Custom printed faceplates and plastic amp logos

[Lindz]

Hello all

Moderators: I was not sure if I should post here or in For Sale as I will be offering some of these to TAG members if they want them but thought that it might be appropriate to post here given there is a fair bit of info as well - feel free move this if you feel it should be moved

Anyway I spent some time the past couple of weeks putzing with some of the toys I have at my shop, making some faceplates and plastic logos and after a bit of playing around I have managed to get some pretty cool results I wanted to share with the TAG folks

At my shop I have a large format print system for printing ski and snowboard graphics as well as a small 3d printer for prototyping various things out of plastic that I make and design for the day job. I thought I should be able to adapt both to print faceplates, grill cloth, make some plastic amp logos etc. so I started tweaking a few things and making some prototypes a while back and have had some good results

After messing with both for a few weeks I have come up with some decent looking parts that might be of interest to people here that build custom and commercial amps as well as you hobby guys like myself that just want something that looks really pro without dropping wads of cash.

The color faceplates are printed on a 70/1000" thick plastic coated with a white polyesster satin film that prints beautifully. I can print in full color at dimensions up to 23" x 11.5" so theoretically I can print in full color, photographs, subtle textures etc and because it is 11.5" I can print 4 or 5 faceplates on one sheet depending on the height of the chassis.

I also found a 25/1000" brushed gold aluminum with a glossy looking clearcoat on it that prints well and does a really nice looking Marshall metal face type faceplate. Here too I can print in full color though because I am printing on gold and there is no white ink out of the printer one has to consider that in the artwork

the first photos are a few front and back faceplates printed on the white material - I just slapped together a few graphics for the pictures so excuse my mediocre graphic designs on these. My point was to print some samples to play around with the color printing capability on these substrates - dot gain, color shift etc. They are not drilled at this point and just have index marks where the holes would go. I am still messing with my CNC to see if I can adapt it to cut the faceplate size and drill the holes.

The gold photo is the aluminum material on a 20 watt plexiish build with vvr & channel switching and a few other tweaks - looks very Marshally. Just a tiny touch of color on the Linz logo (my nickname) but I could have printed full color on the whole thing just as easily as the text or logo.

As for the plastic amp logos from the 3d printer, I have them printing nicely too - pretty close in quality to a marshall cabinet type logo - slightly rougher finish but still I think they look great. The Marshall and Gunslinger logos in this picture are both 3d prints - The Marshall does not have all the same exact subtle beveling on the letters as an original and not quite the same font but 90% of people would not notice the difference unless they were side by side. Right now I just have white filament to print white plastic but will have some different colors soon

Anyway PM me if you are interested in me making up a few faceplates or plastic logos. I'm guessing a typical faceplate will come in at about $15 assuming you print 4 at a time on one sheet and sent me ready to print art ($60 per 24" x 12" sheet (the phenolic is 23" x 11.5") = $15 per faceplate assuming a yield of 4. Same $60 price for 5 if you can squeeze 5 onto the material) Until I have my CNC working they will not be drilled but will have index marks for your holes and can be cut to individual size if you like.

If there is some demand I was thinking I might set up a small website to make purchases easier but for now just PM me and I can send info on how you would have to set up the art or discuss me perhaps doing it for you if you cannot.

The logos I would have to quote on as there are so many variables but I think I can do a custom logo that is similar in general to a 9" x 2.5" Marshall logo for about $30. Not all things can be printed easily and there are some idiosyncrasies with 3d printing that come into play so not every single thing can be printed exactly how you want it. If you have a design you want to try printing send it to me and I can have a look at it.

Lindsay

[xtian]

This is exciting! I'd love to see some macro, closeup shots that show the texture and scale (like, show next to a penny) of both the 3D and the dye sub.

Really great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

[Lindz]

Yep - some decent photos are required, and they are coming. I will post some in the next few days once I have some time to set up some lighting and my Nikon.

[Decko]

Definitely interested!

Can't wait to see the photos!

Decko[/list]

[telentubes]

VERY COOL!!!

[rock_mumbles]

Nice!!!

[Structo]

Nice!

We can always use another source for items such as these.

3D printing has intrigued me the last few years and it seems to be
improving rapidly.

