[sdiy] Making neat holes in laminated front panel overlays.

[Luís Marka]

I did pretty much the same for my modular. I would drill the holes in a 
1/8" aluminum panel, and use a laser printer to print the panel into a 
full page label (8.5" x 11"). The label would receive a layer of 
self-adhesive plastic, and only then I would adhere the label to the 
aluminum panel.
For the holes I use the same press drill that was used to make the holes 
in the aluminum: with the drill turned off, simply press the drill bit 
against the panel over the hole already placed in the aluminum. The 
sharp edges of the drill bit will punch a neat hole thru the label. Just 
remember to use the same drill bit size you used for the holes in the 
aluminum.

On 2/18/2013 5:58 PM, Dave Kendall wrote:
> Hi Guys.
>
> As I'm a cheapskate, I'll be using laminated laser-printed thick paper 
> overlays glued onto prepared aluminium front panels for the modular. 
> The panels will have all holes drilled before the front panels go on.
> Does anyone know of a hole punch, or similar tool, with different 
> sized punches that would be suitable for making neat holes relatively 
> quickly?
> There will be *lots* of holes to make for pots, switches and sockets, 
> and doing it with a Stanley knife or X-acto type knife is possible, 
> but from experience, there is a risk of ragged edges if not done very 
> carefully and slowly.
>
> I once had a hand-held leather punch with exchangeable bits, but from 
> memory it was relatively crude.
>
> Sorry for all the questions - I'm finally getting around to trying to 
> turn a pile of miscellaneous PCBs, modules and perfboard lash-ups into 
> an *actual synth*...  :-)
> Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.
>
> cheers,
> Dave
>
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