[sdiy] Front Panel for DIY Synth

[James Patchell]

Minimum requirement for the precision drilling of holes, in my opinion, is 
a drill press with an X-Y table.  If you have a Drill Press, you can buy 
the X-Y table for around $50 or so.  Get one with the biggest travel you 
can afford.  Generally, in the Y direction, you can only go about 6 or 7 
inches (limited by the drill press), but in the X, you can go up to about 
16 if you get a big enough table (more expensive).

If you don't have a drill press, and want one, I recomend getting a 
Drill-Mill, if you can afford it (a good one will cost about $1000).  Not 
only can you drill, but being able to use end mills for cutting odd shaped 
holes in panels is really handy (plus many other metal working wonders you 
can do).

With an X-Y table, you can locate holes to within 1 mil (0.001 inches).

Now, if you don't want to do that, goto front panel express, download their 
program, draw up your panel, complete with an engraved legend, upload the 
finished drawing, get out your credit card, and a few weeks later you have 
a perfect panel....depending on the size, you can expect to pay anywhere 
from $50 to $400 for a panel.


At 03:30 PM 3/26/2004 +0100, A.L. wrote:
>hello everyone,
>
>i'm looking for some advice on how to make a front panel for a diy synth 
>(or where to have one made).
>
>i'd like to make a front panel to fit into a 19" rack with precisely 
>placed holes for knobs and 3.5mm sockets.
>even if i would have access to a saw and a drill for cutting aluminum (or 
>something else) and drilling all the holes, i'd be very concerned about 
>the precision. i have four rows of eight 3.5mm sockets, and i'd like them 
>to be well aligned. there's also midi ins and outs and a number of knobs.
>
>do people here build panels themselves, or do you have them made?
>is it possible to design a front panel (on the computer? on paper?) and 
>have a single one made for a reasonable sum somewhere?
>
>and how could one print text on it? i'd prefer to have it look 
>professional and well-built rather than hand cutting and hand drilling the 
>material, and then writing on it with a marker...
>
>thanks very much for any suggestions
>
>alex
>

         -Jim
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Details at:
http://www.oldcrows.net/~patchell/SynthDIY2004.html
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