White labels print on dark panel?

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Flundran

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 4, 2004
Messages
209
Location
Sweden
I have a panel made of aluminium. My plan was to have it anodised and then engraved with white infill. Then I found out that this particular aluminium alloy is bad for anodising. Now I'm thinking of painting the panel dark grey and buy white labels for it. The thing is, I want the label to be white with transparent background, so it will look good against the color of the panel. Is there a good supplier for this kind of printed labels? I contacted a local company where I live, and they said that screen print is the way to go and It will cost me about $130 for a A4 size decal with white labels. It felt a bit expensive. What are your experiences on this?

Kind Regards
Rikard
 
If you paint the panel you may be able to laser engrave it. I would try a scrap first, but I know it works well with powder coating.
 
Is it just for one unit? If so you could try pickup lettering systems. I know it's pain in the a.. to put each letter on the surface but it looks professional. I've a speaker switching unit at work that's been labeled with pickup letters. Used for many years and the letters are still there!

Cheers Patr!ck
 
[quote author="BradAvenson"]If you paint the panel you may be able to laser engrave it. I would try a scrap first, but I know it works well with powder coating.[/quote]

Hi Brad!
Yes, laser engraving would loog nice, but I'm not shure if the paint would stay on... If I leave the panel for engraving I must be shure it will work, because it will cost money either way.
How is it going with the design of a power amp stage for the Wurlitzer? I have played my Wurly with your tube preamp every day for almost a year now and It works like a charm! :sam:
 
[quote author="luckylocky"]Is it just for one unit? If so you could try pickup lettering systems. I know it's pain in the a.. to put each letter on the surface but it looks professional. I've a speaker switching unit at work that's been labeled with pickup letters. Used for many years and the letters are still there!

Cheers Patr!ck[/quote]

This sounds like an option for me. My project is actually a modular synth with several different panels that will sit next to each other. Where can one buy this pickup lettering? I haven't used it before. Got any pics of the switching unit? :)

/R
 
Try some water slide decal paper in your computer's printer. I bought mine from BEL INC. and I believe they have some for white lettering. I'd hit it all with a coat of clear to protect the finish and lettering. Also, go to Small Bear electronics for self etching spray bomb primer, since most metal primers have a hard time sticking to aluminum.
 
Thanks for the tip on primer for aluminium, I was looking for this. I actually have white water slide decal paper. When you put this paper in the printer you print out everything but the white, so you end up with white lettering on a colored background. I want to avoid this if possible, It will look cheap if the printed color doesn't match with the panel color.

/R
 
[quote author="Flundran"]
I'm not shure if the paint would stay on... If I leave the panel for engraving I must be shure it will work, because it will cost money either way.
How is it going with the design of a power amp stage for the Wurlitzer? I have played my Wurly with your tube preamp every day for almost a year now and It works like a charm! :sam:[/quote]

I'm glad the wurly upgrade is still sounding great. I'll get around to the power amp and tremolo project eventually...

I was suggesting you take a little scrap piece to your friendly local laser engraver and see if they would test it out for you. Around here the trophy/awards shops have the laser machines and one guy charges by the letter with no setup charge.
 
I just spoke with a local paintshop that will powdercoat all my panels (about ten of them) for $40. It seems like a pretty good deal. I will further look for a friendly local laser engraver who can do the rest.

/R
 

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