Modular Synth Panels

Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot in a 3/8 hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?

I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or rubber band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.

I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:

http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail

Or just use Bourns.

Nathan

Here was the first mention I heard of it:

***
Standard pot and jack holes are 0.3750 (3/8) inches in diameter (9.53
mm). What if some people want to use large bushing pots and others want
small bushing pots, like the Alpha? No need to worry about hole sizes.
I learned this trick from Larry Hendry (R.I.P.). Fit a #5 rubber O-ring
to the Alpha pot bushing and it neatly fills the gap and fits snugly
into a 1/8-inch thick panel. The #5 O-ring is a standard plumbing item,
easily found at hardware stores, at least in the U.S.. I never worry
about mounting Alpha pots, as long as I have a box of #5 O-rings, which
I buy from Lowes. I use 3/8-inch holes universally for pots. If I
change my mind and want to replace an Alpha pot with one with a larger
bushing, it's a snap.

Richard Brewster
http://www.pugix.com
***

-Chris

On Jul 20, 2010, at 1:17 PM, Ti_ wrote:

>
> #5 O-rings if I remember correctly.
> I don't remember who the original genius was who discovered this but
> it is a perfect fit for fairly cheap.
> ~Tim C.
>
> From: woostern <woostern@...>
> To: ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Tue, July 20, 2010 10:48:14 AM
> Subject: [ModularSynthPanels] Adapt 8mm pot for 3/8 hole
>
>
> Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot in a 3/8
> hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?
>
> I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or rubber
> band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.
>
> I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:
>
> http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail
>
> Or just use Bourns.
>
> Nathan
>
>
>
>
>

Thanks! That's what I was looking for

Nathan

--- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, xamboldt <xamboldt@...> wrote:
>
> Here was the first mention I heard of it:
>
> ***
> Standard pot and jack holes are 0.3750 (3/8) inches in diameter (9.53
> mm). What if some people want to use large bushing pots and others want
> small bushing pots, like the Alpha? No need to worry about hole sizes.
> I learned this trick from Larry Hendry (R.I.P.). Fit a #5 rubber O-ring
> to the Alpha pot bushing and it neatly fills the gap and fits snugly
> into a 1/8-inch thick panel. The #5 O-ring is a standard plumbing item,
> easily found at hardware stores, at least in the U.S.. I never worry
> about mounting Alpha pots, as long as I have a box of #5 O-rings, which
> I buy from Lowes. I use 3/8-inch holes universally for pots. If I
> change my mind and want to replace an Alpha pot with one with a larger
> bushing, it's a snap.
>
> Richard Brewster
> http://www.pugix.com
> ***
>
> -Chris
>
>
> On Jul 20, 2010, at 1:17 PM, Ti_ wrote:
>
> >
> > #5 O-rings if I remember correctly.
> > I don't remember who the original genius was who discovered this but
> > it is a perfect fit for fairly cheap.
> > ~Tim C.
> >
> > From: woostern <woostern@...>
> > To: ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com
> > Sent: Tue, July 20, 2010 10:48:14 AM
> > Subject: [ModularSynthPanels] Adapt 8mm pot for 3/8 hole
> >
> >
> > Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot in a 3/8
> > hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?
> >
> > I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or rubber
> > band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.
> >
> > I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:
> >
> > http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail
> >
> > Or just use Bourns.
> >
> > Nathan
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

:-)

Larry had a lot of great tips. Glad I could pass along some of them.

