|
This is such an easy project I
nearly didn't even make a how-to on
it, but since I felt there might be
a couple of tips I could pass on to
hopefully make yours easier to make
I slapped some photos up here with
the steps I took making mine.
To start with you will need some
electrical cord that is ample for
your needs, be it 110V A.C., 12V
D.C. I don't recommend using
anything smaller than a typical zip
cord (18 gauge) since anything
smaller could easily be broken by
one over-extended tug on the cord.
HOWEVER, if you are using this
switch for a delicate application
such as with a
Mimic Machine you will
need to use a finer wire or the
chip corder will see the wire as a
dead short and when you push the
button it will not trigger the
device.
You will also need
 some
1" PVC pipe,
 cut
to about 5 or 5 1/2" long (I have
fallen in love with the PVC pipe
cutter as shown here. It will even
handle the heavy schedule 40, 1"
pipe we are using in this
project.), and one door bell
button. I used the least expensive
one I could find which was a Carlon
DH1505L and cost less than $3 in
Orchard Supply Hardware.
This is rated for 8 to 24 volts so
it will work just fine for my
intended use but would not be able
to trigger say a
washing machine valve,
as that uses 110 AC volts to fire
which could easily be too much for
this button to handle. One thing
that I learned through using this
particular one is you don't want to
choose a lighted button as this one
is otherwise you will have to pop
the mechanism out of the back of it
and snip the wires going to the
tiny LED inside. Otherwise your
wire will be partly shorted out.
And that disables it's ability to
fully open or fully close the
circuit and trigger the chip
corder.
We'll start by grinding the ends of
the metal outer shell of the button
to conform to the diameter of the
PVC pipe by using a small drum
sander in a drill press, spindle
sander or hand drill that is held
securely in a vise. This is a step
that isn't completely necessary
unless you like your props neat
looking as well as functional as I
do.
Next measure the distance from the
top of the button to the screws and
mark your pipe to correspond with
their exact distance apart, keeping
the top of the button pretty close
to the top of the pipe. Now drill a
hole in each spot with a 1/2" drill
bit. I find that a flat wood bit
works really nice on PVC and makes
precisely placed holes (it doesn't
walk on the PVC surface before
starting) easy due to the sharp,
pointed tip.
Before attaching the cord to the
switch, remove the brown hardboard
assembly here and snip the wires to
the LED as mentioned earlier if
yours is a lighted switch. Next I
fitted the ends of my zip cord with
crimp-on insulated
 snap
spade terminals and then slightly
bent them up so they will fit into
the 1/2" holes. I pre-drill the
screw holes for mounting the button
using the tip of a tapered drill
bit, but a small bit about 3/32"
will do.
Next we drill a hole through the
other end of the pipe on the
opposite side from the button. I
used a 3/16" bit here which was
about the same size as the cord and
I drilled it on a sharp angle so
the cord will pass through and
downward away
 from
the trigger. You might be asking
why take this extra step at all
when you could just slide the cord
up through the middle of the pipe.
The reason is shown in the next
photo where we wrap a single zip
tie tightly around the cord
immediately behind this hole. Now
if the trigger is yanked on at the
end of it's length, the cord won't
get torn away from the spade
terminals.
And there you have it. With the 1"
PVC fitting nicely in your hand it
is easy to keep hold of the trigger
during use. I used #220 sandpaper
to
 rough
up the outside of the pipe and
button before I painted this one
black so it would be inconspicuous
during use. A alluded to earlier
this button will now work for
applications such as the no voltage
use to simply close a circuit,
connecting the two wires on a
Mimic Machine as this
one was made for. This could also
be used for say a
Concussion Air Cannon if
you run 12 volt power out to the
cannon rather than the 110V cord
the how-to shows, since it is rated
up to 24 volts. |
