My first attempt would be to engrave out the black to leave the natural metal colour for the text.
This way it wouldn't need to be a deep cut and shouldn't affect rigidity too much?
He's also bought a dye sublimation system that I can try. It gives an amazing, tight finish and is very cheap and quick. Perfect for adding little mods later...
I'm not sure of the limitations yet - maybe the dotcom panels are too 'bumpy' for this process and it won't print onto black? Maybe black on custom white panels for the whole system.
(I've probably come to the same conclusion as you - do the whole system one way or don't bother...)
Along with building a few kits I'd also like a good way of dotcoming a few doepfer things - mostly utility stuff.
I've built a little 15v - 12v converter that works and could be cheap enough to have one per doepfer unit (I don't like the idea of having a 12v bus somewhere - too limiting for module placement). You just plug in the std dotcom harness one end, and the std doepfer connector the other.
But then add the hardware costs, the new pot and socket wiring - and suddenly you have a very expensive doepfer quality module!
Then I look to Ken Stone et al with their crazy little kits/pcbs that do interesting stuff - maybe that's the way to go??
Or just spend more time actually making music with my system!
I already miss the Oakley concept - prepopulated boards are perfect for someone like me...
Steven
On 25 Sep 2005, at 23:30, ~Morbius~ wrote:
What material were you thinking of engraving on? And- what type of engraver did your friend buy? I've done engraving (including laser-engraving) for many years, on all sorts of materials... and rigidity is going to be a factor... esp. it being used to patch in & out of. Usually, engraving onto material that is an unknown... like a painted aluminum blank, it is wise to try it out on a 'sacrifice' piece to determine if it's gonna work, and if so, how well.At one time, I thought of reverse-engraving on some thick plexi... flaming the edges, and painting the backside of the plex one color (black or white) (or even leaving it clear) and painting the engrave graphics & lettering another color. I also had thought about using a 3-D laser-engraver, so you could have raised letters and graphics. I decided against that because basically, unless you do the entire system that way, it'll look very odd.... and no matter what, to do an entire system is going to be a whole lotta work. I just don't think that no matter what engraving method used, that one engraved module is going to match all of the other modules that have been silkscreened... well, I'll be surprised if it does.~Morbius~----- Original Message -----Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2005 4:38 PMSubject: [dotcomformat] Re: More Miniwave ChatHi all
Continuing this from a while back...
My friend has bought an engraving machine so I've decided to build the
motm miniwave kit myself and make a dotcom engraved panel (maybe even
black lettering on white...)
My questions:
1. Is the miniwave a good first kit to build ie not too dificult?
2. Does it come as a complete kit similar to the motm's that I've seen
- as well labeled etc?
3. If I make a complete mess, or stop half way through (something I
seem to do in life) can I just send it off to you Scott for the $100
special?
4. Does anyone else want a dotcom engraved panel? Once we make the
graphic it'll be very easy to make more...
Thanks
Steven
> Hi guys...
>
> Wow! I didn't expect such a response...but it isn't more than I am
willing
> to do. Here's what i can do...if you guys send me the kits and the
blank
> panels, I can take it from there. It seems like enough people want
these
> that I may just order a few blanks from Roger and keep them around.
There
> will be a bit more supplies needed, such as 1/4" jacks and the 50k
pots,
> plus the mounting materials (I have made my own large "L" brackets for
> these. I may do that for yours too, or an "L" shaped plate.
>
> The kits take around a day to solder up, and the panels take a day
or less
> to print and drill. Yeah, it is as easy to print a few at a time as
it is
> to print one. My own MiniWave graphic has a different letter style,
and is
> very "plain". I will whip one up that matches the Dotcom format and
> spacing. They probably won't be perfect, but they will look good,
> nevertheless.
>
> I will need to do these from the kits...it is a pain to convert a
pre-made
> Blacet module to Dotcom format, because I have to remove the
PCB-mounted
> pots and LEDs.
>
> Give me an e-mail to let me know. As for the costs...well, figure that
> Blacet charges 59 bucks difference between kits and assembled modules.
> Plus, I'd need to get the jacks and pots (figure $1.99 to $2.50
each...total
> of around $20 for a MiniWave) and the Dotcom knobs ($4 each, total
of $16).
> Let's call it, oh, a hundred bucks for the whole deal. If that
sounds good,
> drop me a line when you need one, and I'll get you my address.
>
> For anyone simply wanting a MiniWave MOTM, just send me the kit
(with panel
> and such) and it'll be $60+shipping to assemble (same as if you
bought an
> assembled Blacet). Sound fair?
>
> Scot Solida
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-----------------------
Steven O'Connor
Filemaker and Web Development
HolsterMEDIA
[UK]