Material and thickness for front panel

[metabit]

Hello,

I am thinking about ordering a front panel from http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/ and am looking for advice on the material to use and the thickness of the material.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

[jbuonacc]

wow, could something like that cost upwards of $200? please post your findings.

[ultra]

i downloaded tk's mb seq file from ucapps and used his settings.  2mm thick and aluminum anodized.

wow, could something like that cost upwards of $200? please post your findings.

anywhere from $50 to $200, perhaps.  depends on the panel.

the only way to know is design your panel and hit the $ button.

[metabit]

Yikes! Yeah the panel would cost $217!!!

Guess I won't be doing that. Sure wish I had access to a metal workshop.

What do other people do for front panels? I'd love to hear your ideas.

Thanks

[SLP]

Fortunately I've got a friend who has got access to a cnc-drilling-machine...

costs: 2 crates of beer  ;)

[ultra]

costs: 2 crates of beer

i have some beer for you then!

there are quite a few posts around the forum for how people are making their panels.  just search for them.  personally, i think after figuring out the cutting, painting, etc, it's worth it just to buy.  but a lot of people build their own and there's plenty of information available on this forum.

[Wilba]

You can greatly reduce the cost by using a 1-stroke font.

However, as I recently discovered, the thickness of the 0.2mmm and 0.4mm engraving tools come out larger than expected. I was told by Front Panel Express that this was partly due to the 1.5mm aluminium, but also just a limitation of the milling process, so you don't always get what you see in Front Panel Designer. I'm going to write up what I know in the wiki soon, but thought I'd mention it here cos it's relevant.

As for material thickness, even though Front Panel Designer doesn't let you make big panels in 1.5mm thickness, you can explicitly request this. As far as I know, 1.5mm panels are quite stiff and perfect for my sized box (see http://www.midibox.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=wilba_mb_6582). You really need to decide what thickness suits your button shaft heights, encoders, LEDs, etc. i.e. how far behind the front panel will be the PCB with control surface components. The thickness of the panel determines how much pokes through.

As for price, my front panel was $120, it's expensive but I guess I'm happy to pay for holes that are perfectly located and sized, even rectangular ones. I probably could have got it done without artwork and used lazertran, further reducing cost. Even with a drill press, it would still take me hours and not be as accurate, and I'd still have a rectangular hole to deal with, which is tricky.

[kris]

ive always found 2mm aluminium good

i dont know where you live but its always possible to find a little engineering workshop with cnc miller to do it my first panel was cut by a local old timer who makes scale locos okay at his leisure and i had to wait but it was cheap

kris

[ultra]

regarding the engraving, i asked front panel express to send me a small sample of a black panel with text that is filled white, and text with no in-fill (chrome, essentially).  the text will be in din17 1 stroke and will be at the .2, .4, and .6 engraving sizes.

i can take good pics if you like and show you the results of the different engraving sizes and colors when the sample arrives.

in my design, i have a 2mm thick panel that is 1U, black, no in-fill color (if it works, they said that's iffy to go without color), and has a hole for the lcd and has approximately 55 small circular holes for buttons, each with an engraved label.  the price in the quote is $56, so not bad at all.

[stryd_one]

I bet you clever mob will know the answer to this: Ignoring 3D routing and milling, just for 2D stuff like our panels...Before CNC ...

What was the tool called?

I seem to remember seeing a thing like a table that had handles on the end that would allow you to move the table along the X and Y axis by moving them... Kinda like working a giant etch-a-sketch heheh

Reason I ask is, we all know CNC can be expensive (FPE app priced my panels at over a grand last week), but using a drill press can be cumbersome and inaccurate...I figure there must be a middle-ground, and I wanna know what it's called so I can hit eBay already ;)

[Therezin]

When I get round to doing my frontpanel, I'll be using the stuff at my dad's metalworking business. Cost: 1 sausage & egg sandwich.

I seem to remember seeing a thing like a table that had handles on the end that would allow you to move the table along the X and Y axis by moving them... Kinda like working a giant etch-a-sketch heheh

The closest thing I can think of is an X/Y milling table

[stryd_one]

...my dad's metalworking business. Cost: 1 sausage & egg sandwich.

...

The closest thing I can think of is an X/Y milling table

Envious, yet very thankful :) That'll do me nicely! Thanks!

[smashtv]

I seem to remember seeing a thing like a table that had handles on the end that would allow you to move the table along the X and Y axis by moving them... Kinda like working a giant etch-a-sketch heheh

Usually "vertical milling machine", for the small machines "mini mill" is the term used most often.  Many companies import/rebrand Chinese made mini mills, average pricing is from $500usd on the low end and $1000usd on the high side.  Grizzly tools is a good supplier, if you don't mind the green color.  ;)

There are exceptions to the pricing above, like the Harbor Freight Micro Mill @ under $400 ($300 on sale).

The questions to ask yourself:

Do you mind having to re-position and clamp your work several times for one panel?  If yes, a small machine (limited x/y range) is fine.

Will you ever want to convert it to CNC? (usually not very difficult, considering you have a mill to make custom parts/motor mounts/etc.)

If so get a machine w/a "micro" or "fine" feed Z axis.  Also see above about repositioning work, for CNC you usually want enough x y range to mill the whole panel without having to move/re-clamp during the process.

While NC is great fun, the time required for setup/file conversion/path optimization is not good for a one-off vs. turning the cranks yourself.  The flipside of that is you can't engrave legends without NC.  ;)

Best

Smash

[DavidBanner]

ive always found 2mm aluminium good

i dont know where you live but its always possible to find a little engineering workshop with cnc miller to do it my first panel was cut by a local old timer who makes scale locos okay at his leisure and i had to wait but it was cheap

kris

kris - wasn't in london was it?

[ultra]

what business category would this be in the yellow pages?  or whatever color the pages are overseas :).

[smashtv]

what business category would this be in the yellow pages?  or whatever color the pages are overseas :).

In the US usually "machine shop", but beware that a lot of the shops listed in this category are only equiped for automotive related machining tasks (turning brake drums/rotors, machining heads, etc) and lack the mill needed for panels.

Best

Smash

[kris]

david

      no its in derbyshire but im talking to a friend about cutting my new plate computer controlled laser and he might be into one offs for reasonable amounts ill ask

my brother actually sells and installs this kind of kit but the problem is anybody who has paid upward of £5000 needs to get some return so theres not much profit in one offs compared to production runs but i find if your especially friendly and get them interested in what your doing sometimes they say yes turning up with good accurate  drawings  and computer files all ways helps

kris

[RTurner]

Just an idea:

Instead of paying for engraving, if you've familiarized yourself with etching your own PCBs using the toner-transfer method- then you can do the same for your front panel.  Of course, you'll want to protect all edges and large areas not to be etched with masking tape.  Ferric Chloride or Hydrochloric acid + Hydrogen peroxide will attack Aluminum.  If using some other metal- you can look up what acids will attack what, but my recollection is that either of the above will do most common metals. 

Don't get ripped off!

Oh yeah- I don't believe this will work on anodized surfaces.