Anyone want screenprinted panels?

Bulk Orders
1

Hey midiboxers,

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few months figuring out an efficient method for doing panel silkscreening, and ended up buying a lot of supplies in the process (more ink and emulsion than I will ever need.)  A few people have expressed interest in getting panels silkscreened, and I’m about to be doing a few more of my own, so – anyone want in? 

I’m going to limit this batch to about a dozen requests.  Just prefacing with that, in case demand is higher than I expect.

Keep in mind, I’m no print shop owner, but I’ve been getting great results (see attached image – more images coming soon or on request.)  I’m using professional Plastikote ink (the kind reccomended for printing on metal and plastic) and 220 mesh screens, which give a really detailed print.  I also have many ink colors available and can do multi-color prints.

I’m not sure what a fair pricing schema would be, but it’s just going to help me pay back some of these supplies, so I’ll make it cheap. 90% of the work is in the setup costs, so multiples of the same panel will be cheap.  If these prices seem too steep, I’ll swap or discount for components, PCBs, hardware, whatever, if it’s cool. :slight_smile:

Here’s the deal:

Screenprinted Panel

$10 setup fee + $0.25/square inch

  • $5 for each additional color

  • $0.25/square inch for each additional identical panel

  • Shipping costs TBD.

– You ship your panel to me.  $2 discount if you send me a transparency of your artwork – otherwise I need a 300dpi flat b/w image for each separate color.

– Color choices: White, Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green.  I can lighten or darken colors as needed.  If you need a color I don’t have, or fluorescents/metallics, I’ll get it, but need +$10.

– Payment via PayPal or money order sent w/panel.

Example:

Two 1U MOTM format panels silkscreened with 2-color design:

$22.66+shipping

Things I will also happily do to keep my hands busy and my projects self-supporting:

– Design your panel artwork.

– Etch PCBs.

– Buy, drill (circular holes only), polish, and paint (auto primer+auto paint+clear coat) your panel.  I order custom-cut 2mm aluminum panels from onlinemetals.com.  This saves you shipping.  Won’t be accurate to the fraction of a millimeter (i just use a hand drill, clamps, and a uni-bit), but it works great for me if it does for you.

– Paint/coat colored knobs w/modeling paints.

Contact me for costs on any of that other stuff.  Just reply here or e-mail lars[at]8cac.net if you want to make an order.

In the spirit of synth DIY, I’m writing a guide to DIY panels to share the experience I’ve had… first post is on my blog at www.larsattacks.com.  Glad to answer any questions. 

If this post needs to be moved to a different board, please do so…

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2

As I’ve been spending quite some time looking for companies that do silkscreening for small runs (for the sidLive panel), I’m really excited to read that :smiley: It would be awesome if you could post some close-ups of the panels you’ve done so far.

3

i am here just to be counted in as number 2 i will give you details not before than 1 month though.

Great initiative, where do you live?

thumbs up

Simone

4

Hi..,. Where were you 3 months ago?

I have a MB-6582 panel which I’m looking ot get rescreened as a couple of the labels are off center and the ink is poor quality. I’ve already JB welded the threaded spacers on underneath though… Will this matter or do you need a completely flat surface? I’d love to have my panel decorated with a red design on to go withmy backlit knobs and red LCD so will have a look at designing something to go along witht he original panel design.

              G

5

Lars,

I would like to see a full tutorial and a list of items you need and shop links to make my own panels.

I see you are allready making a tutorial on your blog.

Regards,

Jeffry

6

Goblinz, if you (or anyone else) need the source files for the MB-6582 artwork, just contact me privately, I haven’t bothered to upload the latest files to the wiki yet.

