Laser-printed panels and other topics

[Christopher_List at Sonymusic.Com]

  Howdy Volks,

       Gene said;
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       Last week I tried a new panel fabrication technique. There were some
       bumps along the way but it turned out pretty good, so I'll probably
       be using it from now on. So it's time to share my story:

       Up till now all my DIY synthesizer and effects panels were made out
       of aluminum plate, as follows:

       1. Cut plate to size
       2. Get white posterboard, draw the desired panel in 1:1 scale
       3. Tape posterboard panel to plate, drill pilot holes
       4. Remove posterboard, drill holes out to final sizes
       5. Orbital sand both sides of plate
       6. Spray paint user side of panel flat black
       7. Apply border and box outlines (white auto pinstriping tape)
       8. Apply text labels (white rub-on letters)
       9. Spray paint with clear coat
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       ''''''''''''''''

  What I'm wondering is; Why didn't you just glue the whole thing together,
  coat it, then drill it all in one shot - through the paper and the
  aluminum? This is what I do and it works great. Then again, the stuff I
  coat it with is really thick, so the paper can't twist or rip when it
  gets the drill...

  I also use self-adhesive laser printer paper - which is not sticky
  enough,  so you still need to use glue - but it is made of a vinyl like
  material that holds up well and has a cool metallic look under the
  coating. It also may stand up better to your clear-coat without bubbling
  or yellowing. The actual brand I use is "Best-Print" by Chartpak -
  available at most office and graphic design stores. The downside is that
  you have to squeegy out air bubbles because the paper isn't stiff like
  card stock....

  Actually, since Gene told his story, I'll reprint mine (see below),
  because my method is very similar - only the materials and sequence
  differ.

  If any of you know of an epoxy substance that can be used as a clear
  coating, that dries thick and hard, comes in large sizes (like quarts -
  or litres), and beads when it dries (that's what makes it thick) - please
  let me know. This EnviroTex stuff that I use is good, but it's a little
  inconsistent, and doesn't get as hard as I'd like unless it's reasonably
  thick (> 1/32"). Getting this kind of thickness consistently is a little
  tricky, and I'd like this to be a perfect repeatable process. A brush-on,
  beading,  fast-drying, non-yellowing, super hard and sticky epoxy would
  be the ultimate...

  - CList




  To:       synth-diy @ horus.sara.nl
  cc:
  From:     Christopher List
  Date:     01/26/96 12:34:22 PM
  Subject:  How I did modular face panels (very long)

  Howdy Analogers,

  As some of you may recall, I put out a request a couple of months ago for
  information on how different people did the lettering and dial markings
  for the face plates for their modulars. Since then I've gotten a lot of
  responses and tried MANY different methods (no small investment of time
  or money). I thought I'd tell you a little about what I tried and what
  I've decided to do with the hope that it will save some of you some
  trouble.

  Note that the panels I have been using are Paia Black-anodized aluminum
  Frac-Rack panels. - These were actually LESS expensive than having scrap
  sheets cut at the metal surplus store! - But then again, I live in NYC,
  where industry ain't cheap.

  First off, what I wanted:

  1. A hard, durable coating.
  I mean bullet proof. The best test for this was the finger nail test - If
  I can scratch it HARD with my finger nail - and it's affected - it's no
  good.

  2. The ability to do it myself.
  I didn't want to rely on a print shop or someplace to do it, because I
  may, in the future, want to change a panel, or do something new - and the
  expense of having them do the work for these little "one-off's" wouldn't
  be worth it. Silk screen companies WILL do one-off 5 1/4 x 19" aluminum
  plates for about $50, provided you supply the artwork  - if you want to
  go that way.

  3. The ability to do layout on the computer.
  Mainly because I wanted everything to be nice and neat. Also because once
  you get a couple of different symbols and dial markings made up, it's
  really easy to do a new layout. - Not to mention the fact that I work on
  a computer all day long - so who's gonna know if I'm laying out face
  panels ;)

  4. Consistent, easy results. I wanted it to be science, not art.


  Things I tried:
  1. Enamal and Acrylic Laquers over various lettering methods.
  - I don't know how other people are applying this stuff, or if the
  problem is that it just won't stick to anodized aluminum, but I tried a
  LOT of different laquers (spray on and brush on) - and I could scratch
  all of them off (fairly easily) with my finger nail. The other problem
  was that some of these dissolved laser-printed or painted-on letters.

  2. Toner Transfer system on to white-painted panels. I did this using the
  "heat method". The problem is that regular paint melts at iron
  tempurtures. So I used high-temp. Krylon to paint the panels before
  transferring. This looked promising, but it was way too difficult to get
  consistant transfers without some of the toner flaking off. The toner
  that does stick, sticks well - the problem, however, is that I could
  scrape the paint off with my finger, so I'd have to coat it with
  something. - Too much work. Maybe if I got white toner for my printer and
  transfered directly onto the black - but I wasn't in the mood for another
  $50 experiment.

  3. 3M Dynamark II. The starter kit costs $150. It's a cool system, seemed
  promising, but unless you have a UV light, or want to spend another $150
  for one, don't bother. - It's also a little flaky, inconsistent, and
  requires a negative image of your art, which is hard to get with the
  average laser printer, printing onto transparencies.
  FS: 3M Dynamark II starter kit - hardly used $50.

