help for cutting homemade frontpanel

MIDIbox SID
1

Hello,

i am still on my midiBox dual Sid v2.

now i have to cut the frontpanel (aluminium) and back panel (plastic).

front panel has: LCD, panel mount encoder, and 14 alps 12mm tactile buttons on a matrixboard.

back panel has jacks and dins.

i quickly figured out that if i start cutting without planning carefully, it will definitely look unaligned and ugly, and there will be a high risk of things not fitting right.

so, i spent the last week learning and drawing all with a free vector drawing program called inkscape.

http://www.inkscape.org/    a very good program by the way!

now that all is drawn, i was wondering what would be the best way to cut by following the drawings.

i could print all on some thick paper, cut out the holes from the paper, place the paper on the panels, and draw the holes on the panels, remove the paper, then cut following the marks.

does it sound like a good solution ? what kind of pen would you recommend to use to mark the plastic and aluminium ?

or would there be a more precise way to cut the panel using the drawings i did ?

about the actual cutting, i plan to use a center punch and a cheap dremel type tool. i plan to drill as much as i can and finish off using small files.

any advice would be much appreciated, as it is the first time i do that kind of thing.  :o

many thanks

cheers :slight_smile:

mat.

2

This wouldn’t be much good for the plastic panel, but may be OK for the Aluminium front panel. I found a trick on a website for producing home-made PCBs. The design can be printed using a very dark setting on to tracing (baking paper) (don’t for get to reverse the design) and then layed face down on a PCB and, using a hot setting on an iron (no steam), ironed on to the PCB. I’m guessing that this technique would work with an aluminium front panel too. It may be worth experimenting a bit to see how good the results are. I suppose this idea could also be used to transfer labels on to the panel too.

 

    Let me know how it goes,

 

                      G

3

Search functions are soooooo cool:

http://www.midibox.org/forum/index.php?topic=2246.0

Greetz! ;D

4

hi

a first thought: why do you want to transfer the drawings from paper to the panels when you can just temporary glue the paper on the panels and work that way?

then: if you want to use that pcb transfer style it s mandatory

1-that you use minimum 150g/sm glossy paper

2-that it is printed out with a laser printer

of course don t do that on the plastic panel

it could be an investment to have a nicer dremel style tool, i used some cheap ones and you can feel they are cheaper.. but i didn t see yours..

good luck and let us know

5

Send it to front panel express and just have them do the holes, it is not expensive at all that way.

6

Dang!  I wish I had read this before I started:

Then use a centerpunch and hammer on the marked pilot hole points; this is best done with the sheet on a hard & non abrasive surface (a good solid wood worktop) …which will help stop the centerpunch from distorting the metal beyond the intended drilling zone. If you centerpunch and pilot hole, you are more likely to get a accurate & tidy end result, though it is possible to drill without them …though if so, at least use a pillar drill & sharp bits.

This is the result:

http://flickr.com/photos/75742538@N00/sets/72157601677467147/

Not terrible, but not what I had in mind.  For the next iteration of my V2, I will use a centerpunch and not rush into things!

7

thanks guys, most helpful.

so i am going to print that on A4 sticker paper. exactly the idea that i needed. :slight_smile:

(and if it is too ugly i will go for frontPanelExpress, but not before i completely finalize the thing.)

so cross fingers my next post will be pictures of the box.  :slight_smile: