Kerbal Instrument Panel: In-Desk Apollo Themed Hardware Controller

[richfiles]

The two halves are now linked together as one desk! Ten bolts secure the main beams of the crossframe together, tying everything together. This is a HUGE milestone, but not half as big as finally knocking out sanding those side panels that were stained way too dark! 

Believe me, that took a stupid amount of time! 

A third plank adds rigidity to the rear beam, and will further serve as a mounting point for frame work that will serve as the console mount and the left keyboard slide mount. As of yet, nothing is joining the front and rear support beams, besides the left and right desk segments.

Here, I am test fitting the keyboard tray. I am going to buy a small hand plane, cause the top of the keyboard surface has a small seam that would definitely interfere with a mouse. It also has a small warp that I need to plane down. It'll be a non-issue once I tackle it with a good plane. I could just sand it, but i may as well just get a plane for all the sandpaper and effort sanding would take...

I had marked an estimated alignment mark on the extension of the left desk segment, to mark where I felt the keyboard slide should go... It was dead on! My plans might not exist on paper anywhere, but the build progress in my head has definitely been validated by that accuracy. Remember that my build style effectively is in the form of a sequence of part additions... There is only one order the parts can assemble... And the reverse order is necessary for disassembly. The catch with this method, is that error can be additive... Seems all my steps ended up with less than 0.5mm of error. 

The key difference with the cross frame, is that it will be able to be easily unbolted from the two end segments. The keyboard drawer will first detatch, then the top shelf can be removed, and finally, the cross frame bolts can be removed, and it will all come apart. Very modular!

Yesterday ended up being a tedious labor/thinkin' day... I got the worst of the sanding dealt with, and then did a lot of thinking about the ways the cross frame will go together to interact with the other components, particularly the keyboard slide.

Edited July 3, 2023 by richfiles

[paranoid android]

You should sell these

 

 

 

[richfiles]

Spent a little time working on the desk during my day off on US's Independence Day. Got the keyboard tray mounted.

Made a simple pin and socket joint for the front of the slide to help support the weight on the end a little bit. If the cross-frame is unbolted, this should just release, without the need for extra bolts in the front. This is a major milestone for this build... It's effectively the last precision element. Everything else is just internal framing to support the console, and mounting the top shelf. Nothing left needs sub millimeter precision anymore, simply to fit together properly. I might be only one build session away from structural completion at this point! (translation, I will somehow take three more sessions... LOL). In seriousness though, I'm very confident that this is the endgame! The next real hurdle will be staining everything, and the new stain I selected seems to actually go on very nicely with the brush I got for it.

On 7/5/2023 at 2:31 AM, paranoid android said:

You should sell these

If I were to tear it all down, and measure all the parts, and draw up plans, then it'd probably be a pretty neat project, but that's a lotta work! In reality, it's been a pretty expensive build... Just the two main vertical beams for the top shelf were $90 for the pair. Granted, yes, I'm working in Red Oak, but still. If I were to sell something like this, the materials cost and the labor involved... Weeeeeeellllllll.... 

The hardware store I bought my stuff from had an 11% rebate going on during the time I was buying materials... I had around $130 in rebates... So do the math.

Spoiler

I probably spent close to $1200 on this desk, going off the rebates and the percentage! 

 

Edited April 7 by richfiles
numbers make jaw hit floor

[richfiles]

The desk is structurally complete!

All that remains is to install electrical elements and stain it!
This has been a long time coming, and I am SO thrilled to finally have the desk standing in front of me! 

It's been a busy weekend!
Here's what went down for the final construction session...

I created this grooved piece to allow the keyboard tray to slide seamlessly out of the desk, but also provide a structural support for the right side of the Kerbal Console itself. Done strictly with a table saw. Had to notch out a few bits so it would sit flush with the understructure of the desk.

In place, it allows the right side of the console to have a surface to sit on, without interfering with the keyboard tray. It also joins the three cross brace beams together.

