Manufacture of front panels. Scheme, description

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ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RADIO ELECTRONICS AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
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Manufacture of front panels. Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering

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Encyclopedia of radio electronics and electrical engineering / Ham Radio Technologies

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The front panel of an amateur radio electronic device mainly determines its appearance. The overall design of the panel, the choice of its material and the process of applying the necessary inscriptions usually pay a lot of attention. Computer technology can be of great help in this.

Below are several methods for manufacturing front panels, scales, nameplates and other design elements (we will refer to them as products in the future). The methods can also be useful in auto and aircraft modeling. The use of a computer allows you to replicate products, accumulate and store a bank of design documentation, and make changes to it.

To implement the described methods, you will need affordable and inexpensive materials purchased in stationery stores (sticky paper, transparent one-sided and double-sided adhesive polymer tape - adhesive tape) and office equipment consumables (BASF film for printing on inkjet and laser printers). The manufacture of products is not associated with the use of harmful, caustic and odorous substances, therefore it is quite suitable for a radio amateur's home laboratory. All this becomes possible thanks to the use of a computer equipped with any inkjet or laser printer.

First, a drawing of the future product is created on a computer with any program suitable for this - WORD, AutoCAD, OrCAD, PHOTOSHOP, etc. Then the drawing is printed in full size on paper or on A4 film (limitations are imposed by the printer). A feature of the methods is how the pattern is applied to the panel blank.

1 method. The pattern is printed by any printer on the front side of sticky paper (with a protective backing). It can be white or tinted. Gold-colored or silver-colored paper is not suitable for printing on an inkjet printer. Then the pattern is protected from drips, abrasion and contamination by lamination.

Lamination is performed by applying a hot-melt film over the pattern and ironing with a hot iron. Small drawings can be laminated with a strip of transparent single-sided tape. It is convenient to laminate with a transparent "oracal" film used in the manufacture of signboards in advertising.

Now, the backing protecting the sticky layer is removed from the sticky paper, and the pattern is carefully glued onto the workpiece, avoiding wrinkles and bubbles. Make sure that the center of the holes are aligned during the gluing process. Finally, with a sharp narrow knife, the paper on the holes is removed. Sometimes it is convenient to first stick the pattern on the workpiece so that the edges are bent to the back, and then laminated.

2 method. A mirror image is printed on an inkjet printer on a special film for printing. I use BASF film. Then double-sided tape is glued onto the film from the side of the picture. The sheet is glued onto the workpiece with the second sticky side of the adhesive tape, after removing the protective backing. The pattern will be visible from the reverse side of the film - a reverse "mirror rotation" occurs. The base of the film in this case protects the pattern on the workpiece, so lamination is not required.

If transparent tape is used, then the surface of the workpiece will be visible through the pattern. Therefore, it must be prepared in advance - painted, polished, tinted, etc. Most often, adhesive tape has a white-milk or colored base, which allows you not to worry too much about the quality of the surface of the workpiece.

This method uses an expensive medium, but it allows you to revise high quality color graphics.

3 method. It is similar to method 2, but the pattern is printed on film with a laser printer. In this case, the graphics will be black and white (or, more precisely, in two colors - black and in the color of the base of the adhesive tape or the panel blank, if it is transparent). The film for printing on a laser printer is cheaper, and the pattern is less resistant (however, after sticking to the panel, this is no longer important).

The material of the panel can be any, it is important that the adhesive tape holding the film with the pattern is firmly and durable on its surface.

In conclusion, I note that the creation of any product is a creative process, allowing many options for execution. This applies to both materials and technological methods. The choice of the optimum can only be suggested by experiment.

Author: S.Shasharin, Ulyanovsk

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