Building The Foot Pedal Case

Building the case requires that you have at the least a wood saw, a drill and a hacksaw. Of course if you have a table saw, drill press and a band saw you will be able to make the case more quickly. On this page I provide a lot of drawings and photos along with some explanation.

I used a 4 1/2" x 8 3/4" x .08" thick piece of aluminum sheet for my envelope follower's front and jack panel. Drill all of the holes before cutting the panel along the "Cut Line". The foot switch hole size I suggest is based on the switches that I bought. The switch fits perfectly in a 15/32" hole. One more 1/16" would have been really sloppy. I had to buy a whole set of Ryobi drill bits to get that size but what the heck I'll use them all eventually. Check your switch with a dial caliper to make sure you drill the correct sized hole. Most pots fit into a 5/16" hole so you're pretty safe there. I use 5/32" for the panel mounting holes and 3/8" hole for the jacks (another safe bet). Notice that there is one extra hole in the panel to be used to ground the panel to the circuit ground by using a screw, a nut, and a wire terminal.

I cut the panel in two pieces so that I had one piece 4 1/2" x 2" and one piece 4 1/2" x 6 3/4". This gave me a piece of aluminum to use for the front panel of the foot pedal box and one to use for the rear jack panel. The piece I used is .08" thick which is a hair over a 1/16" panel. It is very solid. I sawed mine on the line marked "Cut Line" by clamping the piece in the vise in a flat orientation and then carefully and slowly using my hacksaw to cut the two pieces. Getting a good cut is more important that breaking a sawing speed record so take your time and use a nice sharp (as in new) hack saw blade if you can.

After it is cut carefully remove the burrs with a file.

I made my foot pedal out of 1/2" oak plywood. The oak plywood has a nice tight grain. You 'll need two of the side pieces and two of the 1 1/2" x 3 9/16" pieces for the front and back.

The bottom is made out of thin masonite. My dial caliper says it's about .118" thick. That measurement is not critical at all but it's just so you know the relative size to get (the thin stuff).

As you can see the bottom of the foot pedal is comprised of two pieces of masonite. The larger one is glued in place but the smaller one is used as the battery access port. After a piece of wood (the 1 1/4" x 2" piece of 1/2" oak plywood) has been glued to it and the battery holder has been screwed to that it can be screwed in place so that when the battery needs changed it is a simple matter to remove the screws, change the battery and reinstall the holder. The following drawings and pictures make this a bit clearer.

As shown there are two wooden assemblies that are glued together. The five pieces of wood that make up the body of the foot pedal are glued together and clamped until the glue sets completely. The two pieces of wood that make up the battery access port are glued together and clamped until the glue sets completely.

After the glue dries remove the clamps and sand the protruding edge of the back of the foot pedal case so that it is flush with the slope of the left and right sides of the foot pedal box.

Using the circuit board as a guide mark the holes that will be used to mount the circuit board in the foot pedal case. Position it as far to the right (case viewed from the front) and back toward the battery access port (without overlapping the battery access port) as possible. Only mark three holes. Do not use the mounting hole that is positioned near the front center of the foot pedal case to avoid contacting the stomp switch terminals. See example photo

Envelope Follower Panel Decals (Click for a full sized PDF)

This PDF is designed to print actual size when printed at 100% so it should make a good decal for your case. You can always use whatever paint program you like to make a completely different decal. Use the mechanical drawings above to ensure you make the holes in the correct locations.

Some Clarifying Images And A Plan Of Attack

Here are some images of the completed case to clarify anything that is not clear from the drawings. I printed out the case decal PDF on a piece of bright green printer paper and then use my laminating machine to apply plastic lamination to the paper. After trimming the panel decals and cutting out the holes I used 3M Super 77 Multipurpose Spray Adhesive to adhere the legend decals to the metal plates. That works very well.

Be sure and drill pilot holes in the plywood where the mounting screws will be so as not to split the plywood (3/32" to 1/8" bit works well). I used #6 x 1/2" pan head screws to fasten the plates to the case after all of the wiring was complete.

To fasten the battery holder to the battery access port I used #4 x 1/2 flat head phillips screws.

Left to right:

1. Case after being glued together and back piece sanded flush with sides. Battery access port after being glued together.
2. Case showing battery access port in normal position prior to attaching the battery holder.
3. Battery access port with battery holder screwed to it.
4. Decals applied to the front panel, footswitch and potentiometer installed, panel screwed to wooden case.
5. Decals applied to the rear panel, jacks installed, panel screwed to wooden case.
6. Bottom view showing battery access port attached and screw heads of PCB mounting screws.

Click any image for a larger view.

Here is a good plan of attack for building the case:

1. Drill all of the holes in the 4 1/2" x 8 3/4" aluminum plate.
2. Cut the aluminum plate in two on the cut line as shown in the drawings.
3. Glue and clamp the wooden pieces of the case and let the glue set completely.
4. Glue and clamp the wooden pieces of the battery access port and let the glue set completely.
5. Sand the protruding piece of the back of the case to be flush with the sloping sides.
6. Attach the battery holder to the battery access port using two #4 x 1/2" flat head phillips screws.
7. DO NOT SCREW ON THE BATTERY ACCESS PORT! The battery access port will be attached during wiring.
8. Print out the legend decals on the color of paper you like and optionally laminate it.
9. Optionally make your own decals or case legend.
10. Trim the case legend decals and apply them to the two plates using adhesive (3M Super 77 Multipurpose Spray Adhesive is a good choice).
11. Cut out the holes from the case legends after application.
12. Use the back plate to locate and mark where the pilot holes will be drilled in the back of the foot pedal case. Remember the bottom of the plate should be flush with the bottom of the battery access port when attached. So the plate should protrude down about 1/10" beyond the case sides.
13. Carefully drill the pilot holes (3/32" to 1/8" drill bit) in the back of the case.
14. Attach the rear plate to the case as shown in the photos using 4 #6 x 1/2 pan head screws.
15. Use the front plate to locate and mark where the pilot holes will be drilled in the tops of the foot pedal case sides.
16. Carefully drill the pilot holes (3/32" to 1/8" drill bit) in the tops of the case sides.
17. DO NOT SCREW ON THE FRONT PLATE! The front plate will be attached during wiring.
18. Proceed to the wiring diagrams page.