[sdiy] silkscreening and other finishings

[Thomas Kahn]

   I'm considering all the different ways of applying the print/design on my future projects. I'd appreciate some
general opinions on the different methods people have found useful.
   I'm especially curious about silk screening. Can a hobbyist do this at home, or does it require serious machinery?

                       -Proto

I don't know that much about silkscreening, but if it
was easy, I thin a lot more DIY people would use it for
their panels. From what I've gathered, not that many people
do and therefore it's probaby a bit more advanced that
"a piece of cake"(?)

Most DIY'ers that I've come in contact with use one of
the following methods for designing their panels:

1) Design the panel in a paint program on a computer
   and print it on addhessive paper . Stick the paper
   on to the panel and use some form of coating to make
   it smear-proof and durable. An alternative is using
   other types of film/paper for inkjets. I can't give
   any examples since I haven't used them myself, but
   I've seen them on the Internet and in photo stores.

   Jörgen Bergfors has used this method for his
   Bergfotron, see:
   http://www.idg.se/personal/bergfors/bergfotron/mek.htm

2) Order the panels from a company that makes them.
   Expensive as hell, but you get what you want; drilled
   holes and all.
   An example: http://www.schaeffer-apparatebau.de/

3) Say: "to hell with fancy design!" and use a labeling
   machine to churn out rough labels that you stick to
   the corresponding pot, jack or switch. Hard core and
   ugly, but cheap. Good for prototypes and machines
   that are not built to be seen. :-)

4) Etching the letters into the panel using chemicals.
   I've seen recipies for this if you are using brass
   panels. It involves a lot of chemicals and you will
   need a steady hand since you have to scratch the
   panels by hand into some sort of wax coating that
   you put on the panels before you put them into the
   chemical bath. Extreme panel hard core if you ask
   me. ;-)

There are probably tons of other good methods that other
DIY'ers have come up with and I too would like to hear
of good and not-so-good methods since I too soon will
have to start making panel designs for my SAS modular.

/Thomas

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Thomas Kahn
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