Hello, I have seen people ask arround here for schematics for certain effects for pedals... HTats not what I am looking for. I am trying to simply figure out how to make a pedal. I can make one relatively easy that only switches when pressed down, but I'd like one that is connected to a pot.
THe obvious solution is to have the pedal rotate arround an axis which is connected to a pot, but most pots can't handle the kind of forces that a foot pedal is going to be recieving. How can I make it so that the parts which support the pedal and allow it turn are seperate from the pot so that it doesn't have to take any force. It seems that bothe the rotational axis and the POT are needing to be in the smae place...
Also, I could use alluminum/steel/etc, but I dont have a welder so that limits it's uses. I was thinking maybe think plexi would be cool, but I dunno if that is feasible.
If anyone has done this before, or have some ideas on how I could get it figured out, that would be cool.
Also, most pots aren't sensitive enough to measure the full range of maybe 10-20deg that the pedal ever moves... this limits which pots I can use, making it even more difficult.
Thanks
THe obvious solution is to have the pedal rotate arround an axis which is connected to a pot, but most pots can't handle the kind of forces that a foot pedal is going to be recieving. How can I make it so that the parts which support the pedal and allow it turn are seperate from the pot so that it doesn't have to take any force. It seems that bothe the rotational axis and the POT are needing to be in the smae place...
Also, I could use alluminum/steel/etc, but I dont have a welder so that limits it's uses. I was thinking maybe think plexi would be cool, but I dunno if that is feasible.
If anyone has done this before, or have some ideas on how I could get it figured out, that would be cool.
Also, most pots aren't sensitive enough to measure the full range of maybe 10-20deg that the pedal ever moves... this limits which pots I can use, making it even more difficult.
Thanks
Pedals such as the Jim Dunlop "CryBaby" quite often have a plastic gear on the pot shaft, with a plastic rack attached to the pedal. The pot can then rotate nearer to its full range and stoppers on the pedal itself prevent strain on the pot. Works well but could be difficult to source materials to implement it. A variation could use a partial large diameter gear mounted on the pedal, driving a smaller gear on the pot. Sometimes plastics gears can be salvaged from discarded printers, fax machines and (my favourite) photocopiers.
Another method I have seen is to not use a pot at all, but an LDR. The pedal has a strip which varies the light (from a bulb or led) that the LDR sees. This was common on very old organs for the swell pedal, and I have seen modern variations using a clear plastic strip with printed gradient pattern. Could be tricky to set up.
Cheers
Another method I have seen is to not use a pot at all, but an LDR. The pedal has a strip which varies the light (from a bulb or led) that the LDR sees. This was common on very old organs for the swell pedal, and I have seen modern variations using a clear plastic strip with printed gradient pattern. Could be tricky to set up.
Cheers
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