From the Loftsmith Workshop

GC9A01 round display desk knob with geared EC11 ring

A little desk dial with a round screen in the middle and a ridged orange ring you turn with your thumb. The ring drives an encoder through gears, and the base tips the face toward you so the number is easy to read. Change the display board diameter and the ring size to fit your parts.

5 parts · 63 g · 82 × 82 × 57 mm

by Loftsmith Workshop

Round desk knob with an orange ridged ring around a small round display, tilted on a dark base
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No adjustable sizes

Ask for the sizes you want to tweak, e.g. “make the width adjustable”.

Change it in the Studio

Parts

  • case · PLA · Upright on its flat foot, open top up

    About 26 g, 42 min at 2 walls / 15%. Slanted puck with a rolled rim, board rails, front stop, USB-C opening at the back and three 10.5 mm foot pockets. PLA: stiff and dimensionally steady for the screw columns.

  • lid · PLA · Plate face down (boss up)

    About 17 g, 28 min. Carries the EC11 in its pocket, the wire opening behind the display and the boss the bezel screws onto.

  • bezel · PLA · Front face down, printed together with the ring as one object

    About 4 g, 10 min. Holds the display behind a 33.2 mm window; its outer V-ridge is the ring's race. Same print group as the ring.

  • ring · PLA · Front face down, printed in place around the bezel

    About 14 g, 24 min. Fluted grip, index mark, 45-degree race groove, 59 internal teeth at the defaults. Print in the accent colour if you have an AMS, otherwise in one colour with the bezel.

  • pinion · PLA · Flat face down

    About 2 g, 7 min. 20 teeth at the defaults, module 1, D-bore 6.15 mm at the default allowance; press it onto the EC11 shaft.

Print settings

Layer height
0.2 mm
Walls
2
Infill
15%
Supports
None
Notes
At 2 walls and 15% infill the five parts are about 65 g and 1 h 54 min in total (build report estimate). 3 walls / 15% is about 86 g and 2 h 31 min if you want stiffer screw columns. Print the bezel and ring as the single exported object, front face down, with no brim inside the race; free the ring

Hardware

  • GC9A01 1.28 in round display module · Active area 32.4 mm. Measure your board diameter and set the Display board diameter slider (37-40 mm). Display stack assumed 4.5 mm thick.
  • EC11 rotary encoder, 6 mm D-shaft, 15 mm shaft length, with its M7 nut · A 20 mm shaft must be trimmed to 15 mm from the mounting face. Clicks per ring turn = detents x ring teeth / pinion teeth (59 with a 20-detent encoder at the defaults).
  • ESP32 board · Up to the board length and width sliders (24-56 x 18-30 mm), up to 10 mm tall including components, USB-C at one short end.
  • 3 × M2 x 8 mm screw (pan or socket head) · From under the lid through the boss into the bezel (self-tapping into 1.7 mm holes).
  • 3 × M2.5 x 10 mm countersunk screw · Through the lid into the case columns (self-tapping into 2.2 mm holes).
  • 3 × Rubber bumper feet, 10 mm · In the pockets under the case so it does not slide when you turn the ring.
  • USB-C cable · Plugs in through the back opening (13 x 7.5 mm).
  • Double-sided foam tape · Holds the ESP32 board down between its guide rails.

Assembly

  1. Free the ring: twist it on the bezel until it turns smoothly.
  2. Push the EC11 bushing up through the lid from underneath, with the shaft pointing into the pinion pocket, and tighten its M7 nut inside the pocket.
  3. Press the pinion onto the D-shaft with its flat matching the shaft flat, so its top sits just below the top of the boss.
  4. Drop the display face-first into the bezel pocket and feed its header wires back through the opening in the lid.
  5. Lower the bezel and ring onto the lid boss so the ring's internal teeth slide down over the pinion, then drive three M2 x 8 screws from under the lid into the bezel.
  6. Wire the display and encoder to the ESP32. Lay the board on its rails with the USB-C end against the back wall, held with a strip of foam tape.
  7. Set the lid into the case rim and fix it with three M2.5 x 10 countersunk screws from the top. Stick the rubber feet in their pockets.

Good to know

  • Checked in the Loftsmith engine only; nothing has been printed. Printed gears have about 0.2 mm of backlash, so the encoder's clicks may feel softer through the ring than on the bare shaft.
  • Ring size and gear ratio: the ring diameter (66-82 mm) sets the ring tooth count (57 teeth at 66 mm, 59 at 68 mm, 73 at 82 mm), and the ratio slider (2.5:1 to 3.5:1) sets only the pinion, rounded to whole teeth (pinion = ring teeth / ratio), so the actual ratio is close to, not exactly, the slider v
  • The display stack thickness (4.5 mm) and board diameter are estimates; measure your module and set the Display board diameter slider before printing.
  • Needs an EC11 with a 15 mm shaft (or a 20 mm shaft trimmed to 15 mm from the mounting face) and a 6 mm D-shaft with the flat at 4.5 mm; clone encoders vary, so measure yours and adjust the bore allowance slider.
  • At about 65 g it is light; use the rubber feet or hold the base so it does not slide when you turn the ring.
  • The encoder's push switch is not used in this version; there is no wall-mount version yet.
  • PLA softens around 55 °C; do not leave it in a hot car or next to a heater.
I printed this Remix

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