MattS
Almost Aviator
Posts: 27
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Post by MattS on May 7, 2016 15:12:52 GMT
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MattS
Almost Aviator
Posts: 27
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Post by MattS on May 7, 2016 16:55:14 GMT
One more pic. This time with the button nuts oriented in the same position, and one button label fixed.
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Post by MarkH on May 7, 2016 17:08:02 GMT
That is freaking awesome! And the matching nuts show you have the right stuff
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MattS
Almost Aviator
Posts: 27
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Post by MattS on May 7, 2016 17:37:33 GMT
Now, the question is.....what to do with all the leftover buttons and switches. Hmmm....
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Post by ScottB on May 7, 2016 18:29:53 GMT
Hey! Cool idea! Thanks for posting the pics.
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MattS
Almost Aviator
Posts: 27
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Post by MattS on May 7, 2016 19:30:07 GMT
A few notes: The speaker is assembled with screws and, for whatever reason, glue. Luckily the glue isn't too strong. Once disassembled you end up with these parts I used a Dremel tool to remove most of the material from the plastic casing under where the metal mesh was. That gave me the room for the switches, buttons and rotary encoders (and wires).
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MattS
Almost Aviator
Posts: 27
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Post by MattS on May 7, 2016 19:39:11 GMT
The metal mesh was too thin and flimsy to drill and mount the hardware to, so I used automotive body filler to fill in the void and cover over the mesh holes. Sanded and painted flat black. The only problem I ran into, was drilling through the the mesh and body filler. The mesh caused the drill bits to skew a little (even though I had punched the locations). As a result, my 10 black center buttons are in a bit of a wavy line. But all in all, I'm very pleased with my first build. I burned up the first 2 cheap crap buttons I used, but after I got the soldering iron temp right, everything went together without issue. Even the dual concentric rotary encoders. Setup in Linda took all of 3 minutes. Leo Bodnar BBI-32 works flawlessly.
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Post by fairwinds47 on May 8, 2016 18:52:07 GMT
Matt, great job. How did you do the labeling? I can't tell from the picture.
R/Len
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MattS
Almost Aviator
Posts: 27
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Post by MattS on May 9, 2016 3:13:46 GMT
I used a magnetic label sheet on my inkjet. It is actually 1 long label. The spacing isn't perfect, and I might revisit it again. The metal mesh faceplate has just enough "grab" to keep the label in place.
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Post by fairwinds47 on May 9, 2016 15:23:37 GMT
Thanks for the info Matt.
One thing I've wondered, when considering panel labeling, is if anyone has had mcuh success with press on letters, with a clear paint coat to assist in "adhering" them to the panels.
Also, for panel lighting, using some sort of surface lighting such as post lights as seen on gauge type panels. I think that may be easier than trying to do back-lighting. Maybe Mark can chime in on that.
/Len
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Post by MarkH on May 9, 2016 18:39:25 GMT
Also, for panel lighting, using some sort of surface lighting such as post lights as seen on gauge type panels. I think that may be easier than trying to do back-lighting. Maybe Mark can chime in on that. Yes, I think this would be a better option. I never got back-lighting right and in the end I gave up trying. As for letraset lettering, which I presume you are referring to, that was my original thought on how I would do it. I am sure you would get good results but it may be worth looking at what other kinds of printable media there are these days. You could, for example, print black or colour on clear acetates with an inkjet printer if your panels were going to be light-coloured.
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MattS
Almost Aviator
Posts: 27
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Post by MattS on May 9, 2016 20:38:33 GMT
Any idea where you can get LED post lights? You've got me thinking.
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Post by fairwinds47 on May 9, 2016 23:36:29 GMT
Mark, the letraset or similar is what I was thinking about. Seems to me I had some experience with that 20 or 30 years ago, but memory fails. The local office supply had some the last time I was in the store, but the letters were too small, so I didn't get any. My wife has a strip type lettering machine (Brother P-touch), but the tapes are black on white. I'd probably have to order white on clear, if I can find it, but I'd like to avoid the strip tape method just for appearance sake. I like the method you have used on your Otter, but I don't have photoshop at this time.
Matt, I googled for post lights, but haven't found any so far. I think they'd have to be a DIY project. I'm sure it would be time consuming if a lot were needed. Precision Flight Controls has some nice looking ones on their console.
A lot of this stuff rattling around in the brain pan.
R/Len
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Post by fairwinds47 on May 9, 2016 23:40:46 GMT
Correction on post lamps. I should have said I didn't find any on-line that were reasonably priced.
R/Len
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Post by fairwinds47 on May 9, 2016 23:52:04 GMT
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