That darn steamer pedal

Its always moving. Getting kicked back and forth. Never where it was
just asecond ago. Stepping on it on accident because its not where
it should be. Stupid pedal, Stop messing with me. That being said.
My pedal travels alot. I work with a dude in a wheelchair and he
needs the pedal in one spot. He uses one of his wheels to depress
the pedal. I’ve tried velcro strips, sticky pads. With the dust and
stuff, mopping, the adhesives lose adhesion. I’m about to glue it
down: silicon adhesive caulk, epoxy are my thoughts. What have you
tried, what has worked best for you’ thanks y’al

I have been thinking about mounting mine on the leg of my bench.

A stolen idea from an industrial sewing getup that I saw once.

Cheers,
Christopher Lund
Neurascenic - Industrial Design

Gosh… I should Clarify… mounted to my bench so I can depress it
with my knee.

Hi Pete, I 'm in a wheelchair, my husband replaced my Foredom’s foot
control with a dimmer switch mounted on the side of my bench. We
still have the foot control but for me, the dimmer works better.
Sheri

Hi there Pete,

Here’s a few thoughts…

Maybe you could drill an anchor into the floor and then fasten a
"pipe clamp" over the cord right where is meets the pedal. It would
hold it in place but you could still unscrew it of you needed to
clean or repair. The downside is that it would put a lot of stress on
the cord at that point, so you’d have to keep an eye on it.

Another option would be to skip the pedal and use something like the
electric wall switches that they have for people to push to open
doors in public buildings, the ones that have some sort of
handicapped symbol on them. You could wire the steamer up to that and
then position it so he can easily apply pressure to it when he wants
to steam. Maybe with his elbow or knee? I imagine you could still
keep the floor pedal wired up for anyone who prefers that.

A third option is that I see mine has holes in the bottom. You could
screw the pedal to a plate of some sort and then fasten the plate to
the anchor bolt in the floor. That would make it easy to remove if
needed.

The last option I have is to train that huge dog of yours to push
the floor pedal on command!

Hope you guys are doin’ good!
Mark

Hi Pete,

Not my steamer, but I’ve got my flex shaft pedals screwed to a scrap
of plywood that lives under the bench. Too big to move around much,
and once I do find one of them, I know where the others are.

FWIW,
Brian

Goop works great… My white metal casting machine used to walk
around theshop. it never budges or wobbles any more…

Pete, I don’t know the size or shape of the pedal but many foot
pedalsare of a similar size. People who sew have the same problem,
always chasing the pedal. Most sewing stores (in the US check
JoAnne’s Fabrics or something on-line) because they have a big pad
made of rubber or flexible plastic, often 16" x 18" with raised
grooves to slip the pedal into. Easier to glue down but also travels
around less on the floor due to size. Donna in VA

MR Mark: I’ve been suggested to bolt the thing down. That was my
first thought. But I like the handicap door switch idea. We have also
added a hand switch, kinda like a trigger, to our laser. Now we can
use the foot pedal or the hand switch that is in the chamber.

On a personal note, Mark. Louie is going to be 10 on the 15th, he’s
an old dog now. Still kicking around though. Jessica is pregnant,
we’ll findout the sex next month, due in August. So yeah we’re doing
great. Sorry I didn’t send an email sooner.

Pete

Hey Pete, Congratulations on the new baby! That’s fantastic. I can’t
believe Louie is 10, I wish dogs would stay young forever. I really
do.

What I liked about the handicapped door switch idea was that it
seems to stay energized for a long time before it shuts off, so he
could just hit it once and the steamer would blast for several
seconds. I don’t know exactly how they work or if you can set the
time on them. It would be a problem if it was releasing too much
steam for too long. Something to ponder as you gaze out at the
mountains.

Take care,
Mark

I missed the start of this thread, but wanted to add that the sewing
machine I bought 40 years ago (and still use) has a pedal that can be
used on the floor with a foot OR can be clamped to the underside of
the machine cabinet.

A knee alone wouldn’t provide the right pressure to the "foot"
pedal, but a built in lever can be pushed to the side with a knee and
depresses the clamped pedal at just the right spot for extreme
accuracy and control. I wouldn’t want to control a sewing machine any
other way - speed control is amazingly accurate with your knee and
you never get as tired as when using your foot.

Mary Partlan
White Branch Designs