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DIY Stomp box

#21
Kennethfaria said:
And perfboard. is there any advantage over it. i mean does it conduct easier or something?
How do i get those design(bus) Inside the boards. why not use a cd cover and put holes in?
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Perfboard does not conduct. You can buy it with no conductive traces added, or you can buy it with conductive traces added onto the surface, the "veroboard" or "stripboard" that Os mentioned. You could use a CD case, but you'd need to connect the legs of all the parts together directly with extra bits of wire. Also perfboard is not easily damaged by heat from the soldering iron, but the plastic used in a CD case will melt and burn if you get too close with the iron.
 
#22
ahh. that make sense.

I've read up a bit on how to make PCB's and i've seen that people print the layout on overhead papers. then with that they iron or somethign it on to the board soak in some chemicals and so on. would that mean that that toner will conduct ?
 
#23
bongomania said:
Perfboard does not conduct. You can buy it with no conductive traces added, or you can buy it with conductive traces added onto the surface, the "veroboard" or "stripboard" that Os mentioned. You could use a CD case, but you'd need to connect the legs of all the parts together directly with extra bits of wire. Also perfboard is not easily damaged by heat from the soldering iron, but the plastic used in a CD case will melt and burn if you get too close with the iron.
Click to expand...

+1

It should be fiberglass or similiar heat-resistant material.

Also it would be very impractical to look for a specific value component inside a computer and most (if not all) components inside a computer are SMD (surface mount), which are essentially useless for you unless you have a high-temperature SMD work station :)
 
#24
hah just an idea.
but what about that toner and conductivity question,i'd like to try as hard as possible to make my own PCB instead of buying them especialy since the pedals on tonepad give you the layout for them.
as for the parts ill be getting them from john.
 
#28
Long story short - making your own PCB is likely only to massively complicate what should be a relatively easy project to do on perfboard or veroboard.

Even the 'ghetto' approach of drilling holes in a CD will be significantly more difficult than any of the conventional prototyping approaches because you'll still have to wire everything up and mechanically secure the parts somehow. Plus, the internal layer of a CD is made of aluminium which is electrically conductive and therefore no good for making a circuit board.

But, if you're determined, etching is not quite as difficult as it seems, and the chemicals and substrates are quite easy to buy. However, you will need a way of exposing the image of the circuit board onto the photosensitive boards, which is usually accomplished by printing to a transparency sheet.
 
#29
i may or may not be able get the board done at school ill ask my teacher if he can get it done. if not ill have to find a different approach.

one problem:
photosensitive boards = copper board and what else?
printing onto a transparency sheet. then i read that i need to expose it to UV rays?
Some have iron on things and believe it or not, im getting about tentransferpapers this week for shirts, i may just be able to use that. ferric chloride, how much woudl that run me?
 
#30
Most pcbs have a fibreglass substrate.

Yup, exposure to UV - can be done in strong sunlight but it's a bit unpredictable.

Press and peel gets mixed reviews, I've never tried it myself but it seems expensive.

Ferric is fairly cheap, I can get it easily for AUD$15 for half a litre and it can be reused.

But again, there's so many steps in the process (layout board, check for errors, print, expose, develop, etch, tin, drill, populate, solder, test...) that it's often just easier and less error prone to use veroboard or similar.
 
#31
niftydog said:
Most pcbs have a fibreglass substrate.

Yup, exposure to UV - can be done in strong sunlight but it's a bit unpredictable.

Press and peel gets mixed reviews, I've never tried it myself but it seems expensive.

Ferric is fairly cheap, I can get it easily for AUD$15 for half a litre and it can be reused.

But again, there's so many steps in the process (layout board, check for errors, print, expose, develop, etch, tin, drill, populate, solder, test...) that it's often just easier and less error prone to use veroboard or similar.
Click to expand...


I've been using Press n Peel blue for about three years, probably done about 20 boards with it and only messed up one board in all that time. It's only like $3 for a sheet that is enough for up to several boards. Tonepad has a tutorial for Press n Peel. It's much easier than a lot of people think if you ask me.
 
#39
Kennethfaria said:
Hey for the TUBE SOUND FUZZ, is there anything that could replace the IC CD4049? Effects connection dont have them...
Click to expand...

I am not familiar with the circuit, but if they say it should be 4049 (a hex inverter), then it should be 4049. There is a slight chance 4069 would work, but I guess they would be equally hard to find for you.

From another perspective, why would you build a pedal that uses hex inverters :) Try simpler designs that uses transistors, JFETs or at most opamps :) Also not to be anal, but most of your questions can easily be answered via TB search, or better yet a google search. DIY requiers some research, be ready to do so.
 
#40
I make pedals in Toronto and the only thing I still have to order from the US for most simple pedals is the 3pdt stomp switch. I make my own pcbs by silk screening and etching (I can make some for you if you like), buy most components at a local store and get the Hammond enclosures from a local supplier.
I do order things like jacks and a few others from Small Bear because they're just better than what I get locally.
 

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