The keyboard tray extends nicely. Okay, i did lie about one thing... I'll have to attach the extension to the keyboard tray to cover the gap in the control panel where the keyboard will sit when the tray is pushed into the desk... Other than that... pretty much done.

Next step was to make the top shelf... Yes, I ended up having enough oak left over to make the shelf. I used the table saw with the blade set at an angle to create the two reinforcement boards in the front... Cut the plank in half with an angle, then flipped one board and cut the opposing angle, then sanded it round. I like the resulting look!

Table saw doubled as a workbench here. Clamped things nice and tight and let the glue dry and screwed everything together.
Say hello to my dad's vintage Farmall 230. It's his favorite old tractor. It has had a few cameos in these photos, but this one really looks nice! 

I want the top shelf to be VERY structurally sound, so everything is glued and screwed together. I went ahead and put plugs into the pocket screw holes and buttons over the round screw holes and glued it all down.

I added additional bracing and test fitted the lighting I found. I really like how it's all coming together here! The light fixtures are LED, and have three selectable color temperatures. Should be dimmable too, so I want to add a dimmer to the setup as well.

Here's a test fit using clamps to hold the top shelf in place, and the console roughly inserted.

The two clamps really are all it takes to temporarily secure everything and measure out bolt placement. I still just can't get over how nice this turned out!

Honestly, is this not a spectacular build! 

Anyway, on to inserting the threaded inserts. I want this top shelf to be stable, strong, and easy to assemble!
The threaded inserts thread into the wood, and provide a metal thread that a standard bolt can then thread into.

One last check of the understructure... Just making sure everything that needs to be screwed in is indeed screwed in.
You can see here that the cross-frame is actually incredibly simple...  Just a few planks with boards screwing them together.
Honestly, all the real structure is in the right and left segments.

And here we have it... Structurally complete! The top shelf is bolted in, and everything is as it needs to be.
The keyboard tray rolls out, the top shelf is stable, and everything is structurally sound! 
As I said... I just need to stain it, and then transport it home, where I'll do the final electrical work on it.

Then I'll be back to the instrument panel itself! 

[Spaceman.Spiff]

10 hours ago, richfiles said:

Honestly, is this not a spectacular build! 

It sure is!
Looking forward to seeing it complete!

[richfiles]

Construction of the desk is completed!

I only need to transport it home and once there, I'll attach the electrical bits, like lighting, outlets, etc.

The last bit of actual construction was the extensions for the keyboard tray. This ensures there are no gaps when extended.

I started out by staining the top shelf, since the top is least visible, and I wanted to ensure the stain went on well and looked good.

I decided that under the desk, I would use the darker stain I had. Next to be stained was the cross-frame.

I made sure to use the lighter stain for the rear panel of the cross frame, so it would match the rest of the lighter desk surface.

Continuing the theme, I used the dark stain underneath the desk, and light stain for the exposed surfaces.
I also added additional vertical bracing for the two inner feet. 

Man, it's really starting to come together, and is so close to finished! I love the colors too!
I considered doing more dark accents, but I realized having just the two vertical beams be darker just seems to look nice to me.

The dark under-desk space and the paneling accents is all the contrast the lighter desk surface needed!

I still can't get over how nice those little wainscot panels ended up looking with the two stain tones...
As much work as sanding the dark stain off was... I'm now GLAD that I put that way too dark stain on first!
The two tone effect that resulted is perfection!

Tested the fit one last time... I gave all the top and front facing surfaces a light sand and applied a second coat...

I am still blown away by the finished result!

It's so spectacular!

I MADE SURE it stayed spectacular! I stayed up till 3:40 in the morning with an air nozzle, blowing away any bug that dared come close to the drying final coat! 

In the end, it was worth all the effort! I am super happy with the final result, and I am incredibly pleased that this idea that has sat in my head for literally years is now in my physical presence! 
Of course, I will follow up with the electrification and monitor equipping of the desk...

