 
panel and if you've used a heat coated paper panel, this can be important 
as the tension of doing up the nut will twist and/or rip the ply of the 
panel markings. Not very pretty.

This also allows you to use much smaller knobs. And knobs that don't have 
skirts who's only real purpose is to hide the pot-nuts. And finally, by 
using a sub panel, you can drill a tiny little hole through which the 
securing flange that some pots have can protrude. Thus locking them in 
place and preventing the pot from rotating. Even if the pot-nuts become lose.

It's not always necessary to make an aluminium sub-panel either. You could 
for example, make your PCB with holes in it for the pots to mount directly 
to. Some over-sized lands on the solder side will even allow you to 
virtually-surface mount, a standard ol' toy-shop-pot to the board. (Thankya 
Roman) So in the end you can build your entire circus on one PCB and just 
mount the PCB a "Pot-shaft's distance"tm under the main front panel.

No wiring. No cutting and the pot's right smack bang in the middle of the 
circus it's adjusting.

Hope this helps.

Be absolutely Icebox.

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