Show me your 1590A enclosures/pedals...

[elshiftos]

I haven't built any PCBs or pedals for quite some time, but lockdown 2020 changed all that as I *really* needed a few projects to keep me occupied. I re-acquainted myself with ExpressPCB plus, and also managed to find the magic formula for making PCBs using a laser printer on magazine paper and the solvent transfer method.

End result is a Belton reverb (with the potting removed to reduce the damn huge footprint)



And a PT2399 echo based on the 'Faux'. I'm rather proud of this as it's most effort I've put into building  a pedal - including the last-minute decision to make a sub-board for the pots. AND, all of the drill holes were spot on, which is something I've generally struggled with in the past!



My hat goes off to those of you that manage to cram even more into a 1590a and come up with such beautiful enclosure artwork - respect!

[Marcos - Munky]

Steve, imo your builds are beautiful. And great pcbs, it's very nice to find the magic tone transfer formula and you surely found yours.

For the drill holes, it's easier if you include a guide on your artwork. Like a simple dot or something like that. If you do the artwork after drilling the enclosure, then a good tip is to make a drilling template and use it for the drill positions. I have one I made using photoshop, I can share the file if you want to use it as a reference to move things around and make your own template.

[davent]

Steve, imo your builds are beautiful. And great pcbs, it's very nice to find the magic tone transfer formula and you surely found yours.

For the drill holes, it's easier if you include a guide on your artwork. Like a simple dot or something like that. If you do the artwork after drilling the enclosure, then a good tip is to make a drilling template and use it for the drill positions. I have one I made using photoshop, I can share the file if you want to use it as a reference to move things around and make your own template.

Something else you can do with a predrilled enclosure you want to add art to is scan the enclosure and do you art layout on the 'to size' scan.
dave

[elshiftos]

Steve, imo your builds are beautiful. And great pcbs, it's very nice to find the magic tone transfer formula and you surely found yours.

For the drill holes, it's easier if you include a guide on your artwork. Like a simple dot or something like that. If you do the artwork after drilling the enclosure, then a good tip is to make a drilling template and use it for the drill positions. I have one I made using photoshop, I can share the file if you want to use it as a reference to move things around and make your own template.

Something else you can do with a predrilled enclosure you want to add art to is scan the enclosure and do you art layout on the 'to size' scan.
dave

Great minds think alike That is exactly what I do for most pedals or other things I build that require text labelling or some kind of artwork. Open the scanned PDF in Illustrator and add the items to be printed on separate layers, then print onto laser waterslide...boom!

[elshiftos]

Steve, imo your builds are beautiful. And great pcbs, it's very nice to find the magic tone transfer formula and you surely found yours.

For the drill holes, it's easier if you include a guide on your artwork. Like a simple dot or something like that. If you do the artwork after drilling the enclosure, then a good tip is to make a drilling template and use it for the drill positions. I have one I made using photoshop, I can share the file if you want to use it as a reference to move things around and make your own template.

Very kind of you to say that Marcos, thank you

I found the magic ratio to be 2:1 Isopropyl to Acetone, both 99.99%. I use a cheap glass pipette from ebay to measure the solvent. Also, 'keying' the copper with 800 grit abrasive or steel wool first and getting the clamping method right is very important.

I don't get on well with drilling templates that wrap around the outside of the enclosure. Instead, I usually print the PCB or control layout onto paper and stick that on the inside of the enclosure, then carefully drill a pilot hole using a carbide bit in a handheld bit holder thingy.

[Marcos - Munky]

I found the magic ratio to be 2:1 Isopropyl to Acetone, both 99.99%. I use a cheap glass pipette from ebay to measure the solvent. Also, 'keying' the copper with 800 grit abrasive or steel wool first and getting the clamping method right is very important.

Interesting. I did acetone (nail enamel remover in fact, so no pure acetone) transfers a few times, and all I used were acetone. I scratched the back of the paper with a knife, so acetone can soak the paper better than if I just apply acetone to the outside layer. Then I dropped some acetone on the paper, used my fingers to apply pressure, let it dry and repeated once. I got some nice results out of this method, but the results were very "brand" depending. Some nail enamel remorer did good transfers, while others didn't transfered at all. It may be related to the formula each brand uses. In your case, a pure acetone may be too aggressive to the toner, that's why the need of that much isopropyl.