  4. Silk screening. I can get screens made locally for about $10. The
  problem with these cheap, "instant screens" is that if you  use them with
  a good paint or ink you won't be able to clean them with out destroying
  the screens! - The other problem is the paint should still be coated, and
  using this method relies on outside industry. If you want to bother with
  this, you should just have a screen printer do both the screen making and
  the printing.


  What I'm doing now:

  Materials:
  Opaque, white, self-adhesive laser print paper
  Mylar overhead transparencies
  Brush-on all purpose adhesive
  and lastly (the magic ingredient) "ENVIRO-TEX Lite" epoxy coating

  What's "Enviro-Tex Lite" you ask? - It's this epoxy they use to make
  those cheesy clocks with the picture of Elvis glued to a piece of
  driftwood and coated with a glossy, smooth 1/8" of plastic. You can find
  it in plastics shops, art supply stores, and crafts centers. You can
  order it from Pearl Paint in NYC. It comes in all different sizes, from
  4oz to 1 gallon. The 4oz size is about enough for a 5.25 x 19" row of
  panels and costs about $7.

  The steps:
  1. Layout the panels on the computer. Make your border a tiny bit smaller
  than the size of the panels (.05" on all sides works well). Put circles
  where the panel-mounting holes are (this assumes you're using pre-made
  panels that come with holes for mounting on rails). Don't forget, the
  circles should be aligned with the ACTUAL sides of the panel and not your
  shrunken boarder. Laser print onto the self-adhesive paper, and cut it
  out with a straight-edge and razor.

  2. Peel the backing off of the paper. Brush the back of the paper and the
  panel face with the mounting glue. While trying to keep the glue off of
  your fingers, quickly put the decal on the panel, as close to centered as
  possible..Hold it up to a light and look from behind to line up the
  circles for the mounting holes with the mounting holes (you can't line up
  the edges, because the decal is slighlty smaller than the panel). Most
  all-purpose glue dries fast so you don't have much time, but when you
  first put the decal on, you should be able to slide it around. If you
  have glue on your fingers, they will make dirty marks on the paper - so
  avoid this. Try to squeegy out any air bubbles and double check the
  circle alignment (this circle through the hole stuff insures that the
  decal is perfectly centered on the panel).

  3. Whip up some Enviro-tex (here after refered to as "gloop-stick" -
  anybody remember the Raggity-Ann-and-Andy x-mas special?). Follow the
  instructions and do it in a warm room (otherwise it turns cloudy). I use
  the bottle cap to messure the portions. One capful of the each A and B
  will make enough to coat one 5.25 x 3" panel. Either use a batch all up
  or throw it out. If you make a new batch on top of an old (though still
  very liquid) batch - you'll get a lot more air bubbles that take longer
  to come out.

  4. Put your decal-ed panels face up on a piece of mylar or wax paper on a
  smooth LEVEL surface. Pour on the environ-coat. Pour it on THICK. You can
  spread it around, but it's best if it just spreads on it's own by
  gravity. It's OK if some runs off and pools around the sides of your
  panel - you can break this off after it dries. Let it stand for about 2
  hours so that the air bubbles rise out of it - blowing on it will speed
  the air-bubble removal process (and makes you all loopy if you inhale to
  blow on it while your face is still abiove it). This also gives it a
  chance to dry a little bit and firm up so that it stays nice and thick
  after the next step...

  5. *** The Big Trick *** - This is the only skill part. Take a piece of
  mylar transparency and slowly lay it onto the enviro-coat, from one side
  to the other. If you do it carefully you won't have any air trapped
  between the mylar and the coating. Otherwise, you can gently herd the air
  bubbles out to side by pressing on the mylar. - Try not to press too hard
  or on too much surface area at any one time, because you want a decent
  layer of gloop between the plate and the mylar. Hopefully there's enough
  gloop that some will get squeezed out and bead on all sides of the plate.
  You will now have your plate entombed in a gloopy sandwich with mylar on
  top.

  6. BE PATIENT. - Let it sit to dry in a warm, dry place, face up for
  about 12 - 18 more hours. DO NOT PLAY WITH IT. If you try to take the
  mylar off prematurely, it will stick to the gloop and mess up the seal.
  If you can wait 'til it's hard, the mylar will just rip right off and
  leave a smooth, very hard block with the lettering inside. You might need
  to pick a little at a corner to get the mylar to start coming off of the
  gloop. Since we made the decal smaller than the panel, there's no edges
  that can peal up - it's all encased in gloop-stick.

  7. You should be able to snap the gloopy border off of the edges of the
  panel. The gloop-stik is pretty brittle once it dries so it will break
  off clean with the edge of the panel. If there's some that needs to be
  cleaned up you can use a drum-sander attachment on your drill press and
  shave the gloop off of the sides of the plate - this is very quick and
  easy, but you might want to wear a face-mask to avoid breathing the dust.
  If you don't have a drill press, this will be a real drag, but so will
  drilling the holes...

  8. Now, drill the panel holes and you're done! If the gloop is thick is
  make drilling very easy because it's nice and soft so the drill can get
  started easily, and you can be very careful about lining up your holes...
  The gloop stick somehow makes the decal paper look silvery and cool.