Button/switch caps and covers

[Raddy]

I'm working on a homemade control panel and wanted to know if there's any place to buy or order caps and covers for the switches that I'll be using? I'm looking for ones that will be black but allow a LED shine through, like the DDI and UFC buttons in the hornet.

[Hempstead]

Yes. But, it’s cheaper if you just buy an SLA printer and print them yourself. Genuine backlighted knobs (transilluminated knobs, http://www.ehcknobs.com/index.php?id=TM) are very expensive. Could be USD$60 a pop, could be $25 a pop. Just go to EHC, look for the ones you want and google the part # and see what you find. And try eBay too for surplus (could be $5 a pop). Farnell, Newark, Digikey, and Mouse carry some limited stock.

EHC might bother lifting their fingers if you buy more than 50 for one part #.

Seriously, at such prices, it’s cheaper to buy a 3D printer. Sure, 3D printed knobs might not be as durable as injection molded genuine articles, but if they break, just print more. To get you started, go here, https://github.com/JonahTsai/F16, to get some 3D models for knobs and buttons.

Or, you can have Shapeways print them for you.

 

Edited November 24, 2022 by Hempstead

[Terry Dactil]

You might also find some suitable files on Thingiverse

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4658260

Edited November 23, 2022 by Terry Dactil

[lesthegrngo]

I posted a thread linking to my GrabCad uploads that have a number of my 3d printable files you can download for free. I suspect some of those would be suitable 

when I get in front of my computer I will link it

 

Here you go

https://grabcad.com/library/miscellaneous-3d-files-for-a10c-cockpit-parts-for-dcs-world-1

Les

Edited November 24, 2022 by lesthegrngo

[byteman59]

Are there any Toggle Switch caps for the A10? Or perhaps dimensions of them?

On 11/24/2022 at 10:27 AM, lesthegrngo said:

I posted a thread linking to my GrabCad uploads that have a number of my 3d printable files you can download for free. I suspect some of those would be suitable 

when I get in front of my computer I will link it

 

Here you go

https://grabcad.com/library/miscellaneous-3d-files-for-a10c-cockpit-parts-for-dcs-world-1

Les

 

There is a Flat top, dome and a Pointed one.

[lesthegrngo]

There aren't yet, simply because I haven't got round to them, but I will. However there are three issues with them.

Firstly, most toggle switches have a slight teardrop shape, which means either you have to use a rubbery material to make them with so that they can push on OK, or use a rubber sleeve to line a cap, or as I am experimenting with, you machine the toggle switch lever so that it is straight and put a thread in the top. That way you can use a little M2 or M3 bolt to hold the cap in place. The problem with that is that I'm still not clear how I can make caps like the ones with the pointed tops, as that would have to go over the bolt head somehow

Secondly there are lots of toggle switches out there, and from my experience they are similar, but not the same, so what works for one may not work for another. The splines and D shafts for potentiometers and encoders are much more defined by specifications, but the shape of the toggle lever is not

Lastly, there is no way to stop the levers from rotating, so as you move the switch, the cap will go out of line with the switch body.

That all said, I was already looking into this before getting distracted by another part of the build, and had stripped down one of the large toggle switches, machined the lever parallel and threaded it with an M3 thread. I'll try and knock up some switch caps over the coming days to see how well that will work. I was thinking of the flat topped conical ones used on the armament panel to start with due to the ease of putting the caps on and no rotation issue

 

Les

[No1sonuk]

7 hours ago, lesthegrngo said:

Lastly, there is no way to stop the levers from rotating, so as you move the switch, the cap will go out of line with the switch body.

That all said, I was already looking into this before getting distracted by another part of the build, and had stripped down one of the large toggle switches, machined the lever parallel and threaded it with an M3 thread. I'll try and knock up some switch caps over the coming days to see how well that will work. I was thinking of the flat topped conical ones used on the armament panel to start with due to the ease of putting the caps on and no rotation issue

If you're machining the lever, use a mill (or mill attachment on a lathe) and make it square or put a flat on it. Then 3D printed caps with matching holes won't rotate.

[lesthegrngo]

Sorry, I didn't explain properly - the actual toggle lever in the switch can turn with respect to the body of the switch, so even if I could time the cap to the lever, the lever would still be free to turn.

Sorry for not being clear

Cheers

 

Les

[No1sonuk]

If the lever pokes through a slot in the panel, you could align it with that somehow.

Also, IIRC, the DPDT toggles have a horizontal bar inside that the lever could be anchored to.

[lesthegrngo]

I'll dig out the one that I modified and post pictures. It won't be impossible, just a bit of a pain to do. 

Cheers

 

Les

[byteman59]

Thanks lesthegrngo,

I have been messing around with using a wedge method. Since most toggles taper down to a smaller diameter, i have created split wedges that keep the cap from moving around.

Works, but could be better.

[lesthegrngo]

Here's the toggle switch I modified. You can see the right hand side of the lever is machined straight, and I have tapped it with an M3 thread

the actual lever is to the right of the yellow plastic plate. It's this plate that makes the switch move in the right plane, but as you can see the lever is machined with a spherical part which then sits inside the top housing on the right. By modifying the plate to make the slot narrower and machining flats on the sides of the lower part of the lever you could prevent the rotation.

The problem is that the lower part of the lever is hollow so there is not much there to machine before you break through. The alternative would be to make a plate with a wider slot and either press fit or solder a sleeve onto the lower part of the lever that has anti rotation flats that match the slot width. The plate fits onto the top of the orange housing, meaning that the sleeve would only have to be a few millimeters thick 

It's doable, I just have to try it. Watch this space.

Les

Edited February 5, 2023 by lesthegrngo

[No1sonuk]

OR, put a hinge pin through the spherial part.
Check out how they stop this illuminated switch rotating - Take a close look at the side of the thread:
https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/P00741.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAxP2eBhBiEiwA5puhNcE9EYiUtqlSY-68IHWtcvKqQ1FwQwvF87rp8wVL5ZbpvhVcc9Jq6BoC95gQAvD_BwE

[Viper1970]

Yes, the rotation problem of the switches!

The real problem is that almost no electronics shop indicates whether the switches are fixed by a pin (hinge pin through the ball and thread) and thus can not rotate or not. Even with toggle switches of the same brand, there are often different designs, although the switches belong to the same series.

I have noticed that, strangely enough, the switches that are momentary ("spring-loaded") at least in one direction have often such a fixing pin that prevents rotation. Normal switches with fixed positions often do not have this, but only such a simple freely rotating "ball joint".

Why and for what purpose this is often different with the toggle switches, I have not yet been able to fathom.

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by Viper1970

[lesthegrngo]

Finally got around to looking at this again. I checked my momentary toggle switches, and unfortunately they are the same as my other ones in that the lever is free to rotate. None of mine have the anti rotation function.

I plan to start by trying the simplest method, which is to replicate the better production ones by pinning the assembly by drilling a hole through the threaded portion of the body and the spherical part of the lever. I will make the hole in the lever larger, as I can almost guarantee that the positioning of the hole will not match exactly, which will probably result in a small amount of residual rotational movement of the lever. The hole in the thread will probably be stepped too so that I can use an interference fit to retain it rather than having to mess around with grubscrews.

It will probably take a few goes to get the position right, I'll use the top of the thread as the datum, but can't imagine that these switches will be very accurate dimensionally from one unit to the other so it remains to be seen how many actually end up being viable.

However it should be possible with a bit of trial and error to do it, and with machining of the teardrop part so that it is parallel I should be able to make something workable.

Les   

[Bucic]

I've just got a whole batch of flee market industrial ones, all pinned. Still a bit too small though.