[sdiy] rack enclosures

[ASSI]

On Montag, 5. März 2007 23:17, Hallvard Tangeraas wrote:
> The lettering on commercially sold 19" rack module synths (Yamaha,
> Roland, Korg etc.) is done by silk-screen printing, isn't it?

Either that or a screen print transfer.

> This is 
> the sort of quality and look I'm aiming for, but I hear it's very
> expensive for one-off productions such as home-made projects like
> this (I have several projects in the works, but they'll naturally all
> be different projects with different front panel lettering).

It is not all that difficult to do this, provided you can do the photo 
work yourself and have a bit of time for experimentation.  Before I 
look up all the english terms in a dictionary, head to Wikipedia for a 
much better explanation than I could give... :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_printing

And then (check the other articles on that site as well):

http://www.signindustry.com/screen/articles/2001-01-01-screenprinting101.php3
http://www.signindustry.com/screen/articles/2001-02-02-screenprinting101pt2.php3
http://www.signindustry.com/screen/articles/2001-08-30-screenprinting101pt3.php3
http://www.signindustry.com/screen/articles/2001-09-13-screenprinting101pt4.php3
http://www.signindustry.com/screen/articles/2002-07-13-BS-FilmCareer.php3

The materials (paint & thinner, squeegee, screen, frame, photo emulsion 
and developer) are readily available from art supply stores both on- 
and offline.  If you can, get a kit so that all these parts are sure to 
work well together.  The thing that needs (most) experimentation is the 
time of exposure of the screen, the consistency of the paint and the 
tension of the screen as well as the distance of it to the workpiece.  
Since all your panels will be of about the same size, you'll have to do 
this only once.  Epoxy (2K) paints give the most durable results on 
metal, but are a bit iffy to work with.  Check the instructions that 
come with the paint carefully, some paints really need a primer and 
won't stick to bare metal very well; others need to be cured in an 
oven.

> So you're saying that there should be a 19" rack front panel on both
> ends? That would mean that the 19" rack cabinet/shelf/flight-case or
> whatever would have to have the exact depth of the distance between
> these two panels.

There's no need for a second panel, but you need something to affix the 
rear end of the box to the rear rails of the rack.  What this is very 
much depends on the construction of the rack.  If rear and front rails 
are identical, then you'd just need two additional L brackets.  A pair 
of slotted holes on the bracket takes care of any depth differences.  
Unless you never need to remove the enclosure from the rack a rack 
shelf or sliding tray is the better (if more expensive) solution.  You 
may be able to get slide bars from a junked rack server enclosure, the 
only problem is that often the necessary counterpart is still in the 
rack that went to a different junkyard...


Achim.
-- 
+<[Q+ Matrix-12 WAVE#46 Neuron microQkb Andromeda XTk sonic heaven]>+

SD adaptation for Waldorf microQ V2.22R2:
http://Synth.Stromeko.net/Downloads.html#WaldorfSDada