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Translucent Microswitch Buttons*Taking Pre-Orders*
Knievel:
Just got back from a long stay at the lake and I'm catching up with things around here.
Having been through this myself, with the leaf-buttons, I'm enjoying reading all the experimentation.
Looking at the pics it appears that these buttons are fairly long? IF that's correct I think the best bet would be to make something similar to the leaf-button mounts. Basically you'd be making a plastic washer to put in between the bottom of the CP and the button nut. Then the LED's could mount into this washer the same way mine did with my leaf-buttons. You would be re-creating just the circular part of the mount, which you can see in my thread..
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,30565.0.html
I've purchased some plastic sheets from Lee Valley in the past that I think would do the job nicely. It would have to be 1/4" thick minimum in order to mount the LED's into it. I'm thinking you would first drill a 1 1/4" hole and then drill around that with a 1 3/4 or 2" holesaw to end up with the appropriate-sized washer.
Might be too much work for some but I really think it's the closest you're going to come to re-creating the glow of my lighted leafs..if that's what you're after.
BTW nice job with the pics and explanation of the button wiring/lighting Mark. In the relatively short time you've been here you've contributed a helluva lot to these boards.
Shawn you should put those shots up on your site if Mark is OK with it and that pic of the 4 lit buttons by LPZ, that's a beauty as well.
CJK:
As the Guinness guy says... "BRILLIANT!"
That sounds like the way I'm going to go. Best of all, it's reversible -- just remove the "washer" if you want to change the LED color or whatever.
If I can locate some of this plastic stuff in the next few days, I'll give it a go.
-- Chris
LPZ:
--- Quote from: rackoon on July 09, 2005, 08:12:21 pm ---If one is willing to spend the time to dim the glare, why not install small graphics (not unlike one player two player image) glued on the bottom top of the button? This should defuse much of the direct light.
It is impossible to put graphics/letters on the bottom of the plunger.
--- End quote ---
Knievel:
Time will tell how 'brilliant' it is but if it works as well as it did on my leafs you will be VERY happy.
Looking at the online Lee Valley catalog, the stuff I was thinking of is on this page..
http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=32045&cat=3,43576
Item B - 1/4" UHMW - 4" x 24" to be exact... one should be enough for an entire CP.
To try this you're going to need a 1 1/4" forstner or spade bit, a 1 3/4"- 2" hole saw and a 3/16" drill bit for the LED holes.
I was just thinking about my idea some more. If you were to use a smaller bit for the inside hole of the washer and then 'tap' some threads into it you could use it AS the nut. Of course you'd have to make at least a couple of the outer edges flat so you could get a wrench on it..
BTW the washer does something more important than just hold the LED's, it diffuses them. If you make them out of that white plastic the whole ring should glow and indirectly light the button. As you can see this makes the bezel glow as nicely as the plunger which makes a big difference..
gl.tter:
--- Quote from: LPZ on July 09, 2005, 11:46:10 pm ---It is impossible to put graphics/letters on the bottom of the plunger.
--- End quote ---