Sorry if I missed it but what design software do we need to submit a face plate design to you?

[mr_hankey]

I'm very interested! I just need another month or so to figure out the layout of the front panel.

[David Root]

Looks interesting. If you can find a harder grade of aluminum that would perk my interest some.

[shoggoth]

Well I'm all over this.

a. What formats do you need for art files?
b. Is it easy to drill the plastic faceplates w/o cracking things?
c. What kind of plastic do you use for the 3d printing? What's it's melting point?
d. Do you have an idea how long it will take you to set up CNC (cutting out the square power sockets is a pain) ?

[Lindz]

I did not yet post file formats as I thought I would prepare some sort of really detailed instructions to help people not as savvy with graphic software

But for now, the programs I have for faceplate artwork are Illustrator, CorelDraw, Photoshop etc - so you could send native files from those or even a JPEG or other bitmap formats from whatever software you have. If you send a native Illustrator or Coreldraw file make sure you embed the fonts or convert to curves. Often it is easier to send a high rez JPEG or a TIFF export from your program and not worry about fonts or other incompatibility


Files should be full size at 300dpi resolution. If your faceplate is white I recommend putting crop marks or a rectangular box around the perimeter of the finished size you want it so I know how to trim it

For those of you that know color in desktop publishing software I would suggest using CMYK colors but use a "Rich Black" black as 100% black prints kind of washed out and dull. Something like C-75 M-68 Y-67 K-90 is common - gives a really nice dark black. RGB 100% black works well too but RGB colors can shift a bit more since the printer is CMYK.

for my ski/snowboard business I print custom images for customers all the time and many are noobs with graphics so I always check for glaring problems and tend to fix them up where I can so if you do not have a clue do your best and I will make sure it is OK and not simply print something that will look bad

For the 3d logos I am using PLA mostly - durable, not too toxic and for amp type logos the net result is pretty similar to a Marshall cabinet logo most would be familiar with. The 3d prints are pretty durable for an amp logo if you anchor them well to the cab with a few tabs on the back side and do not have too many really thin parts - If you look at the gunslinger logo in the picture the g's both swoop down with pretty thin material and it is still pretty strong. That said if it was on a 4 x 12 cab it could break if someone is rough with the cab and really banged it but so do Marshall logos. I was thinking I might print some samples for people to check out. I will post about this later

David - as for the aluminum I am limited to a few commercial types used for displays as the aluminum needs to be treated to accept the dye sub inks - I cannot simply go out and print on any type. So it is what it is - it looks really good but is a bit harder to drill or machine than the plastic. I found that if I use 2 sided tape to hold it flat against a piece of wood using a step drill resulted in nice clean holes. Ordinary drill bits and no back plate when drilling caused it to pucker a bit. IEC plug is a pain though as it is generally due to the square shape.

The plastic faceplates are quite easy to drill and machine and do not crack as easily as plexiglass -

I think I can get the CNC working for the aluminum with the right bits, speed and feed rate and perhaps adding a mister but I need more time to play with that so for now it would be printed faceplates that you would have to drill out the holes

[dmk]

Definitely interested in this !!

[Tone Lover]

yes this looks really interestingt I have been wanting to do some interesting graphics on a faceplate just didnt know how.
Bill

[shoggoth]

Well I'll definitely be ordering face plates & a couple of logos.

Only two more questions:

a. What's the best way to go about cutting the square hole for the power receptacle in phenolic plastic? Drill the corners and use a really tiny saw?

b. Are there limits on the kinds of shapes you can cut the 2'x1' rectangle of phenolic plastic into? I'm assuming you have to do full length strips in one direction, and then chop to the appropriate length in the other. Using up 2'x1' of material is going to require some planning for future projects

[shoggoth]

and a third question:

I've got a solid state Peavey combo that I'm thinking of gutting and using as the base for a tube amp. The chassis is 24 1/2" long.

You said your printer (I'm guessing flatbed) can do 23". Is it possible to lay out the phenolic and print black lettering on it (w/ no background) and get a 24 1/2" long white faceplate? Or is the phenolic plastic you've got not that long? Or does the printer have "lips" that prevent laying out pieces longer than 23" ?