[sdiy] Knobs/pots/jacks suggestions

[Tom Arnold]

On Mon, May 16, 2005 at 11:31:08AM -0700, Peter Grenader wrote:
> Sorry, but  I've never understood the price of knobs in general, but
> especially these things.  The Rean soft touch, the ones I use are no less
> complicated (requires two moldings instead of one, although they are push
> one so there's no threaded insert or lock screw) - they only run 48 cents
> each at a quantity of 1.

The Davies knobs are an old multi step construction process.

Step 1. Molded thermoplastic / Bakelite.  Hot molded.  Apparently this is
an older process and runs at higher heats or something.  Knobs we're more
used to these days ( like the Eagle knobs or anything with a rubberized
coating ) use a lower temperature and higher pressure.  Bakelite/phenolic is
largely considered obsolete now...

Step 2. The Angry beaver step.  The original knob had no indicator line.
They use a seperate machine to hot stamp or carve the line.  I'm not certain
which, I just know that the machine has been on its last legs for a couple
decades.  Considering that its 60 years old thats probably not surprising.
A new knob should have the indicator molded in, but Davies isnt interested
in making new molds.

Step 3. Paint.  This is the same on most knobs, someone paints the line.
Even Taiwan knobs paint the line by hand.  If you use a knob with a physical
pointer, this can be skipped.

The main reason the 1900H is so expensive is They Dont Want To Sell It.  If
I place a moderatly large order with Taiwan Knobs ( I think I settled on
8000 knobs ) the selling price each ( calculated to cover the tooling
charges ) would be under 50cents.  After that they only get cheaper.  Why
havent I?  $4k in Out of Pocket expenses with at least $2k of that possiby
being wasted if the product doesnt Look Right and all the Serge people who
want these knobs cant use them because they dont match.

-- 
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 - Tom Arnold       -  Free Synth DIY webspace http://www.sdiy.org 
 - SynthGeek        -
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