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Guide Guide: Making a "vandal resistant switch"

Discussion in 'Modding' started by bard, 28 May 2003.

  1. bard

    bard Modding isn't what it used to be

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    2008 Update: The pictures have been salvaged from the cyber scrapyard!

    Vandal resistant switches from bulgin, especially those with lit rings around them, seem popular these days. I think these are great too, but I prefer making them myself. Not only are they much cheaper and satisfying, but one can also make them in custom sizes. So here's a guide to making your own Vandal Resistant Switch*.

    [​IMG]
    This is how the bezel looked before I
    filled the old button and LED holes
    with putty and vinyl dyed the
    whole thing. The big hole in the middle
    is where the switch is going. I made that
    with a spade drill bit.



    [​IMG]
    Start off by measuring the desired diameter
    of the switch you are going to make.



    Then find a suitable piece of acrylic for making your button. This piece should be square. I recommend using thick acrylic; at least 5mm. Drill a Ø2mm hole close to the middle of the piece of acrylic, all the way through. Then take a thicker drill bit and drill half way through the same hole. This must be done to ensure that the screw which is going through the piece will stay in place. If your screw is long enough, you can make only the 2mm hole.

    This step can be skipped, but will lead to less filing work later on:
    Use a hand saw/jigsaw to saw a rough circle or octagon out of the square acrylic.


    [​IMG]
    Attach the acrylic to your rotary tool with the standard bit for
    attaching accessories, such as cut-off discs and sanding discs.



    To give the rough acrylic piece a perfect round shape, hold a file agains its side while it is spinning. Do not press the file against it, just hold it genty applying a light force to the spinning wheel. Start out at low RPM and increase as you get more confident.


    [​IMG]
    This is how a piece looks after rounding it


    [​IMG]

    As you may see from the picture above, the button is still clear, except for around the edge. To solve this, rub it on both sides with sand paper. Don't use too fine sand paper, as you will just make the piece clear again after a while, but make sure the surface is nice and smooth.


    [​IMG]

    Now using epoxy or equivalent, glue a center piece over the hole in the middle. This can be made out of almost everything. You can even use glossy cardboard painted with vinyl dye/spray paint. If you are to use a coin, check with your country's law regulations about defacing coins. I am not encouraging law violations, and I do not take responsibility for your actions.


    [​IMG]
    This is how the switch looks on a test run, lit up by
    a 3000 MCD blue LED.



    For attaching the switch, you can either make your own attachment bracket, or you can use the existing if you are not making a new front bezel. Use a regular power/reset momentary switch behind the new "vandal resistant" switch. This will also work as a spring for your switch. Attach this to the acrylic piece with epoxy.

    Shown in the following pictures are how one of my mounting brackets is made:

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    The mounting bracket is made from a CD jewel case, but
    any plastic/acrylic will work



    [​IMG]
    This is how the switch is mounted on the back of the bezel.

    [​IMG]
    This is how it looks on the front. Notice that huge gap
    between the button edge and the hole edge?


    [​IMG]
    To get rid of the gap between the hole and the switch,
    I cut out a cardboard ring.



    [​IMG]
    The cardboard ring was made from glossy cardboard and
    painted with vinyl dye. One of the advantages of using cardboard is that it is flexible, in case your
    bezel is slightly curved.



    Now all you have to do is mount an LED behind the bezel, shining on the edge of the switch. If you want to get really advanced, you can make the button change color for HDD activity. You can e.g. have the button blue and have a red LED for HDD activity. This makes the button purple during HDD activty. Or do like I did, make the power LED go out during HDD activity, to make the switch go between red and blue. This is easily done by putting a diode between + on the power LED and ground (-) on the HDD LED. (Thanks to ZapWizard who taught me this).

    [​IMG]


    Here are some pictures of the result. Do not hesitate using new colors of LEDs, making a square or even triangular switch instead of a round and just use your imagination.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]



    * Switch may not be resistant to vandals.
     
    Last edited: 2 Feb 2008
  2. ZapWizard

    ZapWizard Enter the Mod Matrix

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    Thanks, Bard.

    I will be using this guide for the buttons on my Media PC
     
  3. malcs

    malcs oops! i put a hole in the ***** :(

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    or.... you could buy one :) think i saw this on your PC mod is good tips though!! i think i might use this for my reset button :)
     
  4. thedevilspride

    thedevilspride What's a Dremel?

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    I love that switch, it looks really nice!
     
