Juggle Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 I actually started building this back when the sequencer was at v2. But rather quickly decided I didn't have the budget to pay for all the components at the time so set my initial parts off to the side. 3 years ago my wife got me the PCB for the front panel for Christmas and a few months later for my birthday I got myself the rest of the components I needed. Though I was still planning on making the front panel myself with my CNC. And the only endmills I had on hand were 3mm so square switch caps weren't going to work. I wound up designing my own switch caps and printing them on my 3D printer - but was never very happy with them. My FDM printer just didn't have the resolution to do what I wanted. I tried printing them in ABS and vapor smoothing them...but they were just too inconsistent for my liking. They worked though...so I lived with them: You can see in the closeup photo - they just kind of came out too lumpy for my taste. But it worked. I printed up some simple brackets that snapped into the rack mounts and ran with it. Unfortunately I then found that my MBSID had developed some kind of issue and I now no longer had a functioning hardware synth to control with it. (Still trying to debug the SID - just hasn't been a high priority.) Then this year for my birthday I got a Behringer Neutron and started finally having some fun with hardware again. I had bought the neutron in hopes that it's patchbay would sate my interest in modular synths - but instead it had the opposite effect and near the end of this summer I decided to start building a modular synth. The modular is still a work in progress - but I added an aout_ng in the synth and have started to really enjoy the sequencer finally. Only - with the addition of the aout USB power was no longer sufficient. And I had never really mounted the boards - they just kind of dangled behind the panel. So I decided it was time to "finish" the sequencer more properly and add a 5v power supply, mount the boards, and enclose the whole thing. First step was to dig out my CAD model from when I made my panel and start modeling up what I had in mind. I had to make it a bit deeper than I was hoping to make room for the MIDI boards on top - but I really didn't want them hidden in the back either so I decided I could live with the compromise. I printed out the new side supports and cut a piece of MDF for the base. Already this was a big improvement and the whole thing felt more stable and sturdy! I added some heat set inserts so I could remove the top and back easily without damaging plastic threads. I also added some threaded inserts to mount the core and line driver modules. The power was a bit trickier. I didn't want the power cord coming out of a side...but I didn't want it slanted like the back either. So I designed and printed a plastic piece to hold a switch/fuse/jack combo - and I'm quite happy with how that worked out. It's very easy to find with my fingers reaching around from the front without having to look. And with it's own meanwell 5v supply I don't have to worry about voltage dips. With the sequencer now much more mechanically stable I figured I needed to step up on the caps/knobs. Earlier in the summer I had invested in a SLA printer since I needed custom concentric knobs for a different project and was unable to find any commercially that I was happy with (at least in quantities that made sense for me!) So I printed up a new set of caps in translucent resin. I also designed some new knobs...they're a bit taller and more tapered than the ones I had made previously and feel a lot better to my fingers. It was now looking and feeling a LOT better! The SLA printer made much more accurate switch caps and knobs that feel more professional as well as looking more professional. But...I'm still not quite happy. I don't care for the translucent green...and I still need to come up with a better way to label the switches. So with the detail of the SLA printer I figured - why not try embossing the labels right into the switch caps? They came out better than I had hoped! The text is nice and legible...and with a lacquer-stik I was able to fill them for a nice finished look. Even cramming some of the longer labels like "transpose" in there was possible with a nice narrow but legible font. But I wasn't happy with the boring grey. So I started experimenting with adding epoxy dyes to the resin and was able to get some different colors. They're a bit more muted than I'd like but better than grey. Though - having to individualize each cap is a bit tedious! Still not quite done...but getting closer. I need to make some changes to the sides - I want to add finger grips since I've found it's nice to grab and carry that way. I also need to add something to keep fingers from going all the way in the sides - especially now that there's 110v fairly close on one side. And I need to revise my power mount so it has a flange for the back panel to mount on. Just...now that it's so much nicer to use I'm finally spending more time using it than building it so progress is slowing :D I'm still a bit confused about some functionality though. I'm trying to set it up to play a pattern through CV1 and pass MIDI from a keyboard through to CV2 - but no matter what I do I keep getting the MIDI from the keyboard on CV1. There's probably something simple I'm overlooking but the config seems basic enough from my read of the docs. I have track on set to use CV1 Chn. 1 and as expected it plays on CV1 like I want. But when I go into the MIDI router and set IN1 #1 to go to CV1 Chn #2 - it still comes out on CV1. I've confirmed I can change track 1 to use CV1 Chn. 2 and it comes out of CV2 like I expect...but the midi router just doesn't seem to be doing what I think I have it configured to. Getting close to asking for help figuring this out...but not quite ready to admit defeat yet ;) Anyway - just wanted to say thanks to Thorsen, Wilba, and everyone else who's contributed for the amazing work that made it possible for me to build this so far. I figured it's finally complete enough to share and hopefully help inspire some other builders! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggle Posted December 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Oh, and if anyone is interested I'm more than happy to share the files for the panel and 3D printed parts as well as to give more details on any of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latigid on Posted December 19, 2020 Report Share Posted December 19, 2020 Great job, especially the labelled buttons are a really nice touch! Formlabs printer or something else? I guess the aspect ratio/height is enough to print them vertically rather than rotated? Anyway, cool journey and enjoy the SEQ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srmaietta Posted December 19, 2020 Report Share Posted December 19, 2020 (edited) Really nice work. I love the custom buttons and angled enclosure. You’re gonna love the combination along with your modular.... Can’t help you with the particular midi pass-through issue you were having. Edited December 19, 2020 by srmaietta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggle Posted December 21, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2020 On 12/19/2020 at 5:53 AM, latigid on said: Great job, especially the labelled buttons are a really nice touch! Formlabs printer or something else? I guess the aspect ratio/height is enough to print them vertically rather than rotated? Anyway, cool journey and enjoy the SEQ! No Formlabs here, just the "Cheap" MSLA's - the translucent switches and the grey were done on a Phrozen Sonic mini, and the blue were done on an Elegoo Mars Pro. They both have almost identical print quality but the phrozen has a more efficient LCD so it can print a little bit faster. I've also found it to be a little more reliable despite the Elegoo feeling like a higher quality machine out of the box. The caps can print vertically right on the bed, it's a bit over an hour to print 15 of them that way. But these were all done tilted 30 degrees in two directions and then supported 5mm off the bed...so they take a bit over 2 hours to do 15. The tops come out a bit smoother printed this way since X/Y resolution is finer than the Z so the curve of the button top comes out nicer. It's a minor difference and really hard to show in the photos (the shot of 6 translucent caps tries to show the difference. The top row were printed tilted, the bottom row was printed vertical.) Printing them on supports is a bit slower and means more post processing...but it's worth it for them to feel nicer under my fingers :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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