[sdiy] Front Panel Graphics at Home? `~~`

[Tim Parkhurst]

On 22 Jul 2006 10:19:30 -0700, Don Tillman <don at till.com> wrote:
>   > From: "Casio Rapman" <casiorapman at hotmail.com>
>   > Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2006 07:15:29 -0700
>   >
>   > Is there a cheap, fast and easy way to do professional looking
>   > front panel graphics at home using a standard injet printer?
>
> Hey, I just thought of something.
>
> Y'know those inkjet printers that print CD labels directly on
> the CD...
>
> I have no idea how this would work in practice.  You'd probably need a
> bracket of some sort to feed the panel into the printer.
>
> (Or you can use an actual CD for your front panel; a 120mm round form
> factor with a big knob in the middle.  Problem solved!)
>
>   -- Don
>
> --
> Don Tillman
> Palo Alto, California
> don at till.com
> http://www.till.com
>

I've thought of that too. One big problem (besides the transport
necessary to move the panel through the printer) is that I'm pretty
sure the CDs used have a special coating and/or texture that allows
them to hold the ink without smearing. Still, I think it might be
worth experimenting with. You can certainly get old inkjets cheap
enough. I also thought the same direct printing technique might be a
cool way to do PCBs, but I doubt seriously that the ink used would
stand up to etchant. Am I wrong? Right? If I'm right, remember where
you heard it first ;-)


Tim (two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do) Servo
-- 
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein