Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Modular Synth Panels

previous by date index next by date
  topic list next in topic

Subject: Bamboo front panels from ponoko.com

From: "jasonnanna" <jasonnanna@...>
Date: 2010-04-24

Hi all... New to the list. Just wanted to share with you an experiment I've been pursuing for a few months now -- laser cut and engraved front panels for my burgeoning modular.

I decided to use ~5mm laminated bamboo because it's very hard. I wasn't sure, with all of the holes, how fragile wood would end up being. Ponoko also (occasionally) offers another bamboo which I believe is lighter and thinner. This may be the ideal material to use, but I don't yet know.

My main objective was to have an economical solution. My estimation would be that it costs approx. $10/1U rack space in the MOTM format I'm working with. I think that's awfully cheap. If anyone has a cheaper, easier solution, I'd be very interested to hear it.

My biggest problem thus far has been the material depth. Not all jack styles go all the way through, and the nuts for the pots JUUUUUUUUUST thread and tighten without stripping.

Beyond that, I just got my first module wired up and tested, and I'm concerned about grounding... Several of the pots needed their bodies grounded to keep interference out; I'm wondering how much this is going to be a problem, and if I can't do something like gluing a piece of aluminum foil or some such thing down to the back of the panel before installing pots & jacks....

Anyway, would love to know your thoughts.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ModularSynthPanels/photos/album/766034300/pic/list