francis

Actually, the Farsnworth item is a set of plastic housings with a reed switch in one and a magnet in another. They're easy to find if I want to take one apart to get the reed switch, and live in the middle of nowhere, but there's no way this assembly is going to substitute for a slide switch without looking like a monster. I found the perfect illustration... www.proopseducational.com/acatalog/switches.html the second item from the top is the switch housing I want, and the top item is the reed switches I want to replace the sliding contacts with. One application is in old electric guitars, where there really isn't the option to rout out more wood to fit a bigger switch.

It's possible to fabricate one myself in the same space as the old one. I just don't have the right combination of ambition, patience, and expensive tooling. I have seen very-small SPDT reed switches that would fit if you took a standard slide switch apart, machined the insides out of the plastic slider, replaced them with the appropriate magnets and shields, and replaced the little board holding the contacts with a new PCB with two reed relays on it. The PCB would be about 13mm by 22mm. The plastic box that would hold the magnet(s) is 13 x 22 x 7.5 I COULD do it, I suppose - I did repair a microphone on/off switch like this once, but it was SPST and therefore much easier - just involved gluing a magnet in the slide where spring had been, and gluing a reed relay on the bottom of the switch where it switched properly - sloppy, but hidden inside a microphone, it worked fine. That's where I got the idea for this switch. I was just hoping a factory had made them already. I wouldn't even mind if someone stole this idea and started manufacturing them. I just want to buy a few cheap...

If you really want to make your own, here's some good general info (maybe a little too much, actually...) http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/xformer_des/xformer.htm

I am looking for a part (a switch) that I think ought to exist, but may not. I've looked at literally hundreds of websites, and a dozen paper catalogs, and I've found a couple of products (microphones) that use something like it, but no switch for sale. The switch I want looks like a standard slide switch - the little black rectangular blob sticking up that slides back and forth, solder terminals on the bottom, and a metal tab at each end to fasten it down. The difference is that I want the slide to operate, via a magnet or magnetic shield, reed switches. A drop-in replacement for a DPDT slide switch would be a very useful little item for restoring various things. I'd like to use them in both test equipment and electric guitars. Has anyone ever seen such a thing for sale? I saw at least one shop that hinted they could make them custom in small quantities. Anyone have an idea how much money I should be ready to spend before writing them?