MIDIbox of the Week (MBSID of pwx)

[TK.]

This MIDIbox SID was made by pwx

The big question: which case did he use for his design? :-)

(here a link to the large view: http://69.56.171.55/~midibox/midibox_gallery/pwx1_large.jpg

[Jurbo]

The shrunken C64 case looks really funny (in a good way)!  8) You have done a really neat job shortening it! Everything else looks neat and tidy as well. Is the panel white or is it metal reflecting light? Anyway, a nice job and I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it, giving hell to those large buttons!  :)

[pwx]

Hi Jurbo! :)

Thanx for that nice comment ;D

.... the frontpanel is white,... and the BIG Buttons......, I´ve got BIG Fingers!!! ;D

The two blue buttons are CC (green LED) and EDIT (red LED)..... the yellow LED is for the extern Filter IN...

Have a nice day,

pwx :)

[Jidis]

Speaking of front panels. I'm testing some crap with an 1/8th inch sheet of plate aluminum (easy to mill). I was trying to see how well the toner transfer PCB technique worked on metal. I dumped some circuit pictures on different parts of the sheet, smoothed with different grits of sandpaper and they looked great, so evidently it works.

I'm probably doing silver with black print soon, but a couple things I want to try are: Painted (baked on?) metal (maybe steel?) clear spray over the black to protect it (necessity) and also laying my sheet over a heating element, like a stovetop grill range, to heat it uniformly from beneath, while rolling the paper with something(?). Making sure to consistently heat all of the print for enough time is the only tricky part. Looks promising for flat sheet stock like pwx's panel.

-George

PS- The reason I just posted all that is cause I don't know what the heck I'm doing ??? I'm wondering if anyone else has any paint/metal/heat related pointers or suggestions or might stop me from burning my house down. (probably should be in tips and tricks or something) 

[pwx]

Hi!

I haven´t done something like that yet..... :)

but... I have similar ideas ;D..... ( no money)

So please let us know if you´ve got something like that working... :-*

greets,

pwx

[Davo]

Speaking of front panels. I'm testing some crap with an 1/8th inch sheet of plate aluminum (easy to mill). I was trying to see how well the toner transfer PCB technique worked on metal. I dumped some circuit pictures on different parts of the sheet, smoothed with different grits of sandpaper and they looked great, so evidently it works.

I'm probably doing silver with black print soon, but a couple things I want to try are: Painted (baked on?) metal (maybe steel?) clear spray over the black to protect it (necessity) and also laying my sheet over a heating element, like a stovetop grill range, to heat it uniformly from beneath, while rolling the paper with something(?). Making sure to consistently heat all of the print for enough time is the only tricky part. Looks promising for flat sheet stock like pwx's panel.

For painting aluminum, you NEED the correct primer or your paint will slough off in sheets.  Decent automotive shops will have spray cans of "self-etching primer".  I got Dupli-Color brand and it worked great.  Get some wet-dry sandpaper while you're there.  Before you prime, sand the metal with 400-grit to provide more surface area for the primer to bond to.  Wash the metal with soap and water.  Make sure it's fully rinsed and dried.  Shake up the primer and put a very light mist on the metal.  It should look like a tiny bit of overspray.  That's good.  Wait for that to dry (say, five minutes), then do it five or six more times or until you have a uniform olive drab.  After an hour or so after the last coat of primer, you can apply your top paint.  I used ordinary flat black Rustoleum.  Again, do the ultra-light misting with that paint.  After every coat is just dry to the touch go over VERY VERY lightly with 1000-grit sandpaper and wipe with a damp cloth.  Let the moisture from the cloth dry before applying the next coat.  Five to eight coats seems to be good.

I made the mistake of applying a thick coat of black over the primer and wound up with a rough and gooey surface that took two weeks to fully harden.  I did that to a chassis, so it wasn't entirely a bad thing.  I would have preferred a wrinkly finish, but oh well.  BTW, you might be able to find spray paint at the automotive shop specifically designed to give a wrinkly finish.  I only found it in red and I didn't buy it.

