KNOBS

[LastSystem]

Hello .

I want to know if the knobs with Hole opening saw teeth , they serve for axis in D ???

[RichieWitch]

Generally, no--those knobs won't work for a D-shaft. You'll get a lot of slippage.

If you're real crafty, you can try to add a set screw to the knob, but it has to be lined up perpendicular to the flat side of the shaft. Or add an insert in the knob to convert it for D-shaft usage. Neither of these is particularly easy, but not impossible.

[LastSystem]

Generally, no--those knobs won't work for a D-shaft. You'll get a lot of slippage.

If you're real crafty, you can try to add a set screw to the knob, but it has to be lined up perpendicular to the flat side of the shaft. Or add an insert in the knob to convert it for D-shaft usage. Neither of these is particularly easy, but not impossible.

I found on ebay some knobs as you say, but they are not to my liking

[ghettosynth]

Generally, no--those knobs won't work for a D-shaft. You'll get a lot of slippage.

If you're real crafty, you can try to add a set screw to the knob, but it has to be lined up perpendicular to the flat side of the shaft. Or add an insert in the knob to convert it for D-shaft usage. Neither of these is particularly easy, but not impossible.

I found on ebay some knobs as you say, but they are not to my liking

Those really aren't made for D-shaft either. They will work, but not as well as proper d-shaft knobs.

Buying knobs is a pain, they are way more expensive than you think that they should be.

[vegaron]

I once tried combining D-shaft rotary encoders and caps with screws. It did not work well as the screws always loosened after a while...

[GaryG]

Those really aren't made for D-shaft either. They will work, but not as well as proper d-shaft knobs.

Really? I never knew that. What shape shafts are the screw style knobs for then?

I did see a write up once where someone converted 'saw teeth' style knobs for a D shaft with polymorph, basically heating it up, stuffing it into the knob then pushing the shaft in (is the "quoted out of context" thread still active? ) It seemed to work but looked a bit wobbly. Not sure how secure it would be either.

[ghettosynth]

Those really aren't made for D-shaft either. They will work, but not as well as proper d-shaft knobs.

Really? I never knew that. What shape shafts are the screw style knobs for then?

I did see a write up once where someone converted 'saw teeth' style knobs for a D shaft with polymorph, basically heating it up, stuffing it into the knob then pushing the shaft in (is the "quoted out of context" thread still active? ) It seemed to work but looked a bit wobbly. Not sure how secure it would be either.

They are for straight shafts. Simply, solid round shafts. The entire point of D-shaft and spline shaft knobs is that you don't need set screws. With spline shaft you can adjust the knob with respect to the front panel to some minimum degree. With D-Shaft knobs the relationship is fixed. So, of course, for knobs that have no indicator, this doesn't really matter, but, for knobs with indicators, it's important. When you put a D-Shaft knob on the pot the position of the indicator is fixed. When final assembly is done by hand this is a huge time savings.

When you put a set screw knob on a D-Shaft there will be some play. This turns out to be important for things where the ergonomic factor is high, e.g., musical instruments. If the knob is offset even a tiny amount you will get some asymmetry in the rotation. This is hard to avoid if you place the set screw on the round side of the shaft. If you place the set screw on the flat part of the D-Shaft, you will almost certainly get some play in the knob rotation.

Spline shaft pots require you to think about their panel depth because they are difficult, if not impossible to change their length. Both D-Shaft and straight shaft pots can be cut fairly easily.

[GaryG]

Ah, so now I know.

I've certainly used set screw knobs with d-shafts, I guess only for quick and dirty guitar pedals etc so never really noticed them being off centre. Most stuff I build tends to fall apart/gets dismantled pretty quickly... )

Cheers.

[PurpleCatfishBettie]

are knobs generally around .75-.80? i see groupings of 10 knobs for around $8.

is there a place where they're way less expensive?

maybe these aren't even the kind of knobs you're talking about: http://www.ebay.com/itm/252269546699

guess they're over $1 apiece with shipping...