Pot Matrix build - Finally Finished

[beneharris]

This took me an insane amount of time. I had to redo the enclosure once, repaint it probably 4 times, and I kept ordering wrong, or forgetting things. Needless to say I learned a lot. I had enough room on the bottom to move my test rig into, so now its kind of an all-in-one rig tester.












My envirotex pour came out really nicely I thought:



I have each row with individual breadboard jumpers so that I can have as many as 5 pots at a time. I'll never need that many, nor will each row necessarily line up to what I need, but that is okay. The wires are messy, and I have some ideas on how to clean them up, but for now the book is closed on this one. All in all a really fun build, and thanks to Leevibe for sharing his OSHpark boards for this.

I painted it too dark the last time around. I was in a hurry to get it done, and it started snowing on me, and I just was too heavy with the trigger finger. Here is how I intended it to come out; much more visible than what I ended up with:


(That was my first attempt before I figured out my envirotex pour was too soft.)

[HamSandwich]

Super dope man! Love the look and the envirotex looks excellent. Nice neat wiring too.

[m-Kresol]

looks awesome! I agree, the envirotex is spot on and you nailed the wiring.

One thing I was wondering though: is there a GND connection to the enclosure? I couldn't spot any and this could lead to LOTS of noise when using the testing rig without grounding the jacks. Just wanted to make sure.

[beneharris]

Thanks guys!

Kresol, no I didn't put a ground in. I was going to try and see if just using the enclosure-jack as a ground would be enough or not. You're thinking it won't be enough? Or do you mean from the DC jack to the enclosure? Because, yes, I did forget that part. 

[m-Kresol]

I kind of doubt it, but the fastest way to be sure would be to try it out you could even clip in a finished pedal that's known to work properly

[beneharris]

It'll be easy enough to try out, you're right! Thanks again.

[jimilee]

Hun, that's amazing, what's it do exactly?

[beneharris]

Hun, that's amazing, what's it do exactly?

So basically its an easy way to put pots into a circuit on a breadboard, veroboard, etc. It's got a lot of the most common ones in it, so that way I don't have to wait for an order to arrive to test them. Pop one in, if I don't like it, change it around. Leevibe's original design had a rotary switch at the bottom to select which row you'd be using, but I just wired in individual test leads of each row.

So my real idea for using this is for example, I'm putting together another retrograde right now, and it needs a 500ka, and a 1kb, so instead of soldering pots in, and having a super unweildy mess of wires to test, I can do it all contained in this box. Just put the proper pots in their spot, and adjust them as needed.

[jimilee]

Thad really fantastic. I gotta learn more about my breadboard.

[Leevibe]

Amazing job, Ben. I love your implementation. Your ET came out perfect! Way better than mine. Haha! Beautiful wiring too!

[beneharris]

Amazing job, Ben. I love your implementation. Your ET came out perfect! Way better than mine. Haha! Beautiful wiring too!

Thanks Lee. I really appreciate the encouragement. I had to redo the ET a few times, so it better have come out well, haha.

[SmoothAction]

Spectacular work here, beneharris. Not only is this a great tool to have on the bench, you've made it look gorgeous too!

Props to Leevibe for the concept/pcb and props to you for great execution.

[beneharris]

Thanks, SmoothAction!


Just fyi for anybody interested in envirotex, I bought this toaster oven to help bake it and the paint. It came out soooo much better. It has a "bread cupboard" style opening, so its got tons of room to get the pedal in and out without worrying about bonking it on anything. So worth the $35 investment if you plan to go envirotex.

http://www.target.com/p/hamilton-beach-4-slice-easy-reach-oven-gray-31334/-/A-14563456#prodSlot=_1_4

[Leevibe]

Thanks, SmoothAction!


Just fyi for anybody interested in envirotex, I bought this toaster oven to help bake it and the paint. It came out soooo much better. It has a "bread cupboard" style opening, so its got tons of room to get the pedal in and out without worrying about bonking it on anything. So worth the $35 investment if you plan to go envirotex.

http://www.target.com/p/hamilton-beach-4-slice-easy-reach-oven-gray-31334/-/A-14563456#prodSlot=_1_4

That is a sweet looking little oven. That would be nice for powder coating.

[beneharris]

Thanks, SmoothAction!


Just fyi for anybody interested in envirotex, I bought this toaster oven to help bake it and the paint. It came out soooo much better. It has a "bread cupboard" style opening, so its got tons of room to get the pedal in and out without worrying about bonking it on anything. So worth the $35 investment if you plan to go envirotex.

http://www.target.com/p/hamilton-beach-4-slice-easy-reach-oven-gray-31334/-/A-14563456#prodSlot=_1_4

That is a sweet looking little oven. That would be nice for powder coating.

Yep, that is another reason I bought it, I'd like to try my hand at that sometime. Just gotta talk the wife into letting me buy the stuff