Now about using toner transfer with panels, I haven't yet tried applying toner directly to a painted surface.  I'm right now tinkering with .032" aluminum.  Incidentally, this is the same thickness as circuit board recommended for use with Pulsar's toner tranfer paper and applicator machine.  Their machine is a specific model of laminator known to work for this sort of thing.  The greater mass of metal going through the applicator may cause problems.  With your 1/8" stock, you'd be much better off using toner transfer paper to make decals.

[Jidis]

Davo, thanks for the great paint tips :D

I coincidentally did most of the wet sanding stuff you recommend initially. I was experimenting with different sheens. For the painted stuff I was thinking about, I was figuring I'd have to go with steel or something, and I hate the junk. It always gives me ragged edges around the holes and I'd have to bump it down to a real thin sheet as well. I didn't know you could paint the aluminum. I'd much prefer that. The clear I needed to do on this was just to protect the lettering afterward, and I'll need something that would adhere a bit to the aluminum/toner, yet wouldn't immediately melt all my labels (if sprayed lightly). Does any of the baking stuff for hardening the coats apply to aluminum?

I'm so happy with it, I'm even thinking of trying the toner transfer on some Lexan (Plexiglass/Acrylic stuff), but I'm not sure what the melting point of the plastic would be. I'm also wondering if ironing toner to a painted or plastic surface would have better (or worse) results, since the toner sort of melts and fuses to the substrate anyway. Maybe it would increase the grip and make it easier to transfer(?). The remaining paper sort of turns to mush in the water and gets rubbed off.

-George

PS- I think I'm in love with this aluminum crap! My square knockout punch bit right through it, making a nice clean hole and a perfect fit for the 12mm buttons. I even did a larger square hole by punch +jigsaw and files. The plate reminds me of a big old GLi radio station type rackmount DJ mixer I had (high class potential).   - It measures to be .15 inches thick   

[Davo]

Direct toner transfer on Lexan is probably a bad idea.  Go to http://www.pulsar.gs/ and read about how to use their stuff to make decals.  That way, you can apply artwork to just about anything.  If you're tranferring toner directly to the aluminum without doing the decal stuff, you probably won't need an overcoat as long as you apply TRF on top.

I did find paints at the automotive store that are supposed to be baked on.  Those are for stuff like painting engine blocks, brake caliper housings, barbecues, etc.  I don't know if they're good for aluminum.  I didn't check.  Also on the primers, make sure the label says that it's good for aluminum.  A label that says the paint will adhere to "metal" is not good enough. 

[Jidis]

Direct toner transfer on Lexan is probably a bad idea.

Too late. Already melted it :D

I went out back and grabbed a chunk of that (1/4") and a nearby scrap of some granite looking Formica laminate. Both took the label surprisingly well (a PCB layout), but the clear plastic started "gooing up" on me and now has some spots with perfect traces and others with a bunch of little bubble looking specks, sort of like shattered safety glass. I'm almost wondering if lower heat or less time would have worked, but it's not a priority and I guess I'll be cleaning the iron before I do anything else with it. I do however want to try to get some print on some clear red plastic lens material. I'll be reading up on that site you listed, but it looks like a machine as well as the transfer material.

I've intentionally melted (postformed) the countertop material before, for studio furniture. The melting, or rather, "blistering" point is pretty high. I've got a book on it somewhere. I'm not even sure if you squashed down on it with something flat, that it would do anything wrong. It's usually being squashed around a tight radius while it's heated. I had to blast it with a heat gun in one spot to get the plastic to bubble. I think the pressure and heat is part of how it's actually made anyway :)

I've baked a bunch of paints on metal, but I didn't really know what I was doing. Everything worked OK at random time/temperatures, with the exception of some white handles I baked too long which turned sort of beige.

What is TRF?                                -Take Care

George

[Davo]

Too late. Already melted it :D

Well, now you know.  (And knowing is half the battle!)

What is TRF?

TRF means "Toner Reactive Film".  It's a thin sheet of mylar with a pigment on one side.  You lay it over a toner image, iron over it and it sticks only to the toner.  The green flavor seals and toughens toner for etching circuit boards.  White is for putting silkscreen legends on the parts side of a board.  The other varieties (metallic, white-type-Y, grey, and clear) are for making decals.  If you want lots of colors, just use a color laser printer.