Sustain pedal dimensions

[shampoomohawk]

I am hoping to get some measurements on a sustain pedal.  I'll describe my situation so that I don't sound like a complete crazy man.

Basically, I need something along the lines of what Vintage Vibe used to sell on their site that replaces the original pedal with a pretty simple bare-bones version.  It is basically a tailor-made lever.  Seeing as I am a starving artist/lifetime student I really can't justify spending the money on a real one when all I am looking to do at the moment is getting my Rhodes to play.  So, if anyone feels inclined to whip out their tape measure and give me some dimensions, I would be very thankful.

If you wouldn't mind, here are the measurements I'm interested in:

Overall size of the pedal
Length/width of the lever arm
Point of pivot on the lever arm

I don't need Large Hadron Collider sort of accuracy, here.  Just a rough idea will get me in the right direction.

Thanks!

-e

[sean]

Here are the measurements of my black-painted Rhodes sustain pedal.  My older bare-potmetal pedal is not identical, but within an eighth of an inch in every dimension.  

When I say "front" I mean the end where your toe touches the pedal, the back is the end where the push rod connects to the pedal.


The BASE (or body or housing) of the pedal assembly (as seen from the underside) is:  

Length of base:  12.187" long.
Width of base:  3.562" wide at widest point in the middle.
The sides are curved, so the front of the base is just under 3" wide, and the back is just under 2.5 inches, but the middle is fatter at 3.562".

The base sits on rubber feet that add 0.437" to the overall height of the base.
Height of base at back end:  2.375", plus .437 for feet, 2.812" from top to floor.
Height of base at front end:  2.125", plus .437 for feet, 2.562" from top to floor.

The rubber feet are 1.125" in diameter, and .437" tall.  Neoprene Rubber.
The feet are bolted to the base, 0.5" from the front edge, and 0.5" from the back edge.  The front feet are spread 2" apart, the back feet are closer to each other, the back feet are 1.625" apart.  (Locations are the center of the feet mounting bolt.)

To allow the pedal lever to stick out the front of the base, there is a slot cut in the face of the pedal base.  This slot is 1" wide, and it is cut 1.187" up the face of the pedal front.  (This slot might be lined with a piece of felt to keep the pedal from making a loud click every time you lift your foot.  If the felt is missing or damaged, you can simply wrap a piece of velcro around the pedal lever to get the same silent operation of the pedal.)

There is a round hole on the top of the base near the back to allow the pedal rod to poke through.  The hole is 1.125" in diameter, and the center of the hole is 1.75" from the back end of the pedal.
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The LEVER of the pedal assembly is:
Overall Length of lever:  15.125"
Length of fancy-shaped part that your foot touches:  4"
Length from front tip of pedal to fulcrum pin:  9"
Length from fulcrum pin to back end of lever: 6.125"
Length from fulcrum pin to drift-pin that hold pedal rod:  5.5"

The lever is mostly 0.625" wide by 0.625" tall, but the front part that your foot touches is 1.25" wide.  (The front end has a nice piano-pedal graceful shape.)
The back end has a widened 1" round end where the pin and pushrod go.
(The lever shaft in my older nude-metal-finish pedal is a much larger casting.  The shaft is 0.75" wide, but the other dimensions are about the same.)

The pin that sticks up at the back of the lever is a 0.125" drift pin that is 1.250" long.  It only needs to protrude out of the top part of the lever a tiny bit, but they used a long pin for ease of assembly.
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LOCATION OF FULCRUM PIN (or pivot pin) in the base assembly:
The fulcrum pin is 4.875" from the front edge of the base.
The fulcrum pin is 1.062" from the floor.  (That is 0.625" from the bottom of the base, plus the .437" feet.)
The full travel of the front tip of the lever under your foot is:  1"
(The front tip of the lever is 1" off the floor when your foot is off.)
The full travel of the back end of the lever is 0.75".
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The PUSH ROD is made in two sections:

The top section is a solid steel rod:
Diameter of top section of pushrod:  0.25"
Length of top section of pushrod:  15.875"

The bottom section is a steel tube with a clutch/clamp assembly:
Outer diameter of bottom section of pushrod:  0.375"
Length of bottom section of pushrod:  18"  (including clutch)

The clutch is a truncated cylinder of metal that supports a radial bolt ("radial" meaning coming in from side toward the center).  The clutch was machined from a 1" diameter bar, and is 0.75" tall.  The bottom half of this cylinder is machined off at a 45-degree taper (as if it were sharpened in a huge pencil sharpener).
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Obviously, I have ignored the fact that the pedal housing is tapered and rounded on all sides, and the top has that decorative half-inch quarter-round concave cornice around the top edge.

This should be enough info for you to make your own pedal and rod (if you are crafty enough).  If I have made any obvious mismeasurements or typos, please SCREAM at me, and I will correct or clarify my work.

Best regards,

Sean Kilby
28 JAN 2008

P.S. - I have used inches and decimals (instead of inches and fractions), but three decimals should not be construed to be high-precision accuracy.  All measurements were taken with a tape measure, and scribbled down to the nearest 1/16 of an inch.  Conversions to centimeters are your own responsibility (sorry).   In the states, it is common to abbreviate the word "inches" with a pair of tiny tic marks that are typed as a quotation mark on the computer.  So 3.5" means three and a half inches.

[shampoomohawk]

Wow!  Thanks a lot!  I'll let you know how it comes out.

I owe you one!

-e