Aluminium faceplates?

[mole42uk]

ISTR that back in the ‘80’s we could get a kit to make aluminium front panel labels from transparent masters. I think it was an anodizing process but it could just have been a dye.

I’d like to find similar to make a new logarithmic scale plate for my signal generator, but I can find anything that looks the same.

Am I having a senior moment, or did such a thing exist and now it’s extinct?

[Craig Sawyers]

I have used printable waterslide decal to make front panel legends with some success. I used material that was transparent other than where the printing was. Using a laser printer that gives black markings.

You can get stuff for laser or ink jet, either black or full colour

This is the largest one I've done - basically an entire A4 sheet.

Craig

[mole42uk]

The system I remember used ultra-violet light to expose a photo-resist on the aluminium, then you had to develop the resist after which the aluminium surface was coloured - I think red and black was available. Actually, I think’ the aluminium was pre-treated, my feeble memory says you could have red or black but not both on one piece.

[joebog1]

It was made by 3M or Scotch. I "think" it was called Scotchcal, but I have not seen it in Australia for many years.

Joe

[Terry_VK5TM]

Scotchcal is a name that springs to mind. No longer made as far as I can find.

UV exposed and developed but needed a protective cover to make it durable.

Dynamark was another one.

[Top Cap]

Many years ago my company used the 3M system which is probably the one you recall. You made a complete front panel on standard drawing film using decals like Alfac. Then you used the UV box to produce an Orange negative, it was washed with something similar to IPA to make the actual negative image. You then placed the Orange negative onto your required material, we used either White or Aluminium. After exposure the same liquid was used to wash away the Black or Red except where the exposure through the Orange negative fixed the colour. We would then guillotine the aluminium to correct size and fit to the panel. I don't think they make the system now.

yes Terry, Scotchcal, wish my memory was better.

[Electronpusher0]

I remember using this system and vaguely remember that the etching substance was caustic soda, but I'm probably wrong.....
Peter

[Argus25]

Scotchcal was around in the 1970's, as I recall though the aluminium was relatively thin and had an adhesive backing so it would stick to a flat surface. But the same techniques were used to produce single color or dual colored thick aluminium label plates and panels, very popular on some American equipment.
With enough use it could rub through around knobs etc. I always quite liked the look of it though.

I have attached an image of some amplifiers that used plates like this.The color has faded a little more on one plate than the other.

[G6Tanuki]

I remember a do-it-yourself approach to anodized panels being briefly popular in the 1970s - but never investigated it deeply because for my particular niche-market it was saner to sub the job out to someone whose business was producing anodised panels - and could do it vastly cheaper/better than I could.

These days someone will invariably have identified a market - the modelmaking-community perhaps? and will - if supplied with lifescile artwork - produce you a professionally-anodised panel to your requirements for much less than the time you'd expend in doing-it-yourself and achieving mediocre results.

[Terry_VK5TM]

Already done :

https://www.frontpanelexpress.com/

Probably others at a more affordable price out there as well.

[Craig Sawyers]

This company in Italy https://modushop.biz/site/ will customise their cases at very low price. I've had machining done twice and printing once, with excellent results and fast turn round. You just send them a dxf or dwg file.

I use Autosketch, which you used to be able to just buy (I have version 8).

Autodesk rant mode => on

The bad news is that Autodesk have discontinued it, and with their new subscription model want £426 a year for the replacement (AutoCAD LT). Like, er - no way!

There are open source options that do precisely the same as Autosketch. A quick google finds https://www.qcad.org/en/ which is £30 for a full license. There are probably more out there too, capitalising on Autodesk's subscription model.

They did the same with the PCB suite EAGLE, which you could just buy. Then Autodesk bought it and shoved it onto their subscription model. So now I use http://kicad-pcb.org/ which is free and much more powerful that EAGLE.

Autodesk rant mode => off

The customisation page for Modushop is here https://modushop.biz/site/index.php?...egory&path=187

Craig

PS just checked eBay and you can get a second hand Autosketch 9 for £50. Various versions seem to come up periodically.

[mole42uk]

I too have recently transferred from EAGLE to KiCAD and having spent a couple of weeks' worth of evenings training myself, I'm very happy that I did.

[Craig Sawyers]

KiCAD works slightly differently to EAGLE. But whereas the affordable version of EAGLE was limited to Eurocard size boards and two layers, there are no restrictions in KiCAD. You can do multilayer boards of any size you like, buried vias, via under pad etc - all no problem.

And it comes with a 3D viewer so you can see what the completed board looks like.

Also looks as if it incorporates SPICE too, although I have not tried that yet.

Mind you the boards I have done to date are relatively simple.

Craig

[julie_m]

KiCAD is Open Source, so it can't have artificial limitations embedded into it. You get the full human-readable code, so any competent programmer could extend any unwanted impositions.

[mole42uk]

Originally Posted by Craig Sawyers

And it comes with a 3D viewer so you can see what the completed board looks like.

Here's my latest attempt in KiCAD:

Also looks as if it incorporates SPICE too, although I have not tried that yet.

It does have an on-board SPICE but I haven't got around to using it yet. Once the board arrived I built it and tested it!

[mole42uk]

Originally Posted by Craig Sawyers

This company in Italy https://modushop.biz/site/ will customise their cases at very low price. I've had machining done twice and printing once, with excellent results and fast turn round. You just send them a dxf or dwg file.

That looks as though it could save me a deal of mess with various chemicals! I like their Front Panrl Designer tool.

The next issue to tax me is to create a circular logarithmic scale from 10 to 100 over an arc of 285º. There must be a way to do it on-line somewhere but Mr. Google has let me down so far.

[mole42uk]

Ooops! It's the other one that has the Front Panel Designer....

[Argus25]

It is very easy now to get an excellent finish on aluminium panels. One of my favorite techniques is to have a satin silver anodized panel engraved with a pattern, and they fill the pattern with black epoxy. The effect is excellent. It can be made to conform with your own artwork. For an example, this diagram of a stylized Germanium Atom was done on an aluminium top plate for a regulator I designed. Have a look at the photos in the article. The interesting thing, is that this was done by a local "plastics" company, but their CNC machines also work well with aluminium:

http://nebula.wsimg.com/16f83c1c70ef...&alloworigin=1

(there are other interesting things in this article, including the rare Philips OA31 power rectifier and the CNC'd Bramite panels, which was a unique Australian insulating material, no longer made, because the special press that made it failed in a catastrophic industrial accident, I have the remaining Bramite in my workshop)