i'm halfway thru building my own panels.
i had an aluminium shop cut the panels to size. the shop normally
makes accessories for 4 wheel drive vehicles.
they were cheap and did a good job, but there were plenty of
scratches to deal with = hours on the polisher.
i used a drill stand for the holes.
nothing difficult, just tedious when you are doing 18 A4 size panels.
for the labelling, i 1st tried lasertran, which is a clear transfer,
as mentioned by fernando.
it cost $18 for 5 sheets and a print shop charged $6 to print each
one (my designs are quite colourful)
when the lasertran is dry, it alligned perfectly with the holes on my
panels. but you soak it to apply and when wet, it stretches - by
about 5-10%. not good.
you must use a squeegee to get the air out.
after baking they looked ok, but scratched easily. i tried using an
acrylic sealant (as recommended) but it all reacted.
then i tried to attach some pots and the lasertran cracked and broke
away in large pieces.
at this point i just scraped all the panels clean
poorer and wiser.
maybe it was me, maybe lasertran is no good on polished aluminium?
next i tried photo quality clear printing labels, $8 for 10 A4 sheets.
printed it out at my office using an inkjet.
the colours were much brighter than the lasertran.
stuck the labels on the panels, you must use a squeegee to squeeze
out the air. the transfers were strong enough that i could peel them
off and re-apply when i thought they weren't correct.
then i covered the whole lot in clear 'contact', thick clear film.
panels look great, i'm happy.
one thing- if you want anodised panels, it may be safer to buy plain
aluminium, drill your holes, polish out the scratches, then get it
anodised.
this way you avoid scratching the nice anodising - and it scratches
easily.
hope this helps
andrew
i had an aluminium shop cut the panels to size. the shop normally
makes accessories for 4 wheel drive vehicles.
they were cheap and did a good job, but there were plenty of
scratches to deal with = hours on the polisher.
i used a drill stand for the holes.
nothing difficult, just tedious when you are doing 18 A4 size panels.
for the labelling, i 1st tried lasertran, which is a clear transfer,
as mentioned by fernando.
it cost $18 for 5 sheets and a print shop charged $6 to print each
one (my designs are quite colourful)
when the lasertran is dry, it alligned perfectly with the holes on my
panels. but you soak it to apply and when wet, it stretches - by
about 5-10%. not good.
you must use a squeegee to get the air out.
after baking they looked ok, but scratched easily. i tried using an
acrylic sealant (as recommended) but it all reacted.
then i tried to attach some pots and the lasertran cracked and broke
away in large pieces.
at this point i just scraped all the panels clean
poorer and wiser.
maybe it was me, maybe lasertran is no good on polished aluminium?
next i tried photo quality clear printing labels, $8 for 10 A4 sheets.
printed it out at my office using an inkjet.
the colours were much brighter than the lasertran.
stuck the labels on the panels, you must use a squeegee to squeeze
out the air. the transfers were strong enough that i could peel them
off and re-apply when i thought they weren't correct.
then i covered the whole lot in clear 'contact', thick clear film.
panels look great, i'm happy.
one thing- if you want anodised panels, it may be safer to buy plain
aluminium, drill your holes, polish out the scratches, then get it
anodised.
this way you avoid scratching the nice anodising - and it scratches
easily.
hope this helps
andrew
--- In cgs_synth@yahoogroups.com, "Fernando" <fdi@r...> wrote:
> You should be able to find aluminium sheets or cutted to size.
> Look in to normal-life shops in the city. Beguin with shops that
make
> aluminium windows, etc. If they can't do it as you want they can
tell
> you where to do it.
> There are simple methods to label your panels. Ray Wilson explain
how
> he did his panel for the SoundLab mini synth. It's very well and
> briefly explained on his site.
> There is also some material you can print on a laser printer and
> stick it to the panel. It can be transparent, white or silver AFAIR.
> And then the -may be- super method. A decal system. You print on
your
> ink jet or laser (don't remember if both ways) and then you peel
the
> decal in water. You stick it on to the panel and put it on the
oven.
> It becomes a durable hard-shell_ish finish. You can spray some more
> protection on to it so the sons of your sons will still enjoy your
> music machine.
> I'll try to find the links to all this later. I need a sleep now!
>
> Have fun,
>
> Fernando
>
>
> f
> *