Richard
http://pugix.com

On 7/20/10 3:59 PM, woostern wrote:
> Thanks! That's what I was looking for
>
> Nathan
>
> --- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, xamboldt<xamboldt@...> wrote:
>
>> Here was the first mention I heard of it:
>>
>> ***
>> Standard pot and jack holes are 0.3750 (3/8) inches in diameter (9.53
>> mm). What if some people want to use large bushing pots and others want
>> small bushing pots, like the Alpha? No need to worry about hole sizes.
>> I learned this trick from Larry Hendry (R.I.P.). Fit a #5 rubber O-ring
>> to the Alpha pot bushing and it neatly fills the gap and fits snugly
>> into a 1/8-inch thick panel. The #5 O-ring is a standard plumbing item,
>> easily found at hardware stores, at least in the U.S.. I never worry
>> about mounting Alpha pots, as long as I have a box of #5 O-rings, which
>> I buy from Lowes. I use 3/8-inch holes universally for pots. If I
>> change my mind and want to replace an Alpha pot with one with a larger
>> bushing, it's a snap.
>>
>> Richard Brewster
>> http://www.pugix.com
>> ***
>>
>> -Chris
>>
>>
>> On Jul 20, 2010, at 1:17 PM, Ti_ wrote:
>>
>>
>>> #5 O-rings if I remember correctly.
>>> I don't remember who the original genius was who discovered this but
>>> it is a perfect fit for fairly cheap.
>>> ~Tim C.
>>>
>>> From: woostern<woostern@...>
>>> To: ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com
>>> Sent: Tue, July 20, 2010 10:48:14 AM
>>> Subject: [ModularSynthPanels] Adapt 8mm pot for 3/8 hole
>>>
>>>
>>> Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot in a 3/8
>>> hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?
>>>
>>> I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or rubber
>>> band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.
>>>
>>> I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:
>>>
>>> http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail
>>>
>>> Or just use Bourns.
>>>
>>> Nathan
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>

A while ago I bought some of those #5 o-rings on the advice of members of this group. My experience was that they were too big - I couldn't squeeze the (alpha) pot with the o-ring on it into the 3/8 hole. It's quite possible that home depot had them labeled wrong though. So when you're at the store, pick up some smaller ones just in case - they're cheap.

--- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "woostern" <woostern@...> wrote:
>
> Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot in a 3/8 hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?
>
> I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or rubber band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.
>
> I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:
>
> http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail
>
> Or just use Bourns.
>
> Nathan
>

Maybe we're talking about different Alpha pots. I use the 16mm diameter
ones, and the bushing looks to be about 7mm. Example Mouser part
#313-1000F-100K. The #5 o-rings from Lowes work fine on these. The fit
is snug in the 3/8" hole and they do have to be pressed in firmly. I
usually get it started and then put a flat washer and nut on the panel
and snug it with a socket wrench.

Richard

On 7/21/10 10:57 AM, Steve wrote:
> A while ago I bought some of those #5 o-rings on the advice of members of this group. My experience was that they were too big - I couldn't squeeze the (alpha) pot with the o-ring on it into the 3/8 hole. It's quite possible that home depot had them labeled wrong though. So when you're at the store, pick up some smaller ones just in case - they're cheap.
>
> --- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "woostern"<woostern@...> wrote:
>
>> Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot in a 3/8 hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?
>>
>> I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or rubber band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.
>>
>> I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:
>>
>> http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail
>>
>> Or just use Bourns.
>>
>> Nathan
>>
>>
>

Because I thoroughly trust Richards experience in this, perhaps I should clarify. I'm fairly certain that the #5 o-rings I bought at Home Depot were either the wrong size, either by being mislabeled or placed in the wrong bin or whatever. While they would fit onto the pots (either 16mm or 24mm alphas - they're the same size collar), there was no way these particular o-rings were going to fit into 3/8" holes, tight squeeze or no.

The next time I'm at LOWES I'm going to try again!

Actually my current practice is to always specify 0.3125 inch holes for pots in my FPE panels, as I seem to be using alpha pots most of the time now, and if I feel the need for using spectrol or whatever bigger pot (after I've sent the design off) I can just drill out the hole slightly.

--- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, Richard Brewster <pugix@...> wrote:
>
> Maybe we're talking about different Alpha pots. I use the 16mm diameter
> ones, and the bushing looks to be about 7mm. Example Mouser part
> #313-1000F-100K. The #5 o-rings from Lowes work fine on these. The fit
> is snug in the 3/8" hole and they do have to be pressed in firmly. I
> usually get it started and then put a flat washer and nut on the panel
> and snug it with a socket wrench.
>
> Richard
>
> On 7/21/10 10:57 AM, Steve wrote:
> > A while ago I bought some of those #5 o-rings on the advice of members of this group. My experience was that they were too big - I couldn't squeeze the (alpha) pot with the o-ring on it into the 3/8 hole. It's quite possible that home depot had them labeled wrong though. So when you're at the store, pick up some smaller ones just in case - they're cheap.
> >
> > --- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "woostern"<woostern@> wrote:
> >
> >> Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot in a 3/8 hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?
> >>
> >> I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or rubber band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.
> >>
> >> I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:
> >>
> >> http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail
> >>
> >> Or just use Bourns.
> >>
> >> Nathan
> >>
> >>
> >
>

Home Depot (or Lowes or whatever) will also sell plastic drill-size gages.
These are about 1/8" thick molded pieces of plastic with holes in graduated
sizes. A lot of them also have thread gages -- handy things to have.

You could walk over to the tool section and check before you go through the
checkout line.

Dave

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Steve
> Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 7:57 AM
> To: ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [ModularSynthPanels] Re: Adapt 8mm pot for 3/8 hole
>
> A while ago I bought some of those #5 o-rings on the advice
> of members of this group. My experience was that they were
> too big - I couldn't squeeze the (alpha) pot with the o-ring
> on it into the 3/8 hole. It's quite possible that home depot
> had them labeled wrong though. So when you're at the store,
> pick up some smaller ones just in case - they're cheap.
>
> --- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "woostern"
> <woostern@...> wrote:
> >
> > Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot
> in a 3/8 hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?
> >
> > I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or
> rubber band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.
> >
> > I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:
> >
> >
> http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail
> >
> > Or just use Bourns.
> >
> > Nathan
> >
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

I use #47 (maybe 49, whichever is the smaller) O-Rings from Home Depot. They're usually over by the sink repair stuff and come in packs of ten. I also use these for banana conversions, but they're a bit tricky to get in with banana's.

Does anybody besides Dave and Steve still need the larger hole?

-TF

--- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <sduck409@...> wrote:
>
> A while ago I bought some of those #5 o-rings on the advice of members of this group. My experience was that they were too big - I couldn't squeeze the (alpha) pot with the o-ring on it into the 3/8 hole. It's quite possible that home depot had them labeled wrong though. So when you're at the store, pick up some smaller ones just in case - they're cheap.
>
> --- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "woostern" <woostern@> wrote:
> >
> > Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot in a 3/8 hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?
> >
> > I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or rubber band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.
> >
> > I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:
> >
> > http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail
> >
> > Or just use Bourns.
> >
> > Nathan
> >
>

FWIW, Will and I use, so far anyway, exclusively 3/8 pots... we're also comfortable drilling out smaller holes to the 3/8 size.

We recently did a build for a friend using alphas for the first time and did our best to center the pots in the holes. Now that we know about the O-rings, we'll get them to retrofit as we haven't made delivery on the module yet.

But I suspect there are many more than us who use 3/8 in pots.

Bill and Will

--- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "Todd" <babysealclub@...> wrote:
>
> I use #47 (maybe 49, whichever is the smaller) O-Rings from Home Depot. They're usually over by the sink repair stuff and come in packs of ten. I also use these for banana conversions, but they're a bit tricky to get in with banana's.
>
> Does anybody besides Dave and Steve still need the larger hole?
>
> -TF
>
> --- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <sduck409@> wrote:
> >
> > A while ago I bought some of those #5 o-rings on the advice of members of this group. My experience was that they were too big - I couldn't squeeze the (alpha) pot with the o-ring on it into the 3/8 hole. It's quite possible that home depot had them labeled wrong though. So when you're at the store, pick up some smaller ones just in case - they're cheap.
> >
> > --- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "woostern" <woostern@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot in a 3/8 hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?
> > >
> > > I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or rubber band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.
> > >
> > > I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:
> > >
> > > http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail
> > >
> > > Or just use Bourns.
> > >
> > > Nathan
> > >
> >
>

--- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <sduck409@...> wrote:

>
> Because I thoroughly trust Richards experience in this, perhaps I should clarify. I'm fairly certain that the #5 o-rings I bought at Home Depot were either the wrong size, either by being mislabeled or placed in the wrong bin or whatever. While they would fit onto the pots (either 16mm or 24mm alphas - they're the same size collar), there was no way these particular o-rings were going to fit into 3/8" holes, tight squeeze or no.
>

That's strange. My 16mm and 24mm have different bushing sizes. For 16mm alphas I use a 0.256" dia. hole. For 24mm I use 0.3125" holes. For some of my designs I use a 24mm pot but that can be replaced with a 16mm push/pull pot. They are close enough to the same size to use without an o-ring or spacer of some kind BUT it can be hard to exactly center it. That's a problem when there are dials around the knob because it is easy to notice it being off center. I was unable to find the perfect spacer that is the right inside and outside diameter. I came up with using pipe thread seal tape. Just wrap it around the bushing as many times as needed to fill the gap. Cheap and works well. I am doing this with 1/16" panels. It might not work as well for the spacing you are trying to fill...but it might.

Phil

I tried this out just now and both Richard and Steve are right :)

The #5 o-rings work great with the smaller alpha pots with the 7mm bushing.

The fit is not so good for the larger alpha pots with 8mm bushing. In that case the ring won't start to go in the hole unless you really tighten with a wrench. However, they do hold the pot shaft in the center of the hole while you tighten, so it is probably better than just eyeballing it.

I also bought a slightly smaller o-ring (#47), however the thickness is basically the same as a #5, so when you stretch it over the 8mm bushing it doesn't work any better.

Nathan

--- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <sduck409@...> wrote:
>
> Because I thoroughly trust Richards experience in this, perhaps I should clarify. I'm fairly certain that the #5 o-rings I bought at Home Depot were either the wrong size, either by being mislabeled or placed in the wrong bin or whatever. While they would fit onto the pots (either 16mm or 24mm alphas - they're the same size collar), there was no way these particular o-rings were going to fit into 3/8" holes, tight squeeze or no.
>
> The next time I'm at LOWES I'm going to try again!
>
> Actually my current practice is to always specify 0.3125 inch holes for pots in my FPE panels, as I seem to be using alpha pots most of the time now, and if I feel the need for using spectrol or whatever bigger pot (after I've sent the design off) I can just drill out the hole slightly.
>
> --- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, Richard Brewster <pugix@> wrote:
> >
> > Maybe we're talking about different Alpha pots. I use the 16mm diameter
> > ones, and the bushing looks to be about 7mm. Example Mouser part
> > #313-1000F-100K. The #5 o-rings from Lowes work fine on these. The fit
> > is snug in the 3/8" hole and they do have to be pressed in firmly. I
> > usually get it started and then put a flat washer and nut on the panel
> > and snug it with a socket wrench.
> >
> > Richard
> >
> > On 7/21/10 10:57 AM, Steve wrote:
> > > A while ago I bought some of those #5 o-rings on the advice of members of this group. My experience was that they were too big - I couldn't squeeze the (alpha) pot with the o-ring on it into the 3/8 hole. It's quite possible that home depot had them labeled wrong though. So when you're at the store, pick up some smaller ones just in case - they're cheap.
> > >
> > > --- In ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com, "woostern"<woostern@> wrote:
> > >
> > >> Does anybody have a clever solution for mounting a 8 mm pot in a 3/8 hole (besides tightening the nut really hard)?
> > >>
> > >> I thought I remember somebody finding the perfect washer or rubber band, but can't seem to find the post in the archive.
> > >>
> > >> I guess I should stop being a cheapskate and order some of these:
> > >>
> > >> http://www.shopamw.com/servlet/the-50/NEW--dsh--Adapter-Washers/Detail
> > >>
> > >> Or just use Bourns.
> > >>
> > >> Nathan
> > >>
> > >>
> > >
> >
>