Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

If this is too off-topic, maybe someone could point me to a more-appropriate group.

Has anyone got a good way to apply computer-generated artwork to instrument panels?

I currently use the Jameco part number 18876CX cabinets, for the kits I sell. It's an ∗excellent∗ cabinet, with a low price. But the front and rear panels are made of soft black plastic, of a type that melts easily. I print the artwork onto sheet-size peel-n-stick labels and trim them and stick them onto the panels, AFTER the holes have been drilled for the controls, etc, and then stick on a piece of peel-n-stick clear plastic laminating sheet. But THEN the holes have to be trimmed out, by hand. Drilling AFTER the artwork has been applied doesn't work, no matter what I sandwich the panels between. (I already have 1/2-inch thick steel plates for drill jigs for the panels, with all of the holes already there with the correct sizes and positions, with bolts to clamp the panels between them. And I've tried also clamping things like non-slip sheeting in there with the panels, but the artwork sheets are always damaged, anyway.)

I've tried quite a few other, similar methods. For example, I used to print in reverse, on the back of a piece of overhead-transparency sheet, and paint the panels white. But hand-trimming the holes is still necessary.

I'd LIKE to use something like toner transfer. Otherwise, the only options I can think of are screen-printing, or a flatbed x-y plotter with a pen or marker, or maybe a CNC engraver or tiny-point router that would remove a layer of paint to expose a different color that was underneath.

Obviously, the soft black plastic panels wouldn't work, for toner transfer, since they'd melt (and would have to be painted first, anyway). But maybe I could use ∗another∗ material. I'm sure aluminum, or some other metal, would work. But I don't really want metal. And I don't want the silver (or any metal's) color. FR4 PCB material with no copper would work. But I haven't seen any without manufacturer's

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