Turret Board Hole Spacing

[66Strat]

What is the on-center spacing of the holes in the Custom Board template program? I could not find this measurement in the program instructions.

Thanks in advance.

John

[EL34]

The hole grid spacing is .2969 inches vertically and horizontally

 This grid spacing accommodates eyelets which have a wider footprint than a turret lug


I added that note to the paper template page here
http://hoffmanamps.com/php/TurretBoard/ScaleImage2.htm

[shooter]

2969

a new daily 4 number, thx

[EL34]

That hole spacing goes way back to the first template I made in the early 90's
The non rounded off template spacing is actually .296875 which is close to 19/64ths inches

I had a piece of aluminum that was the backing plate for a computer tape backup cartridge
The dimples in the plate gave me a perfect places to trill template holes
I had no way to drill precise hole spacing way back in the early 90's
So the computer tape backing plate worked great


I still have the original metal template that I used to create the bigger metal drilling template
Here's a pic of the original one

[66Strat]

The hole grid spacing is .2969 inches vertically and horizontally

 This grid spacing accommodates eyelets which have a wider footprint than a turret lug


I added that note to the paper template page here
http://hoffmanamps.com/php/TurretBoard/ScaleImage2.htm

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

[bnwitt]

Ah the good old days.  I remember them well.  Mr. Hoffman you and the folks in the early forum taught me so much.  I still have my Hoffman guide too.

[EL34]

I am in the process of changing the program over to a .25 inch square grid spacing
This should make Steve happy 

I drilled a test board to see if the eyelet flanges would have enough room at that spacing and they did

Here's a couple test boards
.25 inch spacing on top
.2969 inch spacing on the bottom

[sluckey]

I am in the process of changing the program over to a .25 inch square grid spacing
This should make Steve happy 

'Bout time you dumped that crazy spacing! Actually, my go to spacing has been 5/16". The only 1/4" spacing I've ever used was for that crazy high density AC-15 board and that was because I was trying to trim the length of the board to fit a certain chassis. I do like 1/4" spacing too, but you have to be a bit more careful.

[EL34]

5/16 = .3125.3125 is just as weird as .296875 


0.296875 is 19/64ths
0.3125 is 20/64th's

[sluckey]

I have to disagree. I can't sharpen my pencil enough to use the 1/64 scale on my ruler, not to mention I can't even see the 1/64 scale! 1/16 scale is about the best my eyes and pencil can deal with these days.   

[EL34]

It's just a wee bit shorter than 5/16ths :)

[EL34]

Here ya go
Take either one of these images and scale them to whatever scale you want
Printed at 100% scale, you should end up with a template that is 3.125 inches tall and 18 inches long
The grid is 0.25 inches square

This is the link to the full uncut 71 column image for the new program
http://hoffmanamps.com/php/TurretBoard/Images2/Template_71_Columns2.png

This is the link to the two piece 71 column image for the new program
http://hoffmanamps.com/php/TurretBoard/Images2/Template_71_Columns.png

[shooter]

I grew up with electronics when .1" spacing became the norm, you guys need better glasses

[mresistor]

If you don't mind me asking - what is the impetus for changing the hole spacing ?

[jjasilli]

I'm with sluckey.  Maybe cause I have big hands, thick fingers and am clumsy with a soldering iron - especially when there's insulated leads nearby.  5/16 sounds great to me. 

[EL34]

4/16ths is even better :)

[EL34]

If you don't mind me asking - what is the impetus for changing the hole spacing ?

Cause Steve bugged me for years cause he liked .25 or 4/16 ths inch spacing
Now he says he likes 5/16ths inc spacing

Also, because it makes a finer grid and it's easier to find a hole that suits you when laying out parts

In a 18 inch x 3.125 inch template In now I have 71 columns and 12 rows
It was 60 columns and 10 rows

The new program is still being tested so the old program with 60 columns still is active

[sluckey]

1/4" or 5/16". Either is much easier to remember. And you can finally throw away that old piece of computer case. And never have to tell the story of origin for that crazy spacing again.  (Although I did appreciate the story because it's exactly the kind of thing I might do.)

I still remember asking about your spacing years ago when I was setting up to do boards with Visio. When I learned the spacing was 19/64" I just rounded up to 20/64 (5/16) because Visio rulers were much easier to work with in 1/16" scale.

Years ago when I was experimenting with digital logic chips I began drawing and thinking in 1/10" scale. Later, when I got interested in tubes again, I almost decided to set up Visio using decimal rulers for turret boards but changed my mind.

Hey, maybe you should compromise between my 5/16 preference and your old 19/64" preference. 3/10" spacing splits the difference quite well. Your computer might even prefer working in decimals to working in fractions.   

[EL34]

In all my Cad and Cam work for the cnc, everything I do is in decimals
I have to get down to 1/64 th (0.015625) in some of the CNC designed stuff

i use this sheet if I need to see what .28125 inches is or what the metric equivalent is
I attached this file as a excel .xls file
I have it hanging on the wall next to my computer

I attached my 64ths file as a excel .xls file

This is just a screen shot of part of the file
It's goes all the way up to one inch

[VMS]

I'm so happy we have metric system, figuring out those fractions would hurt my brain too much 

[EL34]

I prefer to use metric but my CNC machine and all the software I use to create CNC stuff is all in inches
It would be a pain to convert it all


For most small item measuring, I use millimeters with a digital gauge

[bnwitt]

So going to .25 spacing doesn't affect the little bias pot trimmer fit does it??

[EL34]

I did not add the bias pot to the new program
I think I remember maybe only one person using it on a board that I made


It's a huge bit of programming to add that pot feature, so I skipped it

The old program is still on the server, but I just want people to use the new one


Here is the new program address
http://hoffmanamps.com/php/TurretBoard/CustomBoard.php

[mresistor]

Is this new hole spacing program for only the "custom" boards ?

[EL34]

It's for the boards you design in that program


Not sure what other custom boards you mean?

[mresistor]

I was wanting to know if the new hole spacing was going to apply to the Hoffman turret boards in the store. http://hoffmanamps.com/MyStore/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=enter&thispage=TurretBoard.htm&ORDER_ID=!ORDERID!

[EL34]

I was wanting to know if the new hole spacing was going to apply to the Hoffman turret boards in the store. http://hoffmanamps.com/MyStore/perlshop.cgi?ACTION=enter&thispage=TurretBoard.htm&ORDER_ID=!ORDERID!

No,
Not being a smart ass here, but why would I change my turret board layouts?
My layouts have nothing to do with the on line custom board program


And neither do the Fender eyelet boards I make
Those are Fender layouts

[mresistor]

Thank you EL34.

[EL34]

Here's another update to my on line custom board program

You can now add your custom board to my shopping cart

Go to this post for more info about that
http://el34world.com/Forum/index.php?topic=22787.msg243673#msg243673

[EL34]

Here's something interesting I am experimenting with
I figured out how to add a background image to the custom board program

In this screen shot, I added a Fender AB763 layout to the background
So you could click on the circles and create your own layout in my program from an image file
You would have to use the closest circle in the grid because you can't put a circle anywhere you want

Just an experiment at this point

[sluckey]

I've done something similar in Visio for a Fender board. Visio allows you to drop a turret or eyelet exactly on top of an eyelet on the Fender image.

[EL34]

Yes, I have been doing that in CAD a long time.
The online design program is what I am focusing on so that everyone around the world can submit custom boards
My program sends me machine language files that are loaded directly into the CNC machine
 
This Skips a bunch of steps in the labor process