Envirotex and Fabric.

[Harlington-Straker]

Hi,

My first post and my first pedal project.

I've attached a pic of my build. As you can see I have covered it in a sixties fabric and my intention now is to encase it in envirotex, including the sides.

I know people have struggled with coating the sides of the pedals, but I am hoping that the fabric will give the epoxy something to cling to, making it easier.

Can anyone give any advice on doing this?

My particular concerns are the sides, the holes and the bottom edge.

Would giving the pedal a thin coat of ET before putting on a main coat be a way forward? I thought that might let me push the ET into the fabric.

I was going to block the holes with wax, then there is no need to drill out the ET.

Finally, I was going to make a small stand for the pedal using razor thin strips of metal on end to support the pedal, minimising the contact between stand and enclosure - is there a better way?


Thanks for any advice.

[Soup39]

What about nails through the screw holes at the 4 corners/.

[mandrewbot3k]

Maybe a little spray adhesive to stretch it over the enclosure first.  Then the et?

[icecycle66]

This is a really cool idea man.
I hope this works out.

[ggarms]

My only worry would be related to how porous the fabric is, and whether the text would actually absorb into it and discolor or darken it. Keep us posted, as I am definitely interested in how this comes out!

[Harlington-Straker]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm going to use Soup's idea and put pins in the screw holes to support the enclosure - I like that.

I have glued the fabric to the box with Elmer's PVA glue and, taking into account what ggarms said, I will seal it with a diluted mix of the same glue. I've tested it and seems to work fine.

I will, of course, post piccies and my method when I'm finished. 

[Gledison]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm going to use Soup's idea and put pins in the screw holes to support the enclosure - I like that.

I have glued the fabric to the box with Elmer's PVA glue and, taking into account what ggarms said, I will seal it with a diluted mix of the same glue. I've tested it and seems to work fine.

I will, of course, post piccies and my method when I'm finished. 

After u seal it I would suggest something regarding the ET coat!
After pre mix the ET, I would leave it for 15 min or more( u have to test if the ET viscosity is increasing) than pour it all over it. After another 15 min pour more on the edges and sides! This will allow you to cover the shrank parts...
It worked for me , not perfect but ok!
Good luck and please post it when finished   

[bcalla]

I always do the sides with ET and it can be a challenge.  I changed my process a bit on my last enclosure and it improved the results.  I bought an inexpensive (~$8) lazy susan in a kitchen store.  I covered it with aluminum foil and found an old plastic box to rest the enclosure on.  The size of the box is taller than the enclosure but smaller than its perimeter so that the enclosure's bottom edges are about 1/2" above the surface of the lazy susan.

I leveled it and poured ET on the top and used wooden craft sticks to push the ET over the sides.  I have always used these sticks on the sides - like icing a birthday cake.  The difference is that the lazy susan allows me to turn the enclosure without touching it giving me equal access to all sides.  My results this time were a great improvement over previous builds.  I must point out that the sides always have ripples in the ET, I never gotten them perfectly smooth like the top.  This time was better, though.

Also, don't underestimate ET's determination to fill the screw holes.  For my last build I had 3 layers of masking tape of the holes.  Two of them filled with ET anyway.  One of them is still full of ET - I couldn't chip it out.  Obviously I need to improve my masking technique...

[ggarms]

I always do the sides with ET and it can be a challenge.  I changed my process a bit on my last enclosure and it improved the results.  I bought an inexpensive (~$8) lazy susan in a kitchen store.  I covered it with aluminum foil and found an old plastic box to rest the enclosure on.  The size of the box is taller than the enclosure but smaller than its perimeter so that the enclosure's bottom edges are about 1/2" above the surface of the lazy susan.

I leveled it and poured ET on the top and used wooden craft sticks to push the ET over the sides.  I have always used these sticks on the sides - like icing a birthday cake.  The difference is that the lazy susan allows me to turn the enclosure without touching it giving me equal access to all sides.  My results this time were a great improvement over previous builds.  I must point out that the sides always have ripples in the ET, I never gotten them perfectly smooth like the top.  This time was better, though.

Also, don't underestimate ET's determination to fill the screw holes.  For my last build I had 3 layers of masking tape of the holes.  Two of them filled with ET anyway.  One of them is still full of ET - I couldn't chip it out.  Obviously I need to improve my masking technique...

I always use electrical tape and have never had it bleed through. Might be a bit more expensive though...

[bcalla]

I'll try that next.

[ggarms]

The only way I could think of doing sides and have them be ace would be to do each side on its own before you do the main area of the enclosure. At a minimum though, you'd be looking at 2 days per side plus another 2 for the top. Finishing would take a bit more time that way!

[FloorIt]

What is ET?

Can't the enclosure be drilled after all the finishing is completed?

[ggarms]

What is ET?

Can't the enclosure be drilled after all the finishing is completed?

ET is envirotex, which is a hard epoxy you pour over your finished pedal for a thick, clear, rock hard (abs) finish. It's similar to stuff they use to coat the counters at bars.

[claytushaywood]

ooohhh my lady was looking for ways to get involved on this hobby.  She loves fabrics and has some cool stuff, never thought about this!  Let me know how it goes!  I'd love to hear your experience and even extra cooler would be a step by step if you come up with a good process!

Looks good!

[Harlington-Straker]

Ok, I've done the envirotex thing with mixed results.

The top is not too bad, a few bubbles which, had I taken more time, I could have prevented. I had already drilled the holes in the box and redrilling them through the ET was easy peasy with a sharp, stepped drill bit.

The sides are not so great. They are very rough and lumpy where the ET seems to have seeped out of the fabric, it's not bubbles, but tiny, solid lumps of ET. There's also a few drips.

I firstly applied the ET with a brush and then poured the rest on, allowing it to settle on the top and run down the sides. The idea with the brush was to push the ET into the fabric removing the air. I'm not sure it worked.

Another thing to note is that I used this stuff, https://www.elichem.co.uk/p-21-mastercast-1-2-1.aspx, which as far as I can tell is the same as ET. It's much easier to get this stuff in the UK. It has made the fabric significantly darker.

I think I am going to see if I can recoat the sides, one at a time as suggested by ggarms. It will take a while, but might be worth it.

I have one other problem, an electronic one. I am using the stripboard layout attached to this post. I have it hooked up to test, but there is not a peep from it, nothing at all.

When I check the datasheets for Q1 and Q2 I see that they have different pinouts, but this doesn't seem to be specified in the layout. Have the differing pinouts been accounted for in the layout? Is there a CBE convention in stripboard layouts?

At the moment I have the circuit looking exactly as the layout, with the flat faces of Q1 and Q2 facing to the right and the legs connected to the track directly below. Do I actually need to twist the legs on Q2?

Does that make sense?

Like I said, this is my first pedal build and my first use of transistors - all my previous experience is modding valve amps.

Any help would be really good, thanks.