One of the main difficulties of this project was the two joints that connect the three blocks of wood together and rotate to allow el lechero to unfold accordian style. I decided ahead of time to try to contain all the wiring and electronics inside the instrument. To allow wiring to pass through the joint, it had to be hollow, but also strong enough to withstand the wear and tear of playing it. Additionally, it had to be constructed so that it could be taken apart and put back together again. Additionally, the join should conceal inside a rotatable potentiometer that delivers a reliable signal to the pic microcontroler.

After volleying through multiple ideas such as lazy susan swivels to garden hose joints, the solution was to purchase and use two flange-mounted ball bearings from McMaster-Carr. With help from Antonio Medrano, a hole was drilled through both the outer tube of the flange bearing and the extended knob of the potentiometer. A metal rod of the same diameter as the hole is place through both and is locked into place as it is clamped by the two outer pieces of wood. The potentiometer is held steady in the center block of wood and rotated through movement of the bearing.