My next step in the Kerbal instrument panel progress is likely to be buying switches. I am currently communicating with Concord Aerospace about purchasing some switches. Originally, I had looked into ideas like 3D printing tab levers to epoxy onto retail toggle switches, and buying rubber grommets from Aliexpress to mimic the hermetic seal boot, and making switch guards from wire pipe hangers welded together... It absolutely would have worked, But Concord offers me a literal easy button. Given how long this project has taken me, I have zero reservations with just buying quality replica Apollo/NASA style switches. I'm probably gonna even let them make the panels, so long as they can offer backlighting options. Honestly, it'll be one less thing for me to have to do, and I'm willing to throw money at the problem to just get it done with.

So far, I've come up with the idea of two banks of 5 action group switches, and I think I want to group RCS and SAS with the Resource Meter mode [TOTAL/STAGE] and the [PRO/ALT/ANTI] switch that will be grouped with my target indicator selection dial (4 toggle switches and 1 rotary dial with 5 positions), and then have Lights, Brakes, and Gear be it's own group of 3 switches. I want a pair of safety covered toggles to arm the Stage and Abort buttons. I still need to make room for toggles that will control power supplies, etc... I'm gonna have a 5V DC bus (Arduino logic), a 12VDC bus (LED lighting controllers), a 24V AC bus (Atmospheric Density meter), Aux 24V AC bus (Hakko soldering iron socket), and a 120V AC bus (Navball). If I also include a Main power toggle on the panel, I could do that using 6 switches. Probably do a pair of 3 gang switch panels. I don't know if I need any other switches or not, but that's kinda where I'm sitting. I want to figure out how to fit the Fairchild Channel F controller into the panel for translation control, since it is practically identical to the Shuttle control and functionally equivalent to the Apollo controller. I have the joystick for attitude control, and I have the T-Bar Fader lever for throttle control... That puts me at 25 switches... I have a locking lever switch I want to use for the Aux 24VAC, and I have some colored red and green plastic tab lever switches from my local tractor dealership that I want to use for something... That means I will need to get 21 switches from Concord Aerospace, and have panels made for 25 switches total, with one mounting hole being undersized to accommodate the locking toggle.

I also wanna finish the Vertical Velocity meter, since it was SO CLOSE to done last time I worked on it...

After that... I suppose I need to repair the Radar altimeter...
Man, I am still bummed out about it getting damaged...
I also need to figure out how to print the scale onto the tape...
I kinda feel like it would be a massive cop out to just settle on 355-0 representing meters x10 or something...
3550 meters is only 1/3 of the Radar Altimeter's range!

...

Unless...............

I just had a stupid thought... 

What if I tried to create a flag system? I strip an analog meter of it's guts...
Instead of a pointer, a film... middle position is nothing. Positive position is  "00". Negative position is "0".
The tape could display as follows...

The first stage would have the tape meter show 500 meter increments from 10000m to 4000m, after which it would change the scale to indicate 3550m to 400m in 50m increments. Finally, the last 355 meters would be displayed in 5m increments.

100[00]
95[00]
90[00]
85[00]
--------
55[00]
50[00]
45[00]
40[00]

At this point, the tape meter quickly spools down from 40 to 355 at max speed (40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, 0, 355... a span of only 9 digits on the display), and the flag meter flips polarity to show [0] instead. The meter would now indicate 3550m to 400m in 50m increments.

355[0]
350[0]
345[0]
340[0]
--------
55[0]
50[0]
45[0]
40[0]

Finally, the tape meter quickly spools down to 355 at max speed, and the flag meter shuts off, showing nothing.
The tape meter can then count down the last 355 meters in 5 meter increments, all utilizing the existing printing...

