Modular Synth Panels

Hi Morbius,

If that's your $.02, I'll throw in a dollar to hear more! It's really 
good to know the biz side of things, and how other places do it.

How hard is it to have a nice textured paint finish (like DotCom, for 
instance ;) on an engraved panel? That's my biggest beef w/ FPE -- they 
just look so flat, and scratch easily.

Scott Deyo
The Bridechamber
contact@bridechamber.com
www.bridechamber.com


On Sep 28, 2007, at 4:44 PM, ~Morbius~ wrote:

> Just as an info kinda thing....  Having been an engraver and working 
> in the sign biz for since the 80's, I can tell you that 
> reverse-engraving (or front engraving) and paint-filling (or spraying) 
> is going to be more expensive since it is so much more 
> labor-intensive. I had, at one time, considered reverse-engraving 
> either plexi, or lexan... and illuminating it either from the side(s) 
> or the back. The rear is painted black, and the graphics are painted 
> whatever color you want (or use colored a light-source and leave the 
> engraved clear)... That makes all of the text, graphics, and tickmarks 
> light-up (and looks very impressive). When I was in Nashville, I 
> worked at a sign company which did all of the engraving work and 
> awards for the Country Music Awards.... Opryland... all of the big 
> hotels.... and our engraving department was the largest department in 
> the whole place, with 5 fulltime engravers working 5 days a week, 9 
> hours a day. We built a lot of stuff from scratch in plexi and lexan, 
> and had every type of equipment needed... from plainers to routing 
> tables... from acetylene torches to 'weld-on' (plexi glue) and 
> paint-booths. Like most things, you get what you pay for... and if you 
> go with 'cheap', it's gonna look 'cheap'.
>  
> A much cheaper way would be to have the 'dial' (with the tickmark 
> calibration) printed onto adhesive vinyl. But here again, quantities 
> are really needed to make it cost effective. Where it can be printed 
> more cheaply on a Fargo or any large-format printer... cutting-out the 
> 'stickers' becomes the issue. There are a few large-format printers 
> which are also plotter/cutters... and they can do the entire operation 
> from the file. But- it's still a matter of 'do you want 'stickers... 
> or silkscreened, or engraved'? The 'look' one wants, is gonna have 
> everthing to do with the cost... just like the quantity is going to 
> affect the price... (or price per unit).
>  
> Laser-engraving is the way to go with many materials. And usually, 
> besides the laser doing the engraving, it also cuts-out each unit from 
> the material blanks.
> Making the tickmarks is no big deal... that is, with the proper 
> software. I know that CasMate and Flexi Sign are both used for 
> engraving, vinyl-cutting, and large-format printing... and both do 
> vector-graphics, and generate all sorts of dials, rulers, calibration 
> and tickmarks...  and all you do is select the option you want in the 
> drop-drown menu, then, assign the variables... size of the dial, 
> thickness of the strokes, depth, how many, numbers or characters and 
> where you want them... etc. But like silkscreening... it's the first 
> layout that takes a little time designing. After that, you're just 
> pulling-up a file and reproducing it, or editing it.
>  
> Just my $02/100
> I'll shut-up now.   : |
>  
> ~Morbius~
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From:  Scott Deyo
>> To: ModularSynthPanels@yahoogroups.com
>> Sent: Friday, September 28, 2007 5:10 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ModularSynthPanels] saving money with tickmark discs
>>
>> That's cool. I didn't know about that. I just saw Dave's CVS module 
>> -- crazy! I love it!
>>
>> I can't legally use fpd files, though I think I can view them and go 
>> from there. But they did make the software, and it's very handy 
>> indeed. It's a morally gray area :)
>>
>> Scott Deyo
>> The Bridechamber
>> contact@...
>> www.bridechamber.com
>>
>>
>> On Sep 28, 2007, at 3:50 PM, xamboldt wrote:
>>
>>> If you use HPGL to make the tick marks, it saves some money. I
>>> believe you can find some example fpd files on Dave Brown's site.
>>>
>>> -Chris
>>>
>>> On Sep 28, 2007, at 4:21 PM, David Griffith wrote:
>>>
>>> >
>>> > It seems to me that making tickmarks around pots is one of those
>>> > things
>>> > that really add to the cost of panels. Suppose you make up a bunch 
>>> of
>>> > thin discs with tickmarks on them and use those instead of putting
>>> > tickmarks directly on the panels. Would this be cheaper? Would it 
>>> look
>>> > or feel ugly?
>>> >
>>> > --
>>> > David Griffith
>>> > dgriffi@....edu
>>> >
>>> >
>>>
>  
>