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Thread: Walk-Through: Decorative Brass Heads For Tactile Switches

  1. #1
    Sith Warrior darth_chasm's Avatar
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    Lightbulb Walk-Through: Decorative Brass Caps For Tactile Switches

    I wanted to do a little walk through of how I fabricate my switches. I've seen several times where people ask what to use over or on tactile switches. And yes, for certain types of switches you can buy caps. But they are plastic and look pretty "low rent" in my opinion. So, here's the solution I came up with during my first build.

    Please note, I am not claiming this is an original approach as I'm sure exactly the same and/or very similar has been done before. I was just never able to find a how to for it, so I went through the trial and error thing and wanted to share.

    This whole process takes maybe 10-15 mins at most.

    Things you'll need:


    • 6mm Momentary Tactile Switch(es). (What I have pictured are different than the ones sold in the store, but those will work as well.)
    • Male/Female Hex Standoffs. (Can be found at any electronics supply. Make sure to buy extra, they're cheap. Do research on sizes to make sure they will fit the actuator of the specific switch you have. Also make sure the standoff's OD is smaller than the base of the switch. This will allow you to drill a hole in your hilt big enough for the switch head but small enough so the base doesn't slip out. I am using 3mm standoffs in this example.)
    • Power Drill
    • Heavy Duty Cutters
    • Flat File
    • Sandpaper of increasing grits
    • Flat Hobby File
    • Dremel (optional)
    • Hobby Knife or Box Cutter (optional)
    • Needle Nose Pliers (optional)
    • PSE...always wear your goggles and mask


    First step is to take your cutters and snip off the threads of your work piece.



    Then, use your large flat file to grind away the remainder of the threads. You can also use a Dremel. After you have ground down the threads, chuck up one of your spare standoffs in the power drill and mate your work piece to it. It should look something like this. Make sure your drill is in the forward setting. Otherwise your piece will unscrew as you work on it.



    Then grab your lowest grit sandpaper and press it to the end of the standoff and start your drill. Make sure you're on a low torque and you start slowly then work your speed up while keeping the drill and sandpaper steady. Remember to keep applying pressure, but not too much.



    A few seconds on each grit should be enough to get you a nice "machined" spiral on the end. Obviously from the picture below I need to do a little more.



    After you've gotten the end to your liking, sand down the flats of the hex to remove the nickel plating to match the top.



    Next step is to file down your switch actuator. It's highly unlikely you'll find a switch and standoff combo that fit perfectly. If you have the same switches and standoffs as I do simply use your flat hobby file to grind down the four corners. Go slow and test fitment along the way. Again, Just a few seconds on each corner should be fine. Here's a before and after.



    If you are using the switches from the store you can use a similar process of filing. You'll need to hold the actuator with needle nose pliers to keep it from spinning. You can also use your hobby knife to trim the actuator as needed.

    Last step is to screw your newly fabricated switch head to the actuator and your'e done. If you've gone slow and done the job correctly they won't slip off. You can even tug on them and they wont budge. The plastic of the actuator is soft enough to form a tight bond in the threads of the standoff, so make sure you leave enough material.



    If you don't like the hex shape or if you want to differentiate your Main and Aux switches with shapes, you can create a round switch head from a hex. Yes, you can just buy round standoffs, but I found it extremely hard to find exactly what I wanted. So if you're interested in learning how to make your own from a hex keep reading.

    Follow the same steps as above but rather than sanding the flats, leave the standoff chucked up. Start up your drill and slowly run your large flat file along the standoff as it spins.This will roughly remove the points creating a cylinder. I'm showing the file laying down for the photo but you should do this this with both the drill and file in your hands. Once again, start slow and build up speed while maintaining control.



    Next, pinch the standoff with your lowest grit sandpaper and run the drill. Slow and steady...see a theme here? Work your way up through grits until you get the finish you want. If you feel the work piece getting hot just stop and let it cool for a bit.



    And you're done. A nice round switch head. I'm sure if you get creative you could make other shapes like squares and triangles. Experiment and have fun with it. After all, it's probably one of the easiest steps in creating a custom hilt.



    Here are both of mine all assembled.



    And here they are installed.



    That's it for now. Hope this helps you out. And as always, questions and comments are welcome.
    Last edited by darth_chasm; 10-12-2017 at 04:22 PM. Reason: Changed title for better search results

  2. #2

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    Thank you. I've been wanting to see someone do this for a while. I had a few ideas on how to do it myself, but I made them needlessly complicated.
    We all have to start somewhere. The journey is all the more impressive by our humble beginnings.

    http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz for the lazy man's resistor calculator!
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    Sith Warrior darth_chasm's Avatar
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    Glad you found it useful. I went through a bunch of different ideas like cap/acorn nuts, 1/4" brass round drilled and tapped, and even eraser caps from mechanical pencils. Whether mechanical or aesthetics, they simply didn't work the way I wanted. This is ultra simple and the results are more than acceptable.

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    Jedi Initiate hapki's Avatar
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    Very clever. I'm likely to use those ideas in my next build.

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    Quote Originally Posted by hapki View Post
    Very clever. I'm likely to use those ideas in my next build.
    Cool. I'll keep a lookout.

  6. #6

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    Sweeeeeet! I made my kill key, retention screw and tsuba by grinding, filing and sanding while spinning in a cordless drill
    I also used wire wool and metal polish in the same way for great results. Dude! I like the way you work

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    Sith Warrior darth_chasm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greenie View Post
    Sweeeeeet! I made my kill key, retention screw and tsuba by grinding, filing and sanding while spinning in a cordless drill
    I also used wire wool and metal polish in the same way for great results. Dude! I like the way you work
    Nice! I wish I thought of it sooner. Probably would have saved a few bucks.

  8. #8

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    Thanks for sharing! I'll have to give this a try.
    So certain are you; always with you it cannot be done.
    Hear you nothing that I say?


    http://www.plecterlabs.com/Media/Doc...deTutorial.pdf
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  9. #9

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    Any advise for mounting it to one of the flat tactile switches? I have to use the flat ones cause there is no room for a long switch so the brass was going to be the last thing I put in and I was thinking about super gluing it.

  10. #10

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    be careful gluing... tactile switches can be tricky things, if even a small amount of glue gets down inside the switch, it's going to screw it up

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