This week I was inspired by the dial designs on the ITP Intro to Fab website under “Make a Potentiometer Dial.” I started with some inspiration and sketching in Adobe Illustrator.
I picked up white and translucent acrylic to laser cut my dials.
I measured the diameter of my potentiometer knob, and found it to be 0.2345 inches.
I loaded my design into the computer attached to the 60W laser, and applied the recommended settings for acrylic.
I cut out different pieces, one that could independently move the shutter speed with a little knob on the end. The other piece is where all of the etching for the numbers would be.
The piece with the knob will be the thing actually moving the dial itself. I used the sharpie/dry erase marker method. I am not super happy with how the etching came out, this is partly due to the font I chose in Illustrator. I will definitely be doing a second pass on these to make my adjustment knob larger and the etching more clear. I was happy how nicely it fit and the general sizing.
Will Politan ITP Blog 