[sdiy] Hunk o metal

[David G. Dixon]

> I've decided to try my hand at hand making a front panel for my Thomas
> Henry MPS. I'm having my local printing place make a vinyl sticker for the
> front panel, but I need to find a piece of sheet metal to use. So....
> where does one go to find something like that where they will cut it to
> size for me (about 16" x 5")? Any tips on drilling it out on a drill
> press? (what speed do you use for metal? Do I want to use a stepper bit?)

I don't know where you are located, but if you have a "Metals Supermarket"
in your area, they are great.  They sell aluminum sheet by the pound, and
they'll cut it on a digital guillotine while you wait.  I buy 5052 Al (I
think) 0.1" sheet precut into 5U (8.75", MOTM format) pieces of varying
width.  It costs about $1 per U (1.75") of width.

For drilling, I use a cheapo Ryoki drill press I bought from Home Despot for
about $100.  It has five speeds (obtained by moving a belt on two five-sized
pulleys).  The lowest speed is best for drilling large holes in metal (I use
the highest speed for drilling PCBs).  I bought a nice set of DeWalt
self-guiding metal drillbits at the same time, about $50.  I really only use
four sizes for panels: 3/16" for mounting holes, 1/4" for switches, 5/16"
for pots (24mm Alpha) and 3/8" for jacks.

For labelling, once I discovered baked-on Lazertran, I never looked back.  I
make my panel layouts in Front Panel Designer, and put little "plus signs"
in the middle of every hole graphic.  Then, I print it out backwards on
Lazertran, and bake it on the virgin panel.  Then I use a hammer and
centre-punch to put a little divot in the exact centre of every hole, using
the plus signs as a guide.  Then, I drill out the divot with a 1/8"
drillbit.  I don't go all the way through -- I just drill a bigger divot.
This makes a nice guide for the bigger drillbits.  I'm not sure it's
strictly necessary, but that's what I do, and the results are quite good.
You'd basically have to use a CNC mill to drill the holes more precisely.

Hope this helps!