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Heavy_Soul wrote:Grit 400 wet and dry paper, in soapy water all over the enclosure until it was smooth, then buffed it on a grinder wheel with a coarse polishing attachment and car polishing soap until it was even, then went to a medium attachment and did the same, then to a fine attachment. Finally rubbed it all over with lime to get the grease and shit out of it, then some carnauba wax with a clean rag!
Great polish. So the buffing wheel is the key, eh? I tried to get a polish like that on my optical compressors-- wet-sanding, buffing, polishing, waxing. I couldn't come close to that, no matter how much time I spent and how fine of grit I used. My bigger goal, though, was getting the surface flat for toner transfer and etching, and that was a success.
What brand enclosure is that? I used 4site enclosures, and it seemed like the aluminum was not consistent, with dark streaks and spots that I just couldn't remove.
Oh, and by the way, ditch the plastic washers! Cheeeeesy.
Mike
I know what you're saying about the 4 site ones. That's the ones that Mammoth carries, right? I got some from them and the aluminum seems softer and cheaper. I was able to sand them down fine but the enclosures just seem cheaper and lighter. Most of the Hammond boxes I have etched on seemed to sand down well and the boxes just seem to be made better. Worth the extra money probably. I do a lot of etching on Pedal Parts Plus 1790 clones and while the boxes come out fine, there are deep pits that you can't sand out and it just sucks.
mirror finish is hard to do. and it takes forever. sanding with woodblocks or sandpaper on glass is a good way to get it flat and straight but then you still have to put in work on all the rounded corners. it was like 4 hours on one pedal and i still f*d it up.
eatyourguitar wrote:mirror finish is hard to do. and it takes forever. sanding with woodblocks or sandpaper on glass is a good way to get it flat and straight but then you still have to put in work on all the rounded corners. it was like 4 hours on one pedal and i still f*d it up.
The enclosure was left over from another project. I mis-drilled the in/jacks and also got some of the top-side holes off center. So I tossed it aside. Last night I drilled it out fully and managed to salvage it. Did a quickie paint job and wired it up good n' proper. There is still a left-over pilot hole and a dimple from the center punch. I like to think of the tiny pilot hole as a place for the excess doom to escape.
This thing RIPS!
I'll work on a demo later this week.
Disclaimer #1: Co-Founder, Product Developer at Function f(x).
Thanks, guys. It was my first time using a PCB. A lot cleaner than my usual perf builds. And I usually etch my boxes but decided to try something fast with paint and stencils. Although I had the PCB for almost a year, once I got started the pedal was so much faster to assemble. Never had a Ring Mod so it's been fun playing, too...
