Moka Pot Guitar Effect

This Instructable is about how to use an old moka pot to box your DIY guitar effect. It's not made during the process, but it reveals all the necessary steps. This solves the problem of boxing your effects, and using those pots that have served it's purpose. Boxing may have not been a problem for those that can order premade alu boxes for effects, in different sizes, colors,... but it has been a problem for me (I was also thinking of getting some rectangular alu pipe, cutting it to the usual size of effect, and placing electronics from the side with some kind of closing, but it was complicated to get some). Also, it might be interesting to make this in kind of a custom shape, rather than using those prefab boxes.

First thing you'll need is a moka pot. These pots are made of cast aluminium so material-wise they are just like boxes that are made for guitar effects. After some time inside of a bottom part of the pot oxidate and it gets these whiteish spots. It has been said (somewhere on the web) that this is not really health threatening issue; aluminium is neutral to the body and it gets out without bounding (something like that), but this can affect your coffee. It can begin to taste different. Or maybe just the fact that something is falling apart inside and it's getting to your body make you give up using it. So it sits around.

To make a casing for effect you'll need to cut it to slices using electrical grinder.

WARNING! USING A GRINDER IS DANGEROUS! Aluminium is shredding in bits so one of those can get in your eye! USE SAFETY GLASSES, SQUINTING DOES NOT HELP! And it can be very loud, so use some sort of ear plugs.

You can get about 3 usable slices: one from the bottom (which has it's own bottom), second from the other half of bottom part, which has a small valve, and third from the upper part. It depends of how much space do you need.

Get your effect. Make it that is. I would recommend this blog: tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/

There are lots and lots of effects that are not too difficult to make, and to get all the parts for. So you choose what you like and make it by the drawing that those guys provide. You'll end up with something like this. And when you wire it all up, with battery, jacks, pots and switches you'll need something to put it in.

Now you'll need a electric drill to make all the holes in that slice of pot for jacks, pots, etc...

If you are using the bottom of the pot, you don't need to make a bottom (for bottom on the other half I super-glued a piece of plexy cut to the shape with small handsaw because that's all I had around; you can use any kind of plate, aluminium also, if you have some).

For the upper cover of the effect I used another piece of plexy, with a hole for foot switch, and for led, if there is one. I glued three small pieces of plexy to the inner side of cover to keep it in place.

Some effects need to be insulated from the metal casing because box itself can affect your wiring, so you can cover the touching spots with paint, or duct tape.

So, there it is. It looks good, kind of weird/steam-punk/sci-fi, better than on photos, because there is an angle that is seen on the photo of a pot, so the basis is wider than the cover. You can paint it if you wish; I painted one with acrylic spray paint in black.

Hope that you liked the idea, and that you'll enjoy making it.

PS Consider etching aluminium with copper sulfate solution, for insignia, drawings, etc...