[sdiy] Rapid and Alpha pots

[flightofharmony]

Pot shaft length: I ran across this while building the Plague Bearers. I had
a bunch of pots that I had ordered from Futurlec a couple years ago which
had longer shafts than ones ordered recently.  I have since received both
kinds, and just cut the longer ones to length (I made a plastic bushing the
length of the shorter shaft and just slip this over the longer ones as a saw
guide). Other Alpha inconsistencies: the ones from Futurlec have a gold-ish
colored  metal cover, while ones I ordered from Mouser have a silver cover
with the letters "7N1" printed on them and the 'a' in the Alpha logo is
smaller than on the gold ones. I am assuming different manufacturing
facilities?

> Tom Bugs also mention that difference. I wonder if it's a matter of  
>either using thicker panels or adding a suitable spacer to the shaft  
>on the backside of the panel.

Both the long shaft and the short shaft have the same length bushing so,
taking up the difference with washers might not work very well

>How much do you need to cut off and how  
>think are the panels you use?

Long shaft (bushing to shaft end): ~10.5mm
Short shaft (same): ~8.5mm
Bushing length: ~6.5mm

I used 0.05" panels on the Plague Bearers.

>Another thing i'd like to ask about is regarding diameter of the  
>shafts. On the Futurlec site it says that the shafts are 5.5mm in  
>diameter. On the Rapid site the diameter is stated to be 6mm. Does  
>the 0.5mm make a difference or are one to use knobs made for 5.5mm  
>shafts (if using the Futurlec pots)?

All Alpha pots I have come across measure out to be the standard 6mm fluted
style. I like the Soft Touch knobs by Neutrik/Re-Ann (from Mouser), they fit
perfectly on the SHORT shafts.


>Best, Steffen

~flight
flight at flightofharmony.com
http://www.fligthofharmony.com