While I was digging the printer parts box I am collecting for CNC machine I would like to build I stumbled across these wheels that are originally used to drag the paper out of the tray. They are very soft and nice to touch. After some touching idea struck me. They would be very nice for scene scroll wheel for Ableton live controller or for tempo on Traktor.
pic 1
As the wheels had pretty sharp edges (even they feel soft) and old damaged surface, I needed o sand it down a little bit. I use screw and bolts to fix it into hand drilling machine. It is not must to be done that way, but it makes it easier to do it like this.
pic 2
To sand the knob evenly it is very important for wheel not to wobble so I used metal D shaft from old pot attached to the drilling machine.
pic 3
This is just for illustration. It is important to cut the pointer off the knob first and than proceed with sanding.
pic 4
I didnt actually trim this knob I got from MTE just for this purpose. I did that the other day in order to have thin pointerless knob. That is the reason it is black. This was just for testing. As you can see i trim the top too much so I got the that hole, which I wanted to plug with 3mm LED cap. It would look good.
I got very lucky this DIY pointerless knob fits just right into the wheel hole with just enough preassure.
pic 6
This is how final product looks like. When encoder is inserted it makes everithing even more secure. It stands on shaft very firmly. This wheel can be fixed on to “L” bracket and mount on panel.
I am very satisfied with the result and it was quick and fun Saturday morning project.
I use a long version for my drum finish roller. ;D
I think it may have actually been the “pickup wheel” from a copy machine though.
Keep up the good work on the knob burning. That dark one is resembling the Alesis 3630 knobs I’m fond of. (burn it down any more and you may be left with dust though ;))
A big, heavy piece of crap that I built and used for about a day. ;D
It actually spins drum shells too. The xerox machine roller part just squashes the sheets of plastic finish onto the shells (with contact adhesive). If you use a small hand roller, you tend to get air bubbles in the plastic. It worked OK, but I haven’t needed it much.
Take Care (and please post pics if you do any more “spin grinding”).
George, if you finished your drums laminating successfully than it payed off. I build a quite some times tools that are used only once for certain job, but without it, it could be hard or even impossible to realize.
I’m not done with it though. There are shells all over the place here that I haven’t gotten around to yet, so it’ll probably be put to good use. It also comes apart, so it doesn’t take up as much space as you see.
