Modular Synthesiser DIY Project
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This is an rather cheap approach to get a nice front panel surface.
(click on the images to get an extra window with an enlarged view showing some more details)


That's the material we need:
A 1:1 printout of the desired panel graphics and a set of foils.
The paper is put between the two sheets (in fact that's one big folded sheet) and has to be alligned so that it's completely enclosed by the foil.
This is the maschine we use.
Basically it's two heated rolls. Ensure that the thing is preheated properly. Depending on the brand and model you have this may be indicated by a light that goes on.
Don't forget to adjust the correct foil thickness (see detail).

Here you can see the enclosed printout. In this case the matt foil was used which obscures the fine print a bit.

In order to protect the foil from being scratched or molten we put it into the foil cover which comes with the set of foils we've purchased.
Close the cover firmly and check that the foil doesn't stick out.
The foil in the cover automatically goes through the machine then.
Be careful the cover gets pretty hot!!

Carefully feed the cover with the foil into the heated machine.

My machine has a slight tendency to run hot. Unfortunaetely there is no indication that this is the case unless I remove the cooled down cover and see what happened.
You also could use a steel ruler and a knife. Scissors are not that much practical since you've to cut a very straight line.

After the laminated paper has cooled down it's time to cut it into it's final shape.

Ready to get punched.
Carefully position the appropriate hollow punch and cut the hole with a single stroke of the hammer. It's a good idea to practise before doing the holes on the actual panel laminate.

We need a set of hollow punches, a hammer and a wooden board to protect the workbench.

Put the punched laminate on the aluminium plate, align it and mount one potentiometer or socket.
The panel is ready. This photograph shows the thickness of the coated paper. My calliper shows 0.35mm/0,01378".
I didn't use any glue until now. It's fastend by many nuts and four screws.

Don't tighten the nuts. Do that at last when everything's mounted and lined up properly.

This shows one drawback of not glueing the panel: the edges may come off. OTOH this was the panel I had with me in Cambridge - it went through many hands. When mounted that won't easlily happen.
One thing's for sure: silkscreened or engraved panels are much more robust than this plastic coated sheets of paper. OTOH, it's a lot cheaper ans more versatile in graphics.
An engraved panel like this would be about € 80-100.

I got ahold of two different materials: matt vs. shiny.
The shiny foil gives a real black and is more robust. But I decided to go for the matt one - I just like it's darkgrey look better.


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 < Front Panels © 2004, Michael Zacherl, last revised 04/01/17 0:44 AM