A few questions

[themachinerages]

Can I use any kind of wire in my project or is there some specific thickness or type?

Also, if I got one of those 40 pin sockets and the project calls for 3, do I just snap off 3 of the sockets from the 40 strip?

And, for drilling my enclosure. What machine do you guys use to do this? Just a regular hand drill? I don't have access to a drill press or anything. And does this require special bits made for metal rather than wood?

[Haberdasher]

most of us use 22 or 24 awg wire, the bonded pre-tinned kind is nice.  people like the kind from smallbear and that's good stuff to start with.

yeah, grab the strip of sockets with some needle nose really close to where you want to break it off and just snap 3 of them off with your fingers.  I seem to get a cleaner break when I do it that way.

get a center punch and some step bits from somewhere cheap like harbor freight to drill with.  barry has a really nice video about this at guitarpcb that you should watch.

[themachinerages]

If I buy one of those unibits like in Barry's video, what increments should I want the drill to move in? I see a few different kinds with different measurements.

Also, what was the size of the bit that he used to make the initial holes after using the center punch? Does that matter?

Thanks!

[jkokura]

It doesn't matter what size your pilot hole is. I use a 1/8" drill bit for pilot holes.

I think a 13 step from 3/16" to 1/2" is usually standard. What you should do is find out the sizes you need based on the parts you have. I know that my DC Jack is 1/2", but my 3PDT is 15/16" so I need to use that 13 step bit so that I can actually make the correct hole sizes for my parts. If you do it that way, you'll have a list of sizes you need and can pick the correct drill bit from there.

One note - don't go buy an expensive step bit. It would be silly for you to go spend 50 bucks on a step bit if you already have a buddy that has one. Ask around in your family and friends and find someone who has a drill press and a good set of drill bits. If they have the sizes you need, you don't need to buy anything. If you're going to build 10 pedals it would probably be worth spending a few bucks on a tool or supply.

You always need to remember what sort of level of involvement you want in this hobby should dictate what you buy. It's honestly not worth it to buy a lot of tools if you only want to do 2 or 3 builds. Borrow where possible, buy where you must.

Jacob

[madbean]

You can get a step bit from Harbor Freight pretty cheap, too. I think they are like $10.

I just recently replaced my unibit from smallbear after 5 years of use...I probably should have done that a little sooner!

[themachinerages]

How do I know what size hole I need for my parts? Do I find this on the size where I bought the part?

For example, I bought my stuff from Tayda and it says for the DC power part: "Panel Cutout: 10.5mm". Is that the info I need? and do I need to convert this to inches for the bit?

Sorry for all the questions, I just don't want to mess anything up, haha

[jkokura]

Depending one where you are, you may need to convert to metric or you may need to convert to imperial. Here in Canada we use a mix of both.

Usually I have found that it's trial and error to find the right size hole. For instance, I was told 1/2" for the Blue 3PDT's, but I found that size created a little 'wiggle' room with that part, and I was able to go back a 16th on that hole. If you really want to, you can measure or research each part and go from there, but if as Bean suggests it's only 10 bucks to get a step bit, I would buy one, then use a piece of thin wood and make a hole each size the bit offers. Then, take your parts and 'test' them on the board. Find the one that fits, then write it down somewhere (even the board with holes). Then when you go to drill your enclosure, take that with you. In fact, take your parts with you so you can test as you drill. Go for too small a hole rather than too big.

Jacob

[Haberdasher]

IIRC the stepbits/unibits from HF come in a pack of 3 so just get those and you'll have any size you need.

I don't know what sizes anyone else uses but this is me:

led bezel, if you use one, can be 3/16, 1/4 or 5/16 depending on type
toggle switches 1/4
pots i use 5/16
input output jacks are 3/8
dc jack 1/2
stomp switch 1/2

[themachinerages]

Alright, so I'll get a unibit and go in steps until I make a hole that fits each part. I'll use your measurements for some reference Haber. Thanks guys!

Also, probably my last question, I started off very sloppy with my soldering so I wanted to know if I need to fix any of these connections or will they all work properly?

http://imgur.com/VuXhZ

[bigmufffuzzwizz]

For the pots I use 9/32 which will be in the 3 set of uni bits from harbor freight.

[themachinerages]

Can someone check out the image that I posted with my soldering? I just don't want to progress too much until I know that the connections are alright. Thanks!

Additionally, a bit confused about how to wire something like this (circled in blue): http://i.imgur.com/HqF6H.jpg

[sgmezei]

To wire the jack like that I use a cutoff resistor or diode leg and bend it in there. The three points are all connected so you just need to put some stripped wire (or cut off leads/legs) in there to do so.

Also, I got the cheap unibit from small bear and it works good. I have to clean it out all the time though (twice per pedal). It is a great start and cheap too.

[jkokura]

As for your soldering, yeah it looks a little bit shoddy. It could work fine though, so I don't know. It's not really close enough or clear enough for me to say for sure. From a distance it looks like it could be better.

Jacob

[themachinerages]

Thanks guys!

So the brown wire in that picture isn't one wire going through all those points, it's bits and pieces. Got it

[sgmezei]

You can use the brown wire if you wish. Just have to strip a larger portion. I find it starts to fray when I am trying to get it through there which is why I use the extra leads.