355
350
345
340
-----
15
10
5
0

This method would require rigging up either a mechanical flag of some kind, probably made out of an analog meter, solenoids, or a servo, or it would require utilizing LEDs... I want the readout to be mechanical. I'll likely duplicate the radar altimeter value as a digital readout somewhere, possibly even above the tape meter itself. I know there may be moments where the mechanical limits of the tape meter are overwhelmed. I will have a "Rate Lag" LED that lights up the meter to indicate that changes are occurring faster than the motor can keep up.  This would indicate that the reading of the meter is unreliable. I have considered a simple front light to illuminate the tape meter, and If I do this, simply toggling the light from the blue-green I'm backlighting everything with, to a red glow would be a very simple means to indicate readout lag, without wasting precious panel space, though I may still have a "Rate Lag" annunciator on the DSKY too. I'll probably have a similar indicator for the Delta V meter as well.

Woah... if the flag either had 5 positions, or I implemented a second flag to cover the tape meter tape itself, I could have a "40" flag that pops out in front of the tape meter and covers the cursor mark, so the meter would still read [40][00] or [40][0] during the short tape transition where it quickly spools from 40 down to 355. Could easily do this with a pair of servos and some long axles to rotate the flags on.

I still have some work to do, as far as getting my workspaces properly set up again... most of all, I need good chairs. I still need to deal with this issue... Everything one step at a time...

Edited July 26, 2023 by richfiles
IT'S HAPPENING!!!

[richfiles]

Just a small heads up for any interested party... I see someone listed a Three-Axis Navball on a certain popular auction site. It is similar to the two that I have. I saw that one sold last week too, but I was rather busy and didn't get a chance to post it. 

I'm gonna be working on some floor mats made from plywood and laminate flooring today. Just a surface to be able to roll a chair on. I also am going to see if I can transport my desk home this week. Each piece is small enough I can get it home in my car, probably in a few trips, but I have family with a truck, and they offered to help, so long as schedules work out.

[richfiles]

Made the first floor panel. This is just to give me a nice surface for a chair to roll on. I looked at office mats, and came to one simple conclusion...
They all either suck, or are insanely expensive.

I decided that some plywood plus laminate flooring would make a great... checks notes... Floor.
Turns out floor makes a good floor.  Who knew. 

Got the laminate flooring for cheap, clearance pricing from a local hardware store. Not my first color choice, but a perfectly fine color. My wallet voted.

Here are the 8 trim pieces for the two floor panels I'll be making. I had to use the oil based stain on these, cause I ran out of the water based stains I used on much of the desk.
It's fine. I'll give these a few days to cure.

I have also made arrangements to transport the desk tomorrow after work. I'll have it home, and I will be able to install the lighting, outlets, etc. Very excited! 

[richfiles]

   It's home!  

I am so happy right now!

No pictures, but now that it's home, I plan to attach all the lighting and outlets and the monitor mounts and such stuff. I'll have to tear down the old desk, and get it all set up properly, preferably with a lot of velcro ties to organize the wiring a bit better... I hope... 

[cubinator]

11 hours ago, richfiles said:

   It's home!  

I am so happy right now!

No pictures, but now that it's home, I plan to attach all the lighting and outlets and the monitor mounts and such stuff. I'll have to tear down the old desk, and get it all set up properly, preferably with a lot of velcro ties to organize the wiring a bit better... I hope... 

That's really exciting! 

[richfiles]

I officially have both floor panels moved to my place, and have just started finish work on the desk. I know floor panels might not seem special, but I know my chair will move nicely on these as compared to carpet. It's just one more step knocked out. I also found where I packed away my spool of Romex (three conductor wire with proper color coded hot, neutral, and ground conductors meant for residential house wiring), and started disassembling the access panels on the front legs...

And now I'm getting sick. 

Started with a sore throat, and now I've got a runny nose and head congestion. Not looking forward to this one...

In better news, I see that there is yet another Navball listed on the great internet money sink... Honestly, I'm glad they don't seem to be complete unobtanium these days. Means if someone else wants one, they actually have a chance at getting one!

