DIY Rubber Knobs for Controllers

[elysion]

I've been working on a couple of custom MIDI controllers for use with Traktor DJ. I built a hardware "platform" (https://github.com/elysion/encoder) that has PCB designs and software that help to get speed up the development of controllers that have pots, encoders, buttons, sliders, leds etc. After building the first devices I realized that it is fairly difficult / expensive to source knobs, that have a rubber coating, at least here in Finland. The Chroma Caps sold here on DJ Techtools look really nice, but cost quite a few $$$ after you add shipping and taxes. Thus I decided to try and create the knobs myself!

I designed a d-shaft knob with Fusion 360 (https://a360.co/3bJeQV5) and printed a couple of them on my Anycubic Photon S. After rinsing and curing the knobs I poured on top some rubber paint used for "dipping" cars (I used a local brand Maston RUBBERcomp, which I guess is similar to this: https://amzn.to/2vU4lPd).

The knobs turned out pretty nice (and thus the post here on the forum). Here are some pics of the knobs:
https://ibb.co/Dwmcbyc
https://ibb.co/mXG5nYD

Sum up: If you are able to buy Chroma Caps and they fit your needs, buy those. If not, creating your own custom knobs might work.

[DJDoubleYou]

Wow super cool!

[elysion]

Thanks! Forgot to mention that this might also be useful if you need to replace a cap in an old / rare controller where spares are difficult to get / expensive.