Aion Refractor build: Hippocampus

[LateCentury]

This was probably my best build yet. I think I've more or less found the best method of transferring laser prints with polyurethane. More than anything I'm glad the switch, jacks and pcb aren't fighting for space after having dealt with 1590a's and G's. I think I might have to stick with B's. Oh, and it sounds great! No trouble shooting, worked the first time.

[bluescage]

Nice guts! Seems that one picture isn't there anymore?!

[bcalla]

Very clean work & professional look!

[LateCentury]

Nice guts! Seems that one picture isn't there anymore?!

Gah! Picture is back up.

[jubal81]

Yowser, looks great! Insides squeaky, too.

Mind going over your process for  transferring laser prints with polyurethane?

[bluescage]

Outside is looking great too!!

[LateCentury]

Yowser, looks great! Insides squeaky, too.

Mind going over your process for  transferring laser prints with polyurethane?

Sure!

First, print out your design BACKWARDS on a laser printer. I have a color laser printer at work I use. I print on standard printer paper, nothing special. You need to keep in mind that the ink transfer is translucent. So, apply your color theory knowledge here. Example: If you have a yellow enclosure, and you have blue in your design, the transfer will make the blue areas appear green. Typically, I have been doing lighter colored enclosures so my designs can be predictable. Black in your design will always appear black, no matter what color your enclosure.

Once you have your box ready, apply a coat of polyurethane evenly across the surface. I just use a small foam craft brush. Then, carefully lay your design face down. Go slow so you can line it up carefully. You can't reposition once its down.

Starting from the center, press down and outward on the paper, pressing the design as flat as you can to the enclosure. I then use the handle of the brush to roll across the paper evenly. You'll probably goosh some poly out of the sides, but that's ok.

I let it dry for 24 hours to make sure it's cured nicely. Once it's dry enough, run it under a warm trickle of water. The paper will begin to soak and slough off. Very, VERY carefully, rub the paper off with your fingertips. It should ball up and roll off in tiny strips. Keep going until your design comes through and it looks like all the paper fibers are gone. If you aren't sure, dry it off and any remaining paper will be visible and feel a little rough.

This process of transferring the paper to your enclosure will leave it with a dull-ish finish, FYI. So, the next thing you'll do is apply another thin, even coat on the surface. I usually try to watch for bubbles and pop them with the tip of the brush to ensure the smoothest surface possible. You can cover the whole enclosure with poly, but you'll probably have to do it in stages. It's quite runny, so any surface you cover will need to dry face up.

I usually only do two coats of poly on the surface. Polyurethane dries with a very slight yellow tint, so many coats of this and a white enclosure will start to appear yellow. Two seems to look ok and give you a glassy finish.

[darrenw6000]

Cool this is a project that I'm going to be doing soon, have you ever built madbean's  kingslayer, if so how do they compare.

[LateCentury]

Cool this is a project that I'm going to be doing soon, have you ever built madbean's  kingslayer, if so how do they compare.

I have not built the kingslayer but now I kinda want to. I actually didn't like the sound at first but am now warming up to it. From the Aion docs, they list the original having Germanium diodes. I used 1n914s. I'm curious to know if there is much of an audible difference. Using this pedal with my current gear has me eq-ing my who setup again. It was difficult to get it to sound right at first without a massive tone difference when clicked on.

[darrenw6000]

I would say there is a sound difference for sure, check it out sometime. I prefer 1n270's myself.