... OH! I see why... This guy has sold at least two of these Navballs in the past couple months. I just spotted this in the guy's feedback history. They must have multiples, and are just selling one at a time. No wonder they've been so available lately!

 

EDIT
Oof... I was really sick over the weekend and start of the week. So much for progress... Mostly slept the day away trying to recover.

Edited August 24, 2023 by richfiles

[richfiles]

I have submitted the first mockup for toggle switches to Concord Aerospace to see if I can get them manufactured.
The image below is a not-photoshopped rendition of two possible options:

As the text in the image says, If they can do backlit panels, I'll opt for option A. If they are unable to do backlighting of the panel text, then I will try to opt for option B. If they can do neither, I will ask if I can purchase the switches in bulk, like the original plan, and do it myself. They do not offer a 5-gang switch configuration, and their 4-gang switch is widely spaced, with each switch having it's own pair of guards. It seems all their switches use only single, double, or triple gang switch guards. I suspect they only make those three sizes. I suggested that if one guard is cut off, pairing a 2 + 3 gang guard could work. Alternately, cutting a pair of 3 gang guards through the center of one of the end holes would also provide a solution. I almost prefer to go with option B, as I have a really interesting idea for backlit nomenclature.

Meanwhile, I cut the first opening for the toggle switch to control the lights on my desk.

I dropped my Dremel in my lap while doing this! I was using the serrated wood cutting wheel, and it was set to medium speed.
It caught on my leg fortunately, preserving my dignity, skitted itself out of my lap and across my thigh under it's own power, and then landed on the floor.
Bleeding was fortunately quite minimal.

I used the Dremel to cut out a recess for the switch to mount from behind the wood panel. it'll be secured to the wood from behind.

The protective electrical box will also screw onto the back of the wood.

The result is a very clean look, no exposed screws.
I'm gonna make the recess a tiny bit deeper yet, cause I want the switch to be flush with the front.
This will also help to cover any exposed end grain of the wood.

Then I get to repeat the process for the outlets I install next.

Hopefully Concord Aerospace gets back to me quickly. I'd love to get the switches ordered soon!

[richfiles]

It looks really nice!

It's about as tight a fit as possible, without overlapping the tabs. I didn't want to do that, cause it might affect whether they both sit flush.

Pre-drilled all the holes by hand, to ensure I didn't punch through and ruin the aesthetic.

mounted both the switch and outlet, as well as the two cover boxes. I used some plastic as a strain relief to clamp the two wires coming out.It's a little unorthodox, but it works.

I love the finished result!
I could have done the openings a bit better, I'm sure, but I'll touch up the few nicks with some stain and call 'er good.

Honestly, I want to throw everything together, be done with the desk, and get to the Kerbalin'! 

[richfiles]

Okay... been busy with work, then winter happened, and it's tougher to go out and work on projects, but I'm trying to get back into my momentum, working inside...

That said, I was doing some brainstorming, and it hit me...
There's a SUPER simple way to do non light emissive flag indicators.
I remembered that Dave Jones of the EEVblog did a video series on custom LCDs a few years back.
 

There are other parts to that video series, but the gist is that Dave goes through the entire process of designing and ordering a custom LCD.
He discusses the one time and bulk costs involved. The cost per unit actually ends up being very low.
Tooling costs are generally the big cost... a couple hundred bucks typically. Per panel though is often $1-5, depending on size and complexity.

A simple grey LCD module, with a barber pole segment pattern could offer a modern and elegant option to replace this old electromechanical style flag indicator.
While it wouldn't be identical to the old Apollo and shuttle indicators, it would definitely offer a good, low cost compromise. I'll have to look into this.
It'd make a good "stuck at home" project for winter as well.

The one catch with the LCD solution is that I'd be dealing with white and black, or grey and black... These 3D printed "fake" flags are nice, but would be hard to reproduce as LCDs. 
the issue is the reflective layer is either gonna be white or grey or somewhere between. I'd be quite happy to settle for grey with black barber stripes.

