Hiya everyone. Any one have recommendations for custom faceplates? I know there are some companies that offer them in the guitar amp world w/ repro fender, marshall amps etc but looking for some other options to investigate. Ideally would like to order a small run of 10, (maybe 25 if that is a minimum for a PPU that isn't crazy costly). I'm not partial to silkscreen vs engraving, whatever works out that doesn't break the bank is best.
Custom faceplate recommendations?
- Thread starter heatwalk
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john12ax7
Well-known member
Front panel express is a good option for lower quantities. Once you get into 25-50 qty it will be more cost effective to find a local machine shop.
ruffrecords
Well-known member
Many places these days will do UV printing instead of engraving. This gives you the finish and colour range of silk screen at a lower cost than engraving.
Cheers
Ian
Cheers
Ian
ruffrecords
Well-known member
All my panels are aluminium but most places that make aluminium panels will also make acrylic ones.
There have been several threads here about where to get panels made. A search should easily find them.
Cheers
Ian
We can do faceplates in aluminum or acrylic or...
amplexus
Well-known member
Who is “we”?
MidnightArrakis
Well-known member
[Who is “we”?] -- First cousins to who "they" are!!!
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"we" are amp-haus - a small group of music professionals in Charleston SC area. We are former (and some still current) guitar techs, luthiers, recording and broadcast engineers, graphic designers/communication artists, and electronics engineers. For some reason lots of older techs ended up retiring in this area... oh I know, it is was cheap living.
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MidnightArrakis
Well-known member
[We can do faceplates in aluminum] -- Can you directly import either SolidWorks -- .sldprt -- files or -- .STP / .STEP -- files?
Can you insert PEM-hardware (i.e., nuts/inserts/standoffs, etc.)?
Can you fabricate chassis/enclosures/housings/rack-panels?
Inquiring minds need to know!!!
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Something like that 12 channel in-ear front panel we could easily do, as well as the work on the door in the image above. We are not set up for PEM or braking sheet stock (yet), metal Flat panel work yes. We do have a large 72" hydraulic box and pan brake, just nowhere to use it (again - yet). We have been talking about moving into our powder-coaters facility for some extra space (the brake is already in storage there). If that happens things will change quickly. I will get some more current work examples up, once our site is done.
MidnightArrakis
Well-known member
I am certain (hope???) that you are probably aware that many of the members here on this forum use "Front Panel Express" for their project front-panel needs. From what I am gathering/assuming by what you have previously related to me, as far as what your sheet-metal capabilities are, you are possibly/probably in an excellent situation to set yourself up as a premier -- front-panel supplier -- for the members of this forum.....at least here in the U.S. Have you ever thought of that?
Who knows??? Maybe you could direct potential customers my way first so I could assist them with getting their project sheet-metal designs created and produced correctly and then you would be able to fabricate the actual panels.
Sound like a plan???
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Yes, I am familiar with Front Panel Express, they do very nice work. Honestly, as we really only have two clients and I now live in a market even smaller than Minneapolis (hard to beleive), I/we kind of work in a bubble. So my assumption was that everyone here has all the same sorts of equipment/tools that we do, along with inventory occupying every nook and cranny of their homes/buildings.
Your stuff looks great! I would love to help out in any way I can. I would sincerely appreciate your input on growing or refining our limited but growing capabilites.
I am open to most anything beneficial to all parties involved, we have a lot of equipment to pay for and I also like living in a home; so work is good, lol. This was to be the year we launched some of our own products, but one of our clients decided to do a US tour this summer. Now 50% of the everday work force here (1) will be on the "Summer Camp, with Trucks" tour. So we will likely have to postpone our pet projects another year. It was just a couple stomps, and some racks for modules we have already done, but can now refine. It can wait another year.
Sorry to be so long winded, I just had a pot of coffee and my phone is not working (ATT outage), so I can't call and place the PO's I needed to anyway.
-Tony
Your stuff looks great! I would love to help out in any way I can. I would sincerely appreciate your input on growing or refining our limited but growing capabilites.
I am open to most anything beneficial to all parties involved, we have a lot of equipment to pay for and I also like living in a home; so work is good, lol. This was to be the year we launched some of our own products, but one of our clients decided to do a US tour this summer. Now 50% of the everday work force here (1) will be on the "Summer Camp, with Trucks" tour. So we will likely have to postpone our pet projects another year. It was just a couple stomps, and some racks for modules we have already done, but can now refine. It can wait another year.
