[sdiy] DIY Panels - I give up!!!!!!

[Tim Parkhurst]

For all the time, money and effort spent on a lot of these panels, I would
think you could put together a simple silkscreen setup. The screens can be
made with a photo process (a little like exposing a PCB), and if you use the
right enamel based ink, the results should be very durable. Yes, you're not
going to get exotic multi-colored logos (without doing multiple screens
anyway), but to my knowledge this is how most commercial panels are made
these days. I've made silkscreens like this for screen printing solder paste
onto surface mount boards at a previous job, and it was very
straightforward. Look up printers or silkscreening services in the yellow
pages for a dealer who would have supplies and/or kits. I don't know any off
the top of my head, but I'll look for some on-line sources. 

Tim Servo
"I'm not lazy, I just lack a motive." - Anonymous
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael Schulze [mailto:michael.schulze at oberlin.edu]
> Sent: Monday, February 24, 2003 1:28 PM
> To: synth
> Subject: [sdiy] DIY Panels - I give up!!!!!!
> 
> Well not give up really.
> 
> I just spent the better part of two weeks trying to make a rack panel
> using
> LAZERTRAN paper.  They advertise that you can do full color laserprinting
> on
> the paper - then bake it to your metal panel.  What I found is that any
> significant density of toner makes the decal bubble in the oven.  I
> finally
> resorted to plain old black letters on clear, and that worked, but the
> decal
> peels easily off the panel - ARRGGG!!!!!!
> 
> So I realize now I probably could have ordered a panel engraved for what I
> have spent on lazertran, printing, and my time.  Can anyone suggest your
> favorite cheap panel engraving service???
> 
> Any other products I should try??????



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