Metal stamping for labeling faceplates?

In another thread about PEM nuts I said I was ordering this arbor press. I was hoping to use it for hand stamps. It turns out it is wholly inappropriate for the task. It's a half ton press. To make a good mark in aluminum the company says you need 900lbs per 1/8" character.


Luckily the press looks like it will be great for PEM hardware and light electronics assembly work so I'm keeping it.

To do the hand stamps right requires an pneumatic punch or a very large arbor press. The company sells a variety of air impact punches and some that aren't that expensive. Of course the one that will work the best isn't the cheapest. If I was to go this way I would have to start over as the stamps I have are not compatible with those mounts. I already have a lot of money in the stamps and holders I have. This was supposed to be temporary until I can get an engraving rig together. So it looks like it's back to me and a mallet.

I finally made a faceplate I'm happy with. I think I'm going to switch up the countersink drill I'm using for the dots. The drill point is longer than 1/8" so it's very difficult to get a good dot without poking through the faceplate. Other than that I like it. I'm going to try an end mill with a flat bottom.

I got a smaller dead blow mallet and the stamps are coming out better.

These are patch bays I made for the mastering console I'm building.  I needed a way to distribute a signal to multiple destinations and I wanted a solder connection. I thought turret boards were the best way to do this. I bought FR4 and installed the turrets. There will be a buss bar soldered to the brass screws.

It was hard to photograph the face plates. They are highly polished. I worked up from 80 grit to 800 grit. Then I stamped the face plates. After they were stamped I went over them with 1000 grit and I used a paste polish and a buffing wheel.

All the holes were made with a hand drill. The cutouts at the rear were made with the Taig micro mill. The strain relief rods were cut with an abrasive cutoff saw and polished with a desk top belt sander.

All in all I'm happy with how they came out. Considering I had never worked with metal before a few years ago I think I made good progress.






Patchbay #2

I have been unhappy with the clarity of the marks I've been getting. It occurred to me that it was impossible to both hold the stamp holder and hit it as hard as I can. Winding up to take a good swing means that it's very difficult to hold the stamp holder steady. I thought if I made a jig to hold the stamp holder it would free me up to wind up and give the stamp holder a goods whack. I think it's worked pretty well.

It was my first time trying to make something like the jig. The cutout was made on the Taig micromill. It was hard and took forever. I think I should have used a roughing end mill instead of a normal end mill.

All the holes were done with a hand drill. I was pretty happy I was able to drill a straight 1/2" hole though the 4" block that the rods would slide through.





Here is a faceplate I finished. I got some epoxy ink that's used for silk screening metal and put it in the marks. Not much stays but it helps a little. I got a new sander. The old one had no vacuum attachment. I could tell the grit was making a mess. The new sander does a much better job. The finish is 320 grit.

Last Friday I made up V2 stamp holders. That giant sliding thing was unwieldy. I also wanted to be able to land numbers next to the dots. Like things are normally numbered. Putting the numbers in a straight line works well with a 12 pos switch. With the 45 pos switch it doesn't. The cutouts for the hand stamps came out much better this time. I learned a few lessons. The square rods aren't very straight. It doesn't matter for this but it's really annoying. I have a Jet belt and disc sander combo coming. Hopefully that will allow me to grind things flat and straight.

Nice thread!

Just curious-before-trying, how would letter stamping work out on an already chromed metal surface ?

You might get some shipping around the letters, if not large chunks of chrome plating coming off. It really depends on the quality of the electroplating.

Has anyone tried these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HAND-METAL-MARKING-STAMPS-UUPER-CASE-PUNCHES-LETTERS-ALPHABET-NUMBERS-SET-/231029639064?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=530188624844&hash=item35ca708798

gemini86 said:

You might get some shipping around the letters, if not large chunks of chrome plating coming off. It really depends on the quality of the electroplating.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. OK, so definitely some experimenting needed before going 'for real'. Thanks!

My guess is that it wouldn't work very well on plated material. Unless you use a pneumatic punch it's impossible to have everything absolutely straight and apply even striking force.

On a side note I tried mounting steel brush wheels on my hand drill to see if I could do a brushed finish. Amazingly it looks like a brushed finish. Much nicer than sanding IMO. I'm still experimenting with bristle size(s)and some other variables but I think brushing is the way to go.

I'm trying to get the bones of this console installed in January so I've had to stop playing with metal and get cracking on the electronics work.

I spent a little more time trying to get these face plates looking better. I moved up to 1/4" aluminum stock. The 1/8" stock just doesn't hold up very well to all the drilling and stamping without deformation. 1/4" stock holds up much better. Earlier in the thread you can see the templates I used to make the dots. The first picture is after the dots have been done but before I've stamped it. I'm cutting the faceplate from the larger sheet of 1/4" aluminum stock.



Here are the new tool holders I made for the stamp holders




Cleaning the edges with the Taig micromill



Removing the extra material at each end



Finished faceplate. I started using 3M radial bristle discs to polish the aluminum. They come in lots of grits all the way down to one micron.

Ill second this method. This is picture taken today of preamp with black aluminium faceplate and white letters. For reference.

The fit and finish keeps improving. I neglected to have a template made for the monitor rotary switch.All the other switches have 7.5º or 15º indexing. I forgot that this switch has 12.5º indexing. I had to make a template for this. I made the template by putting a piece of 1/4" stock over the shaft. I rotated the switch and marked the positions. Then I drilled it out and used a transfer punch to get them onto the panel. They are not perfect, or even that neat, but it's close enough for me. I did this whole panel in about 3 hours. Just a few months ago it would have taken me at least twice as long, if not 3x.

I used transfer punches to lay out the whole panel. I had done this faceplate a couple of times before so it was quick. The downside is that all the errors are transfered and the errors are compounded. I probably should have measured it all out again.

wow....that's a lot of work!

I think the first pieces were not that convincing, but now it´s beginning to look really hot and desirable!
Another instance of patience and consistency leading to success. I dumped the letter stamps when no instant gratification came my way  ;D

I especially love the circular parameter array, -eg. if you can´t line it up exactly, don´t try to- and how you´re not trying to look like industry standard!   
Though I have a sick obsession for that Dymo look, I think I should revisit this method!

L´Andratté said:

I think the first pieces were not that convincing, but now it´s beginning to look really hot and desirable!

Click to expand...

I agree. I figured I'd let it all hang out. There are a lot of stories of instant success around here. Instant success almost never happens to me. I find all this stuff, electronics and metalworking very hard. I almost never get things the first time. I just put in a lot of hard work to make it happen.

Here is the console I have been making these faceplates for. It's an A/B path for tape to lacquer mastering. It's not complete. On the right in the the meter bridge is a DAOC. I had a two channel prototype. The final units will be four channels. One of the EQ's will be the IJR Sontec. I'll show those builds when they are ready.

Paul

Really NICE JOB !!

Sort of like  a mastering battleship.
Cool look!!

GARY

I like an industrial look. Eventually I plan on engraving faceplates. I've been using it for a little over a month. It's  a real pleasure to use and quick to get around on.  I need to redo the HPF/LPF face plate. The LPF legend  is backwards and the mounting of the boards needs some work. Then I need to get cracking on making the rest of it.