Neat Legend on a Plastic Box

[ruffrecords]

I am building a simple prototype in an ABS box (Hammond 1591 series) and I would like to label the controls and connectors neatly but not expensively. What is the best way to do this? Water decals?

Cheers

Ian

 

[Script]

Fine-line permanent marker pen covered by matte clear lacquer spray. Not sure it satisfies 'neat', but easy enough -- not just for prototypes?

 

[chrispbass]

Given it’s a small box, perhaps just design and print a sticker Ian.

Brother P touch is a nice label making gizmo as well.

 

[NOON]

I sometimes use sticker paper in my laser printer for one off front panels. You can get industrial strength chemical resistant stickers from Avery etc that actually comes up pretty well on the colour laser and is fairly robust.

Speaking of lasers, I've also recently upgraded my laser cutter to a 20W diode model. It would engrave onto the plastic quite well (also marks anodised aluminium and painted steel panels), or sometimes I cut and engrave onto thin timber veneer and glue that on.

Not useful if you don't have a laser printer or cutter, but I thought it was worth sharing because short run front panel artwork is a major barrier for pretty much everyone here.

 

[Mworthin]

Laser water transfer decals are cheap and easy as well. Repositionable until they dry, then cover with the clear finish of your choice

 

[Brian Roth]

I'm a P-touch fan as well.

Bri

 

[PermO]

Mecanorma;


Apply clearcoat afterwards for a very durable finnish



Great stuff !

 

[ruffrecords]

Given it’s a small box, perhaps just design and print a sticker Ian.

Brother P touch is a nice label making gizmo as well.

Yes, I have a Brother and a Dymo label printer. They are basically my fallback position. I was hoping to be able to do things like scales around a pot for example.

Reading through these posts reminded me I used to have some yellow stick on vinyl? print paper. I used to use it for printing Danger High Voltage! labels to go inside my tube gear.

Cheers

Ian

 

[jacobsteel]

Occasionally I paint/draw with e.g. Molotow Pens on the box.


Yet most often I just use DYMO.



Sometimes I use other boxes (for the Krautrock phaser a wood box with a separate steel chassi inside was used.




And if I REALLY want a particular look I do a design in Illustrator/Photoshop, print it as Photographs and glue it on the metal box. That turned out nice for the the below phaser.

 

[ruffrecords]

I came across these:

https://www.drytransfers.co.uk/

Edit: And it seems Letraset style dry transfer sheets ares till available now made by decadry.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Tubetec]

I still like the permanence of the old style Dymo label embosser.

I also have a modern Brother label printer , its convienient but it seems to always create a longer label than it needs to , its also seemed to partially malfunction after I replaced the print cartridge with a spurious part ,
started printing random smiley faces and symbols along with the script I entered .

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225411095797

Ive used the above a few times , wont bear any meaningful relation to the attenuation curve of the pot though ,
Still 1-10 scale is probably ok for a basic passive mixer .

 

[ruffrecords]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225411095797

Ive used the above a few times , wont bear any meaningful relation to the attenuation curve of the pot though ,
Still 1-10 scale is probably ok for a basic passive mixer .

Nice. 40mm diameter is larger than I would prefer but they will be good enough for a prototype. I have ordered some.

Cheers

Ian

 

[chrispbass]

Yes, I have a Brother and a Dymo label printer. They are basically my fallback position. I was hoping to be able to do things like scales around a pot for example.

Reading through these posts reminded me I used to have some yellow stick on vinyl? print paper. I used to use it for printing Danger High Voltage! labels to go inside my tube gear.

Cheers

Ian

You could use the front panel express software which makes it pretty quick to do scales, then import into inkscape or similar if going the sticker route.

 

[ruffrecords]

You could use the front panel express software which makes it pretty quick to do scales, then import into inkscape or similar if going the sticker route.

That is a definite possibility. I have also had good luck in the past with Front Panel Designer which will export to pdf. Its pdf files seem to print quite accurately. I have ordered some white sticky vinyl paper to try out.

Cheers

Ian

 

[chrispbass]

That is a definite possibility. I have also had good luck in the past with Front Panel Designer which will export to pdf. Its pdf files seem to print quite accurately. I have orddered some white sticky vinyl paper to try out.

Cheers

Ian

Let us know how you get on Ian.

I’m going to try out the pcb front panel idea soon on a couple of projects.

Obviously not great for one offs, but I need 2 OFF of one design and one OFF of another. I’m going to put the one design on the reverse of the other with cross hairs for drill holes.
This will mean 2 are in effect wasted, and drilling holes but it should still be cost effective. Think it works out at about a fiver per project In my case.

On a small box though, even with a minimum order of 5, it should still work out pretty cheap and you can add any cutouts you want. Just import a dxf file into easy EDA.

 

[grid_stopper]

this probably isnt helpful for unless you own one, but if you have access to a 3d printer, you can use two different colour filaments to make a thin faceplate(as thin as you like, really. ive done as thin as 0.08mm) with inlaid image or text. very easy/quick, and looks super crisp

 

[ruffrecords]

this probably isnt helpful for unless you own one, but if you have access to a 3d printer, you can use two different colour filaments to make a thin faceplate(as thin as you like, really. ive done as thin as 0.08mm) with inlaid image or text. very easy/quick, and looks super crisp

That is a brilliant idea and a decent excuse for buying a 3D printer . You could make the base in one colour and then change filaments and add the legend on top. Very novel. Thanks for that.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Script]

3D print a faceplate. Great idea

Would have to print faceplate in two or three pieces though, depending on size of print bed. Or get a huge one to begin with.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

3D print a faceplate. Great idea

Would have to print faceplate in two or three pieces though, depending on size of print bed. Or get a huge one to begin with.

Affordable large 3D printers come only in 300x300mm. And they are painly slow compared to the smaller (235x235mm) ones.
For a 19" capability, you need an industrial printer $8+k

 

[grid_stopper]

Affordable large 3D printers come only in 300x300mm. And they are painly slow compared to the smaller (235x235mm) ones.
For a 19" capability, you need an industrial printer $8+k

this is no longer the truth. the market has changed quite a bit in the last couple years. many options for not nearly that much money!