How to fit engravity large toggle caps on large switches

[ivar hestnes]

I have just installed the engravity toggle caps which are originally intended to use on 3mm shaft. Since all my switches are 6mm shaft, I wanted to install these without a mess of glue.

First I attached the aluminium pieces in a lathe, and drilled a 6mm hole. I used a piece of tape on the bore, so each piece would get the same lenght of the hole. You want to use a lathe for drilling this hole bigger, since the aluminium walls only will be 0,5mm thick after this process. No hand drilling


Then I installed shrink tube and heated it around the knob shaft. Some experimentation needed to find the right "spot" on the shaft.


Then grab the shrinked shrink tube with a plier, and start screw the aluminium piece into the shaft. Some force is required. If it go too easy into place, you might need to install the shrink tube again, a little closer to the shafts end.


If you got your shrink tube in the correct location, the aluminium piece get really stuck. And without the mess of using glue.


Use a knife to remove the rest of the shrink tube that is visible

And the result is a much more realistic overhead

[dnoize]

Thanks for sharing Ivar.

For even more realism you should cut the white caps a little. If you like, i can check how much mm they exactly are.

Stef




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[ivar hestnes]

Great. Thank you stef

[vidarf]

It's about 4-5 millimetres. Use a sharp knife, tread the cap onto a wooden stick and cut by rotating the shaft. That will give you an even edge. Do a test first, cutting too little. Then "ease" into the correct length. Then you'll have a reference piece. Fasten with flash-glue.

[dnoize]

total length of a real cap is 12,40 mm

i have added 2 pictures.

one of the real cap with a digital caliper and another one with the real cap compared to the engravity one cut at the correct size.


Stef

[ivar hestnes]

Excellent information Stef.
Many thanks