[sdiy] making panels with metalphoto?

[Danjel van Tijn]

Hey Dave,

I am located in Vancouver too and I e-mailed a place in Langley to get
quotes. I have seen that metalphoto plates themselves are not too
expensive but you need to buy in bulk (25 minimum or something).

What  got me to look into this was the fact the Peter G from Plan B
said that he uses a process called Spot Annodizing for all his panels
including one-off proto panels. I am not sure if he meant metalphoto
but that seemed to be the most appropriate and widespread technology.

Have you had specific experience with this before? I see you are a
material eng. prof so I would trust your judgement!

btw, all accounts of lazertran make me very reluctant to use it. Both
the process and the final results seem less than desirable. Schaefer
panels are relatively cheap (and effective) but limited in what you
can do graphically. With so many sign shops out there making one-off
panels there has to be a better way!

cheers,
Danjel






On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 6:47 PM, David G. Dixon <dixon at interchange.ubc.ca> wrote:
> I think you'll be shocked at how expensive this sort of thing is for
> one-offs.  Have you thought about something DIY, like lazertran decals?
> There's a good website which explains this in detail for synth DIY panels:
>
> http://monopole.ph.qmw.ac.uk/~thomas/synthdiy/frontpanel.htm
>
> Cheers,
> Dave
>
> David G. Dixon
> Professor
> Department of Materials Engineering
> University of British Columbia
> 309-6350 Stores Road
> Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Z4
> Canada
>
> Tel 1-604-822-3679
> Fax 1-604-822-3619
>
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>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: synth-diy-bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl [mailto:synth-diy-
>> bounces at dropmix.xs4all.nl] On Behalf Of Danjel van Tijn
>> Sent: Sunday, March 08, 2009 5:53 PM
>> To: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>> Subject: [sdiy] making panels with metalphoto?
>>
>> I need to get a bunch of front panels made for the various DIY pcbs I
>> have been building.
>>
>> I have looked at using Shaefer/Front Panel Express but I do not want
>> my graphics to be carved in.
>>
>> After researching different methods I would like to use the METALPHOTO
>> product/process. It makes very durable and precise graphics on
>> aluminum up to 0.125" thick. You need to print the graphics first and
>> then cut the panel afterwards.
>>
>> There are also seems to be a lot of fab shops around N.A. that offer
>> metalphoto services.
>>
>> I was wondering if anyone had experience getting short runs of panels
>> made (e.g. 1-4 at a time) and had found the cheapest place to get the
>> panels made and cut (metalphoto and cnc cutting)?
>>
>> It will be great if I can just send the place an Illustrator file: one
>> for graphics and one for drill/cut holes.
>>
>> Examples of places I have found so far (and e-mailed for quotes):
>> http://www.mpofcinci.com/Panels/panels.asp
>> http://www.technigraphics.com/products_metalphoto.htm
>> http://www.tacomarubberstamp.com/metalphoto.aspx
>>
>> The final products look very pro, but I fear there may be high setup
>> costs....
>>
>> cheers,
>> Danjel
>>
>>
>> Danjel van Tijn
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>
>