Post your abysmal enclosure finishing failures.

Stickman393

Stickman393

Well-known member
Listen, I know that when we present ourselves online that we often try to present the best possible version of ourselves. We're communal beings: we want to be respected, accepted, and acknowledged.

I mean, except for me. I present myself as I actually am: a perfectly drawn stick figure, who's perfect.

But it's difficult to pour epoxy when your hands are just...flat, shapeless extensions of your arms. Thus, I present, my calamity fuzz.

Let's make lemonade.

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This is going to be a fun thread 😁. Here’s my contribution. 2nd “pedal” I ever built. A Klon style buffer. Bought the wrong enclosure but made it work. Drilled the dc jack hole too big. I handled it when the paint was still wet and got my grubby fingerprints all over it. Dropped it off the bench 3 times and chipped the hell out of the paint. Scribbled some shit on it with sharpies and called it good.
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the first pedal I ever made (other than a killswitch)— an effects loop of my own design. The actual finishing I was happy enough with, except for the fact that the Duplicolor Acrylic Lacquer is by far the worst clear coat I’ve ever used. This picture was taken 2 years after I made it, and the finish was still never fully cured (and I sprayed it all properly— I know what I’m doing) so it absorbed any dust and dog hair that it came in contact with. All of the pedals that I’ve sprayed with that clear are still tacky to the touch 7+ years later. I still haven’t found a clear coat that I’m fully happy with— the stuff I’m using right now it a bit too brittle when it cures, so it chips and flakes when you screw the back plate on, even though it’s otherwise crystal clear and very scratch resistant
https://imgur.com/dxAcEwM
 
oh this one's a contender...

BWiOUe8.jpg


Everything lining up nicely! Wow!

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Everything was going SO well. Can you imagine the aha! moment when I noticed this.....

BXxQtld.jpg
 
fig said:
oh this one's a contender...

BWiOUe8.jpg


Everything was going SO well. Can you imagine the aha! moment when I noticed this.....

BXxQtld.jpg
Click to expand...

It's only dumb luck that I haven't done this (yet). It's coming, I know it is - I have caught myself multiple times and I can only put it off for so long. It'll be an extra special bummer if it happens after I do the decal work!
 
peccary said:
It's only dumb luck that I haven't done this (yet). It's coming, I know it is - I have caught myself multiple times and I can only put it off for so long. It'll be an extra special bummer if it happens after I do the decal work!
Click to expand...
I had to add another pic for dramatic effect [ba-ba-baaa]
There had been some recreational activity during the process that may have been an aggravating factor.
 
I don't decorate my pedals now--all my recent builds are simply a one-color enclosure, matched with a complementary knob color. Boring, I know.

I did try to decorate the earliest pedals I built. You can see one of them as my avatar. I spray painted the pedals, then put ink-jet printed decals. But the decals didn't show up well, so I then used colored paint-markers on top of the decal to make the image pop. In retrospect I like the way it turned out: OK but amateurish. But the experience was traumatic--which is why I reverted to plain ones.

I keep thinking I'll go back some time and decorate the 20 or so plain pedals I've built so far, but right now I have more fun building and playing them than decorating.

Not sure how I'd approach if I do, but I'd probably hand paint (Zvex style)--but I don't trust my painting skills. If I try I'm sure I'd have some failures to report :)
 
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@spi I feel ya dawg.

I'm typically either doing solid color or unfinished...although I keep trying to build them to be easily disassembled for future decorating. I've rarely had any kind of success with rattlecans or anything else...it's why I prefer finishing wood, where all I have to do is a couple of coats of hardwax oil and call it good.

Even my latest attempt at an electrolysis etch...30W 24v power supply with a similarly sized DC fan in line, plenty of salt in a tub of water, left it in for 20 minutes. My results were uneven and got under the toner mask in a bunch of spots...no good. Maybe I'm doing something wrong...

Otherwise...I've got sodium persulfate? No, that apparently doesn't work well on aluminum...

I might try HCl and H2O2. Hell, I might invest in a paint tent and/or a powder coating setup.

Gah.
 
@spi and @Stickman393 - if you are interested in a reliable, durable ,and relatively simple way of doing enclosure artwork that looks good I would recommend checking out TheWinterSoldier's no-film waterslide tutorial if you haven't yet.

If a gorilla like me can figure it out and get good results then anyone can do it!
 
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Results!

Personally, I've always liked the look of an etched enclosure. I like my stuff distressed looking. It matches my general disposition.

The hand painting is another route I like...sticklady got her BA in fine art, she's a hell of a painter, I've talked with her about possibly collaborating on a few. But...her stuff is awesome, and I'd only want to do that if we could put a solid clear coat over the top.

It's like how I feel about music. I love dissonance and chaos. I also love vast, endless oceans of contemplative beauty. I'm also a hack and a fraud, so...

With that being said, here's something that I'm thinking...well...close enough. For now. Still not great.

An electrolyte bath was certainly not the right *solution* (eyebrows eyebrows)

Local application of the electrolyte solution with a cotton pad worked exceptionally well. BUT...the toner transfer paper is garbage. yeesh, yellow wax paper from Amazon. I've got some press n peel blue on the way...that should work a bit better.

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