[sdiy] UV Printer (Face Panels)

Sat Jun 21 00:38:44 CEST 2025

Some UV printers can print a gloss coat on top, if you need it. That might explain some of the differences. Also some stuff that comes out great in reality looks terrible in photos and vice-versa. Especially where glossy finishes are concerned.

> On 20 Jun 2025, at 17:03, cheater cheater via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Jun 17, 2025 at 2:28 PM Paul Perry via Synth-diy
> <synth-diy at synth-diy.org <mailto:synth-diy at synth-diy.org>> wrote:
>> 
>> If you look at AliBaba etc, there are plenty of A4 models for around $1,000 or less. And youtube comparisons.
>> 
>> Pretty sure Tayda would do panels, they certainly do UV printing on pedal enclosures..
>> But there are plenty of others such as https://amplifyfun.com <https://amplifyfun.com/>
>> 
>> paul perry Melbourne Australia
> 
> Front Panel Express has UV printing too
> 
> https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=170035 <https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=170035>
> 
> My main problem is that all those UV printing places either have no
> print examples at all, or have print examples that just don't look
> great at all compared to the video examples of Eufy. They all look
> dull, meanwhile Eufy stuff looks really vivid in all the promotional
> materials. So either everyone takes very bad photos, or Eufy has
> people take videos in super high CRI settings only, and then boost
> color vibrance digitally, or Eufy ink is really that much better.
> 
> With Eufy, I can easily see putting photos of people on their prints
> and making them look natural. With all the existing front panel
> services, I can't see that happening at all. It's like comparing
> printing a photo on copy paper on a hp deskjet 720 vs a dedicated
> photo printer with photo ink and glossy photo paper. The difference in
> print quality seems huge.
> 
> With that said Eufy lock down the ink and apparently also the software.
> 
> I asked them for APIs for their UV printer and they said there are
> none and they'll consider it in the future. I don't think they really
> understood why that's something important. At first they thought I was
> applying for a job with their dev team which I had to explain that I
> wasn't.
> 
> An interesting thing about Eufy is that they can do thick prints, up
> to what... 5 mm? Something like that. Which makes whatever thing that
> you're operating on obviously even more stunning especially up close.
> 
> But it has a texture, so it'll amass dirt and grime unless you first
> put a thiiiiiick cover of varnish or resin on it first. Which, you
> better have a vacuum pump and a dust free chamber to do this in. One
> of those fixed-glove compartments, like for sand blasting, but with a
> hepa filter in it instead. So things aren't as quick and easy as you'd
> think.
> 
> One other nice thing is that it can print stickers, which means it can
> go around bends. So if you have an enclosure that isn't flat, it can
> do that. Which means you can have indents, or you can do stomp box
> artwork that'll go off the front panel and onto side panels as a
> continuous part. So that's one thing that's great.
> 
> The locked down ink is a really bad thing about Eufy. I'm sure people
> will jailbreak it in no time, but on the other hand I can't imagine
> third party ink being as vivid as Eufy, especially at first. The
> problem is that a print head replacement from Eufy is $500 or
> something. To the point that they even sell an insurance policy for
> it, lmao. So that's a massive expense. It's not like with 3d printing
> where if you gum up a hot end you just clean it out manually or, worst
> case, buy a new one for $20. This is a major expense if you fuck up.
> So, to make things viable for an open market where people will be
> fucking up the print heads, you need the price of a print head to go
> way below $100 for people to want to be "experimental" with what inks
> they use. Only at that point will UV printing really lift off to
> amazing levels the same way we see thousands of different 3d printing
> filaments, for all sorts of uses. You could even begin to imagine this
> sort of thing becoming an interesting avenue with conductive or
> semiconductive resins, which could perhaps lead to at-home
> semiconductors. Or photoresist, which could, again, be used for making
> semiconductors.
> 
> 
> Anyways I am curious about the Aliexpress UV printers... I haven't
> looked at any yet. If anyone has print examples from any of those that
> look impressive (photorealistic or very vivid colors), I'd be
> interested in seeing them.
> 
> So to bring one printer up that I found with photos of prints, the
> ones on here don't look so great. The colors look washed out.
> 
> https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008591572842.html <https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008591572842.html>
> 
> it's the "A3 A4 UV DTF multifunctional flat cylindrical printer and AB
> film laminating machine kit UV DTF transfer stickers CMYKWW"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On a side note, apparently people are selling funky art blank panels
> now too, not UV printed by the seller, but instead ordered from a PCB
> house, which, I assume, has UV printed the silk screen:
> 
> https://www.etsy.com/listing/1051950583/12hp-eurorack-blank-panel-with-artwork <https://www.etsy.com/listing/1051950583/12hp-eurorack-blank-panel-with-artwork>
> 
> $20 gets you a panel. kind of steep but whatever, they look fun. The
> photos have vivid colors, but again the question of digital vibrance
> comes up. The designs are cute.
> 
> 
> 
>> On Tue, Jun 17, 2025 at 7:06 PM Tom Wiltshire <tom at electricdruid.net> wrote:
>>> 
>>> It's certainly better priced than the $20k or so that a serious professional one from Roland would cost you. Seems like there's a niche for more budget-friendly UV printing.
>>> 
>>> On 17 Jun 2025, at 08:58, Ben Stuyts via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Cool device!
>>> 
>>> Problem is, I just watched (a totally unrelated) video of Techmoan about a 4k DLP projector from Eufy/Anker. The comments for that video say that Eufy/Anker quality is a bit hit or miss, and their customer support is not that great. I have no personal experience with them, so I don’t know if this is applicable to this particular device.
>>> 
>>> Ben
>>> 
>>> On 17 Jun 2025, at 00:30, Tim Parkhurst via Synth-diy <synth-diy at synth-diy.org> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Okay, this thing could be a mind blower for making face panels. I think it's going to run $2500 which seems super pricey for personal use, but the results are astounding. And actually, how many of us have spent that much on one synth?
>>> Oh, and it can print with white ink. Cool.
>>> 
>>> https://youtu.be/IwtKvhBTAi8?si=TD4JcmjIlKMy1g9L
>>> 
>>> Tim (IV, UV, we all V for UV) Servo
>>> ---
>>> "Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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