[Lab] Milling / lasering aluminum box

[Stephane Arthur Kiss]

Also, if you want to create a digital file for laser or waterjet cut and
have no idea where to start, do not hesitate to contact me. I can model the
hammond enclosure and the slots/holes you need in a matter of minutes.

Though i would encourage you to check out Autodesk Fusion 360. It's free
for the first year and $25/month after that. It's such a valuable tool to
learn for a wide range of projects.

The file format you want is a DXF file, which is a 2d CAD file of the
template you are cutting.

Cheers,

    Stephane

On Fri, Nov 27, 2015 at 4:17 PM, Stephane Arthur Kiss <
stephane.beauchampkiss at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Sylvain,
>
> Mechanical design engineer here and also a musician/producer who's built
> guitar pedals, amps, etc. I play post rock and ambient music myself and
> have a pedal board that has been called a "space ship" on more than on
> occasion.
>
> A benchtop or mini/micro mill or lathe would be just perfect if you were
> going into production. But they can be expensive. This is definitely a hand
> operation if you want to crank out large numbers, IMHO no need for digital
> control over the cuts required for your guitar pedals. Note that you could
> also easily do chamfers or fillets around the outside edge of your pedals
> for added details...
>
> If you decide on a lathe you'll need something called a vertical
> slide....I have one and have done slotting operations no problem on my Taig
> metal lathe.
>
> A mill a good bet and I would encourage you to look into a used one if you
> are serious about building pedals and are serious about sliders. The thing
> about getting into machining like this is you're going to want a lathe
> eventually. You can turn the most beautiful custom knobs no problem on a
> nice lathe and its so enjoyable (no one seems to be doing custom knobs on
> their pedals). And with a good vertical slide, small slotting operations
> like you have in mind are absolutely no problem.
>
> You can always explore laser or waterjet cutting, but in my experience
> these operations end up costing more and being much more of a pain when
> you're doing something that is a simple hand operation on the proper
> machine.
>
> On another note, if you want to really set yourself apart, have you
> considered 3d printing custom enclosure designs? IMHO, the guitar pedal
> market is totally saturated right now and you need to do everything you can
> to get people's attention. If this is something you want to explore more,
> get in touch and shoot me an email.
>
> Cheers,
>
>    Stephane
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 27, 2015 at 3:44 PM, Sylvain Poitras <
> sylvain.trombone at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>> This is a general request for assistance with a project I'm working on.
>>
>> I started making my own guitar pedals a year ago and for my next project,
>> I've decided that I'd like to use slide pots instead of the usual rotary
>> potentiometers. One difficulty, is that while drilling holes to mount
>> rotary pots is trivial, I have no idea how to cut the slots through which
>> the faders will move.
>>
>>
>>
>> My first idea was to use a drill / file / jiggsaw combo, but there has to
>> be a better way…
>>
>>
>>
>> This is the aluminum box in question:
>> http://www.digikey.ca/product-search/en?vendor=0&keywords=1590xxb
>>
>>
>>
>> Would a laser cutter be a good option? Can I pay anyone to do this in
>> town? What kind of file do I need to create to get this kind of work done?
>>
>>
>> Any help would be appreciated,
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Sylvain
>>
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