Sorry to be so long winded, I just had a pot of coffee and my phone is not working (ATT outage), so I can't call and place the PO's I needed to anyway.
-Tony
MidnightArrakis
Well-known member
[metal Flat panel work yes] -- Well.....perhaps you may need to focus on "upping up your game" because other than the small 500-Series and Eurorack front-panels, most panels and certainly all chassis and enclosure designs will require some type of a flange. Even the "12-Channel In-Ear Monitor Microphone Splitter" has a couple of flanges!!! I only pasted a direct-on "front" view of the panel. Here are some isometric and side views of the same panel for your viewing pleasure:
>> Another somewhat important feature, at least for the end-users that I design stuff for is.....having these types of rack-panels fabricated with the graphics and text using an "engraving & white-fill" process, as using a standard type of -- silk-screening -- on a "Rock'N'Roll" rack-panel that is going to be used on-the-road in PA systems and will be abused by "Neanderthal Roadies" and stage-hands, silk-screening will get scratched and worn-off after awhile. But, an "engraved & white-filled" rack-panel will be able to withstand all manner of on-the-road abuse!!! You should be able to provide this service as well.
In other words.....I am more than willing to try and send some business your way, but I need a sheet-metal fabricator that has the capabilities that I and my designs need. That's about it!!!
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That flanged stuff I can easily do. We currently use the back plates on a Par-Metal case (12 series) which are like that. I can do fronts and backs on Par-Metal 10 series, and any panel on their 12 and 14 series. We stock 3U backs from the 12 series. For the fronts we make our own face out of stock aluminum. It is parts that are already bent and more than about 4" tall I have issues with. Out CNC Panel router was not built up to clear more than that due to rigidity concerns. For instance, the two angle slanted top Hammonds I am selling will not fit under the CNC gantry. They will fit under the CO2 laser easily so we do have work-arounds. The laser can be used to mark hole locations. The laser can run four 8U panels at once. There are two other smaller lasers in our groups arsenal, but they see little use these days (5W blue and a 50W galvo). The Galvo rocks on marking small things.
The CNC router was set up specifically to do short run/proto PCB's and to machine aluminum plates/parts. I also do non-marring internal mounts in plastics for modules that need to be racked. I can do some steel, But we are set up with mist coolant, not flood; I am not happy with results with steel so far. The CNC will be the next (last) piece of equipment to be upgraded. But I do not have the 30K+ to do that right now plus new tooling/fixture costs ugh - tooling/fixtures was 10K alone last time for the little machine we run now. It will do up to about 8U panels or a guitar body sized thing, lol.
The CNC router was set up specifically to do short run/proto PCB's and to machine aluminum plates/parts. I also do non-marring internal mounts in plastics for modules that need to be racked. I can do some steel, But we are set up with mist coolant, not flood; I am not happy with results with steel so far. The CNC will be the next (last) piece of equipment to be upgraded. But I do not have the 30K+ to do that right now plus new tooling/fixture costs ugh - tooling/fixtures was 10K alone last time for the little machine we run now. It will do up to about 8U panels or a guitar body sized thing, lol.
Careful
That Neanderthal experience is also what led to our durabilty testing procedure for our old stomp boxes - They were thrown from the second floor of our building onto the concrete first floor by the tallest angriest Neanderthal here.
Careful, the two of us primary guys here started as "Neanderthal Roadies" and one of us will be spending the summer touring the US as a guitar tech - again. But, it does provide us with a good test platform and expereince background. Out Neanderthal background is likely why all of the gear we custom build for people is ALWAYS overbuilt and easy to service.
That Neanderthal experience is also what led to our durabilty testing procedure for our old stomp boxes - They were thrown from the second floor of our building onto the concrete first floor by the tallest angriest Neanderthal here.
MidnightArrakis
Well-known member
That comment/description of mine actually contained a bit of -- subtle humor -- within it and there was no malice intent at all intended to all of the "brute-force crew-members, personnel and stage-hands" that make concerts/shows/tours even possible!!! I know because I was once "one-of-them" myself back during the mid-70s!!! I was on-the-road with a band during the mid-70s as their "audio engineer/lead-technician" and then I once worked with "one of the largest sound-reinforcement companies in the world" during the early 1980s. So, I personally know of what you speak.
