DEFX The Thing - first laser enclosure

[Stickman393]

Build Rating

5.00 star(s)

Ok, first attempt here at making a laser CNC enclosure.

This one I kept DEFX's name for the pedal and decided to make the artwork an homage to a great 1982 horror flick: The Thing.

So, LED lights. Plus replacing the O in the "morph" and "mode" switches. The LEDs pulse with the envelope...pretty cool!

Laser engraver: whelp. My first try with this thing. I learned some valuable lessons:

-I can't just draw lines, the laser will only cut the line at a width of like, a few hundreths of a millimeter. I did another line-only pass on this with an unfocused laser to make the engraving thicker, but it didn't quite look right.

So, I used a scratch awl and scraped a bit off on the lines I had lasered. It worked for this design: it adds a bit of a hand-scribbled element that I rather like with the thematic elements of the pedal.

The control labels didn't come out great, but they work. I do really appreciate how the laser can work with value though: it makes gradients and details much controllable than the CNC router.

Setup is a breeze. Not a bad board.

 

[Feral Feline]

And another...

And another...​

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You just keep blowing up the place with fun build-reports!

Can't wait to see what's next.




1951, 1982 and 2011 (L-R)

 

[Diynot]

Damn that’s nice! Gotta ask though, were you able to get trim 1 to bias down to the suggested 6.18-6.2v? I and a few others have discussed the inability to dial it in so that the envelope is active.

 

[tegendemuur]

What's going on with those barrel caps in this circuit? What asks for this?

 

[Stickman393]

Damn that’s nice! Gotta ask though, were you able to get trim 1 to bias down to the suggested 6.18-6.2v? I and a few others have discussed the inability to dial it in so that the envelope is active.

I was, but what I will mention is that I was likely close to the end of the adjustment range on mine.

Looking at the schematic, I believe the bias point is between r33 and R32. It should be 10k (plus a negligable 2) ohms to 9v, adjustable 20k-30k ohms to ground.

So...the adjustable resistance is variable between 66% and 75% of the total resistive load of that part of the circuit. That should mean that one can achieve a resistance between 6v and 6.75v if one used a 9v power supply. Should be able to

That said...It seemed like the threshold knob had an impact on the voltage at the bias point, so there's likely something going on in the circuit that I'm not quite understanding yet.

Definitely make sure that threshold knob is up to 9oclock, morph switch up. Worked for me.

What's going on with those barrel caps in this circuit? What asks for this?

There's about 6600uF of capacitance coming off one of the morph switch legs to ground. Plus an extra 1360uF before the rate pot.

Seems to be part of how they're controlling the envelope on this guy. Looking at the schematic for too long makes my eyes go all crossed. Don't quite have the knowledge to explain it yet.

 

[Diynot]

Thanks for that. I followed the docs as far as adjustments settings and have gone over the board a few times to ensure I didn’t pull a dumb, but it has been awhile so may be time to go back and open it back up.

 

[Stickman393]

And another...

And another...​

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You just keep blowing up the place with fun build-reports!

Can't wait to see what's next.




1951, 1982 and 2011 (L-R)

*Headbangs*

Imma gonna mine this well a bit more. More horror movies. Got some recent ones that need the pedal treatment.

Like...Mandy? I don't know if I should attempt. How could I, a simple stickman, even dare to consider trying to emulate the amount of awesome that movie shoved into its runtime?

That'd have to be a series.

I've got a bunch coming up and a solid CNC setup: I've had a little time off work recently so I've been able to experiment and fine tune a bunch of my processes.

My plan right now is to blow through a bunch of my backlog while experimenting here and there with the projects...turret boards, point to point, distressing enclosures, fucking around with the laser. Stickwife is a hell of a painter and has expressed an interest in collaborating with me on some of these. Sky's the limit.