7

There are several of us doing silkscreening, and there are lots of tutorials out there!  Here’s a couple:

http://www.google.com/cse?cx=008032414425079535247%3Akplxrakvu20&q=silk+screen&sa=Search

Most tutorials are for tee shirts and other items that don’t require a lot of precision.  The two biggest things you can do to help precision are: 1) get the highest thread count screen you can, and 2) make a jig so that everything will line up accurately each time.  Here’s a look at one method:

http://guitarfool.com/Silkscreen.html

And just for comparison, here are a couple other possibilities for labeling panels:

http://monopole.ph.qmw.ac.uk/%7Ethomas/synthdiy/frontpanel.htm

Doug

P.S. If you guys can be patient and/or don’t want to do it yourself, I will be re-silkscreening my own MB-6582 panel in the next couple months, so I’ll have everything set up for anyone else who wants it.

8

Hi!

I’m building two 6582’s (one for my teacher, and one for me), and I’m probably interested in getting one of the panel sets re-screened.

Since I’m almost at the CS-stage, I will probably finish the first one with the “old” screening, and use the new and hopefully better screening for my self :wink:

Thanks a lot for this, a great initiative! :slight_smile:

9

hey i forgot to say that i also will have the screw mounted in the panel will that matter ?

simone

10

Hi!

I’m building two 6582’s (one for my teacher, and one for me), and I’m probably interested in getting one of the panel sets re-screened.

So my young padawan. You are ready for field work now. When will i recieve my panel :D:D:D

11

Screenprinted Panel

$10 setup fee + $0.25/square inch

  • $5 for each additional color

  • $0.25/square inch for each additional identical panel

  • Shipping costs TBD.

– Color choices: White, Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green.  I can lighten or darken colors as needed.  If you need a color I don’t have, or fluorescents/metallics, I’ll get it, but need +$10.

i’m getting my 6582x2 panel set soon (cnc milling friend found!)

so for single 6582 panel (rear+front), painted / anodized, printing with 3 pantone palette chosen colors,

what would you charge, lars? these are not pure colors, needed to be mixed.  :wink:

thanxx

12

Will this matter or do you need a completely flat surface?

The actual printing surface needs to be completely flat, but if there are standoffs, etc mounted on the underside, I can work around that.

There are several of us doing silkscreening, and there are lots of tutorials out there!

Awesome!  I knew there were some of you out there. :)  I learned a lot from Guitarfool’s guide, but had to adjust my methods.  Using that Speedball ink is not going to come out nearly as well as the Plasticene stuff that I have.  Also, the 1/8th" gap between the panel and the screen won’t work when you’re using the thicker ink and a fine-mesh screen… found that out the hard way.  It works best if the panel is fastened to the table with double-sided tape first, to avoid the “sticking-to-the-screen” problem, and then the screen held by an assistant or clamped down to the printing surface as firmly as possible.  I also have to heat the panels to 300 degrees for 20 minutes to cure the ink, but it bonds really well… impossible to scratch it off.

I’m going to be doing my guide in a series of blogs, then I’ll edit it and post a longer article.  I’m going to make sure I take lots of pictures of all the different supplies, and include complete lists with brand names, prices, places to buy, etc.  If any of you keep up with it, please let me know if anything is confusing or could be elaborated on!

what would you charge, lars?

Please give me the panel dimensions (couldn’t find them off hand…) and I’ll be glad to give you a price.  Also give me an idea of the colors.  Lightening/darkening the colors I already have is easy, as is some mixing – but some colors are hard to get.

13

Count me in for some silk screening please. How soon are you going to need the designs?

14

I expect to do a “batch” every 3-5 weeks, if people keep wanting this.  I’m doing a batch of a few of my own panels here in 1-2 weeks if you want it soon.  The next batch will probably be around early/mid March?  I guess it really depends on how many panels I have to do… if there’s a lot, I won’t wait until I have a larger batch.  It’s a very messy day long process, so I won’t be able to do single panels if I can wait a little bit and do several at once.

15

Brilliant news man, i’ll be in for some silkscreening shortly i’d imagine (OPL3 for starters, then Pokey, more MBSID stuff…).