    Last edited: 30 May 2003
  5. kofku

    kofku Guest

    I love it!Definately gonna make one and use it somewhere:D
     
  6. Fly

    Fly inter arma silent leges

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    Nice guide...

    you could always use the Frosted effect paint if you have any, that would finish em off nicely.
     
  7. JeffPH

    JeffPH What's a Dremel?

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    nice mod :) can u make me 2 of them :)
     
  8. bard

    bard Modding isn't what it used to be

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    I kind of made the guide so people could make them themselves... :p
     
  9. Der Me!$ter

    Der Me!$ter What's a Dremel?

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    Hey, this is great!:clap: :clap: :clap:

    Only problem being I bought my vandal resistant buttons a month ago :wallbash:
     
  10. Green Soda

    Green Soda What's a Dremel?

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    Explain to me what a "vandal resistant switch" is. I've seen them, and i know what they look like, in fact been tempted to order a few, but whats so "vandal resistant" about them??
     
  11. 3N1GM4

    3N1GM4 What's a Dremel?

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    i would like to know this too...

    great buttons i might add
     
  12. NiHiLiST

    NiHiLiST New-born car whore

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    Well the retail vandal resistant switches are just that, resistant to vandals. For instance, if you have a button on a cash till you don't want people to be able to unscrew it from the outside and fiddle around with the electronics, hence you use vandal resistant switches.

    These ones aren't vandal resistant but are lit in the same style as the Bulgin vandal resistant ones :)
     
  13. bard

    bard Modding isn't what it used to be

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    Yep, they're meant to look like the Bulgins.
     
  14. 3N1GM4

    3N1GM4 What's a Dremel?

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    ah hah

    now i get it...

    where can i buy some not so pricy, but good looking switches??? n e 1 know?
     
  15. Miku

    Miku What's a Dremel?

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    Make one :p
     
  16. 3N1GM4

    3N1GM4 What's a Dremel?

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    im just looking for a good looking steel one :confused:
     
  17. alianyn

    alianyn What's a Dremel?

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    really nice guide - actually it gave me and idea on how to make rheobus plexi buttons - i just make lot`s of round ones and glue them together... (we don`t have plexi cylinders here :( )

    but i have a question - i know some basic electronics but this circuit is having me hit a wall...
    the power led has a constant voltage so since the diode between the positive power led and the negative hdd is active the hdd voltage differencial is 0 right? now 2 things worry me :
    1. isn`t there an issue of current going back into the hdd mobo
    connector? (i`m thinking the answer to this is no because of
    again 0 V diff... - looking for confirmation)
    2. when the hdd lead is given an active signal (negative
    potential) isn`t there a short circuit between it and the power
    led? isn`t that bad? i guess it`s supposed to neutralize the V
    diff. between the power led leads but it also cancels out any
    negative potential arriving @ hdd led?

    bahhhhhhh i`m so confused i should get more sleep...
    help anyone?
     
  18. ZapWizard

    ZapWizard Enter the Mod Matrix

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    [​IMG]

    The reason this works is that the Negative side of the IDE is what trips the circuit. (Active Low)

    The + side of the power LED will have a resistor so that will prevent any dangerous shorts.
     
  19. alianyn

    alianyn What's a Dremel?

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    sorry zap, can you maybe explain it in more depth - i know that the hdd signal is an active low one (was written in my question), perhaps i`m understanding this wrong as +/- junctions still confuse me as to exactly what is going on there... (are there electrons all over? do they flow ONLY from the + to - and so the current direction is - to +? etc...) anyways - so i took out my breadboard plugged one powersource of 5V and ran 2 leds of it and when i connected a diode between them as in the pic BOTH the leds went out, did the same only with 2 powersources - 1 connected to each led and each one was 5V - now put a diode between them as in the drawing and nothing happened...
    did this again only with on powersource being 5V and the other 12V (thought maybe it`s the difference in potential that does it...)
    and connected the diode like in the pic - once 12V(-) to 5V(+) and once 12V(+) to 5V(-) and still nothing happened so i maybe doing this wrong/understanding wrong.

    help? :sigh:
     
  20. ZapWizard

    ZapWizard Enter the Mod Matrix

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    Let's assume your LED runs at 2volts (To keep things easy)

    Your power LED runs all the time (Always on)
    The diode that is shorting the PWR led's power source has only a 0.7volt drop.

    So when the harddrive signal goes low, the current will flow through the diode and not the LED, turning the power LED off.
    The HD led turns on at the same time, and is not shorted out, because it has it's own resistor on the + side.
    Each LED needs it's own resistor.
     
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