There might be off the shelf options too... they wouldn't match the Apollo style, but other people might opt for them...

These 5-segment and 14-segment e-ink modules are available from Digikey. Setting these horizontally above or below a switch would make a nice, unobtrusive indicator.
These e-ink displays are very visible with their white background, and won't overwhelm your senses with that Christmas light effect that masses of LEDs can do.
Darkening alternate segments might look very good on the 14 segment part. Might only light up a portion of the segments too, that one's a bit longer than the other. 
The 5-segment module is pretty affordable too, $26 at this time for 10x pieces. The 14-segment module is much costlier, at $96 for 10x.
The biggest catch with these, is the smaller e-ink display has an active area of only 3.00 x 10.30 mm and the larger has an active area of only 3.00 x 21.50 mm.
They're kinda small...

Honestly, I could totally see getting a custom grey and black "barber pole" style LCD custom made. Most of all, the size could be perfected.
It would effectively be just one pixel (though it could be made with all segments as individual inputs, so it can be repurposed as a diagonal bar indicator).
If wired as a "single pixel" then in theory, a whole array of these LCDs could be wired to a common LCD controller as if each whole LCD module were a single segment.

If I order custom flags, I'll probably order them in bulk, and possibly have more than I need by myself. Much of the cost is the upfront tooling.
The more ordered, the cheaper each piece is.  Another option might be to pay extra for an onboard controller chip.
Would be nice too be able to feed power and ground, and have either a direct digital I/O input, or an I2C or SPI serial input for addressable control.

As for desk updates... When I designed it, I did a BIG DUMB by not pre-constructing ANY mounting points or pass throughs for things like wiring, monitor arms, etc. I decided to undertake the chore of reverse-disassembling it, so I can correct those missed elements. I also wanna seal the interior areas too, so the wood is more resilient to humidity fluctuations. It's not hard... just a chore, and one I can't do in the big open area of my dad's barn, given the bitter cold temps right now... One of the things I want to do is route out (I finally bought a small router) the openings for the CRT displays I want to mount, as well as modify the desk so the panel they mount to will be easily attached/detached, and the assembly be able to slot in and out. Might do the same with the other side too. Constructing that panel like a drawer would make for an ideal place for small accessories, etc. to be hidden away. It's a minor, but I think very worthwhile upgrade to the desk.

Edited January 22 by richfiles

[AstroWolfie]

Wow, this is amazing. You should add a "snacks" button that dispenses some snacks into a bowl or something.

[richfiles]

Good news! I appear to have found a second source for NASA styled switches, and I am in active communication with them. The price is good, and I can get switches with the correct tab lever as well as my choice of Apollo or Shuttle style wickets (guards). The real choice now... Is Apollo or Shuttle style. Now that I'm finally at the point I can purchase, I need to commit to one style or the other. Tough choices!

Hmm... I do like both styles, and every single person I've asked in person seems to prefer the Apollo style... I was considering doing 20 action groups using a mod. If I do that, maybe I can just put 10 shuttle style switches on an overhead panel with my Atmosphere Density meter and huge VFD. Much like the old ORDEAL box, it can be a "last second" addition to my console, and thus could justifiably "work" with a different style switch guard. That would let me enjoy the best of both worlds. I might consider that. I'd need:

22 Switches with Apollo Guards

10 Switches with Shuttle Guards

I could order an additional 4 Apollo Guards by themselves, but I don't think I'll even need to do that at all if I am simply using every other guard to flank odd numbers of switches. 5 switches only need 3 guards. 3 switches only need 2 guards.

