Knife Switch

I couldnt find a cool looking knife switch to save my life, so i made one. The tea pot was purchased at ARC thrift for $2.70 you will also need small wood screws a 1 and 1/2 in machine screw and some 1/4 in thick wood.

Step 1: Remove Handle

Remove the handle from the tea pot and straighten out the curve. Leave the bends at each end. Three quarters of the way down from the hinged end mark your first cut also mark off the curved edges and where you will drill your hole at the end of the long piece. Now make your cuts.

Step 2:

Bend the hinged ends of the long pieces to a right angle . Do the same to the small pieces  now add a wood cross piece  at the top of the long pieces connecting them

Step 3: Finishing Up

Screw the switch on to a wooden base. the smaller peices are screwed down to either side of the left bar so that the contact is tight. when your ready to add wiring just attach the wires to the screws.

Comments

[mettaurlover]

JSYK Radio Shack or equivalent should have properly rated and constructed knife switches in the components section... Homemade switches are horrendously unsafe under any real load, especially those with wood parts... Knife switches even more so, since they have a much slower closing time than microswitches and are therefore very likely to produce sparks.

[NicholasC1]

I am making a knife switch myself as well, and as a matter of fact it will be quite safe (as safe a a knife switch can be that is). One can build a homemade switch that is safe, provided proper materials are used. I am using copper busbar, contact points from electrical meter housings, rivets made for electrical use, and most importantly a fiberboard base made for the mounting of high voltage electrical parts. The overall point is that if you use materials with known electrical ratings, and assemble them properly, you can build a relatively safe switch for high current. You can even build one for medium voltages, if you know what you're doing and take the proper precautions.

[raith]

radio shack does have knife switches but they are plastic. thanks for the concern about my safty but dont worry to much. its more about the look than the operation with this one. this is only gonna carry 6 to 12 volts max for a steampunk project im working on.

[mettaurlover]

There's a "reply" button for a reason-it lets the other person know that they've been replied to. Plastic is a much safer material for electronic parts, even so-called "low-voltage" projects. Voltage, safety-wise, is irrelevant; static shocks are between 1-10KV but have a very low amperage. If you're just using this to turn on a few LEDs it's fine, but much more and you'll start having problems. Store-bought parts also have a cleaner appearance, and have known electrical characteristics.

[raith]

thanks for the tip on the reply button. As for cleaner appearance well that seems to violate everthing that steam punk stands for much as does plastic. If art laid down to saftey and efficincy folks wold lust after smart cars and not 200 mph death machines lol.

[mettaurlover]

Hahahaha, you think Smart Cars are safe XD. As far as cleaner appearance... It's easier and safer to paint plastic electronic parts than wood, and MUCH easier to get a nice, shiny metallic appearance on it.

[Paul Massey]

Nice idea. I think it looks really cool. This switch will be fine in low current applications. However, I do share mettaurlover's concerns. I hope a novice doesn't make one and retrofit it to a household lamp. That wouldn't end well.

Perhaps a warning in the description or a link to some informative material on electronics would be prudent.