Also, during the mid-to-late 70s, I operated my own audio company with a guy I met while I was in the Army over in Thailand. We were a dealer for a bunch of "Pro-Audio" companies and when an amplifier manufacturer would send us a sample audio amplifier to test out.....one of the tests that we would conduct would be to get the amplifier to pass audio by playing some music through it and then..........(wait for it!!!)..........push it down a flight of stairs!!! This was our way to simulate the amp being in a transit-rack and being bounced out of a truck onto a concrete concert venue floor. If the music continued to play without any interruption while the amp was being banged-up as it was bouncing down the stairs, we would consider becoming a dealer for the brand. If the music "jittered" or was even interrupted for a split-second.....we sent it back!!!
>> Can you engrave 0.125" thick aluminum rack-panels to a depth of 15-mils (0.015")? That is what the panel above is specified for. Then....."white-fill" the engraving with "white epoxy ink/paint"?
>> I performed the custom mechanical design of these "10,000-Watt Transportable Audio Racks" for the progressive rock-group YES and they were the first band to use 24 of these racks for their "1984 South American Tour"!!! Around 250 of these racks were fabricated and assembled, like in this photo, for a dozen huge multi-million dollar concert sound-reinforcement systems that were used by Van Halen, Michael Jackson, Neil Young, Crosby/Stills/Nash, Frank Sinatra and many other major music entertainers during that time-frame.
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I am just a decade behind you, started touring in the mid 80's, and I was also in the Army.
Yes, I could engrave like that. Early on I did an engraved plate and did not fill it, it is actually on the table in the other room as I think the owner is going to have us sell the pair after they get new phantom power installed. I will attach a pic, it's very early work though (be gentle). This was done before we were making our own faceplates - this looks like a stock Par-Metal 10 series case. My software at the time did not like the fine type, or doing engraving type stuff at all... long since resolved. To do a real good job on that thin stuff I need to set up a vacuum table - I designed that capablitity into the table of our current CNC but I have not finished building it up. Now that I have a laser that can cut the gasket I needed I can finish it. Might be a good time to do it now, I just have not used it for our current plans.
I have been practicing paint filling after engraving with acrylic - but also doing the engraving on the laser for that. I will have to try some test engraving with the spec you are mentioning with the CNC as soon as I get some time.
Yes, I could engrave like that. Early on I did an engraved plate and did not fill it, it is actually on the table in the other room as I think the owner is going to have us sell the pair after they get new phantom power installed. I will attach a pic, it's very early work though (be gentle). This was done before we were making our own faceplates - this looks like a stock Par-Metal 10 series case. My software at the time did not like the fine type, or doing engraving type stuff at all... long since resolved. To do a real good job on that thin stuff I need to set up a vacuum table - I designed that capablitity into the table of our current CNC but I have not finished building it up. Now that I have a laser that can cut the gasket I needed I can finish it. Might be a good time to do it now, I just have not used it for our current plans.
I have been practicing paint filling after engraving with acrylic - but also doing the engraving on the laser for that. I will have to try some test engraving with the spec you are mentioning with the CNC as soon as I get some time.
Attachments
For several years I used a shop in Germany that is very popular around here, they make aluminium front panels with CNC milling machines, and can also add milled engravings or UV printing.
Recently I started getting a small run of chassis made to my specs and I get the front panels laser cut, then send them over to another place for powder coating and UV printing.
If you are only making a few panels per year a place like front panel express is OK but if you are making small batches of 10-20 pieces I would definitely suggest using laser cutting for the front panels because it saves a LOT of money.
I had to spend quite some time finding the right suppliers that can do quality work at a decent price but now I regret not having done this earlier.
I am based in Italy but if you want to buddy up for ordering small runs of front panels I have all the supply chain sorted out.
Recently I started getting a small run of chassis made to my specs and I get the front panels laser cut, then send them over to another place for powder coating and UV printing.
If you are only making a few panels per year a place like front panel express is OK but if you are making small batches of 10-20 pieces I would definitely suggest using laser cutting for the front panels because it saves a LOT of money.
I had to spend quite some time finding the right suppliers that can do quality work at a decent price but now I regret not having done this earlier.
I am based in Italy but if you want to buddy up for ordering small runs of front panels I have all the supply chain sorted out.
We make our own panels and use a local powder coater. We are set up for small runs mostly jsut for us.
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