Edited March 21 by richfiles

[richfiles]

Oh wow! They shipped already! Like, not even tracking number waiting on a shipping label... They LEGIT shipped! I thought it sounded to me like the guy said he would need a little time cause he had to make them... That was THURSDAY! Either he had a few on hand and only had to make a portion of them, or he worked through the weekend to get these out! Very impressive! One thing that differs with these is that there are no double switch guards. I may need to pop some of these on my mill and basically machine out the corners and guards on one side, so that they can interlock. I want tight switch spacing...

|O|O|O|O|O| <--This

|O||O||O||O||O| <--Not this

As you can see in the pics, the guards stick out a bit past the edge of the switch guard base. If I mill the diameter of the guard loop, then I can make strings of these that interlock with each other, and I think it'll look good.

For my auxiliary Action Group panel (separate from the main panel), I'll have to mess with the shuttle style guards and just see how they look. Might do the wider spacing on those.

All the action group and control toggles will be tied to digital inputs and rather than send a fixed state based on the toggle position, they will change the state for every toggle action. Basically, Turning the toggle on would act like pressing the associated key on a keyboard. Toggling it back to off would be the same as pressing the keyboard equivalent button again. I will have a button on my DSKY, probably called "State Inhibit", which will allow toggling of the switches without sending a command to KSP. This solves the problem of toggle positions not matching between different vessels. Last thing I want is to change vessels, and have all my solar panels retract cause a toggle was off on the previous vessel. Instead, the toggle remains in it's position, and the vessel state remains in it's state.  I can still read the state of every command, so I can also do something like have a red LED that lights up of the toggle position is opposite the read state position. If I inhibit the toggle action, and flip the switch, the red light should go out, and the switch should now match my vessel configuration. If I switch to a vessel and need to react fast, I can still toggle the switches in the opposite orientations, and it'll still register. I don't *have* to correct the switch positions to match the vessel state. I just can if I want to. Makes for a much simpler to implement system. Allows me to correct vessel change state mismatch at my leisure, but still instantly react in an emergency vessel change.

I'm actually really excited to have these switches on the way finally! It's been a long time, and I think things are gonna start feeling more real once things begin to come together! One thing I do know, is that making the control panel is gonna be an insane part of the project! I have several of the panels I plan to use, but i really also need to get it just right. I can only screw up so many times before I run out of panels to cut. Probably gonna be a lot of hand nibbling and filing. If I use power tools, I'll surely cut from the bottom, and be extra  careful! Backlighting alone is going to be an endeavor of madness, especially if I want every switch to have different lighting zones! 

[richfiles]

They arrived! 

The toggle action feels SO GOOD! The tab levers are definitely metal! These things are top quality! If you want some for yourself, I got them from southbridge_massachusetts on ebay (can also reach out to Perihelion Design to buy direct). Today is Thursday... I started COMMUNICATING with him LAST THURSDAY! The turnaround was PHENOMENAL! HIGHLY recommended!

this is how they came shipped. It seems to save space in the box.

I can't wait to put these to use! 

Edited April 6 by richfiles
I must share this joy with everyone!

[richfiles]

Minor update.
The switch guards were cheap enough when ordered with the switches at the quantity discount, that I just opted for all switches to come with guards.
Originally, I was gonna make my own guards... Then I was gonna order guards and only fill in every other odd switch...
Like so:

[_O_]  O  [_O_]  O  [_O_]

Since every switch has guards, I figured I could use the guards saved by only filling in every other guard to provide the needed guards for my other switches.
The thing is, I also have realized, The guards have cast bases, and so a switch with a guard and without will look visually different. I don't like that.
Would it work? Yes... But these guards look so great, I WANT to fill in every space now.

What I will do, is I will follow the manufacturer's milling guidelines to remove the guard from one side of some of the guards.
This will permit them to butt up together, and form a continuous line of guards. The first guard is intact, and additional guards in a grouping are modified.

[_O_] _O_] _O_] _O_] _O_]

This ensures they all look the same, including the cast bases.

This also means I won't have any leftover guards for the Case New Holland International toggle switches I got from my local Case IH farm implement dealer.

As such, I have ordered a few additional guards for those CNHI toggles, since I had always planned to use them on the panel.
It was worth it to spend a little more so every toggle has a guard, vs every other odd one.