How is frontpanel embossing done?

[MrEd]

Anyone who knows how this is done? I have found a company that can print on lexan and other plastic really cheap (for advertising), I have found a company that can make cutting dies for practically nothing. I have also tried with a die to cut holes in plastic boxes by heating the die up and pressing it through the plastic with a drill press jig. Works very well and also very cheap. Perfect for low volume series. Drilling and filing square holes is not fun...

If I could figure out a way of doing embossing on a plastic sheet I could use it with membrane domes and have front panels made quickly. The setup cost to make a front panel professionally is quite high.

MrEd

 

[7rots51]

I have found a company that can print on lexan ,I have found a company that can make cutting dies for practically nothing,die to cut holes in plastic boxes

Please give the links of these companies.

 

[trend]

Yes let me know also please.

thanks guys!

Lee

 

[MrEd]

Hi guys,

These companies are very small and I'm not sure if they have any website. I found them by checking the Yellow pages. The printing company do advertising banners and all kinds of large printouts for advertising signs etc. The lexan sheet they printed on had a perfect label look with a "bumpy" surface and they don't use ink, it is some kind of film that is applied to the surface from the printer. The film is on the smooth backside surface so it won't wear off. The die cuts the shape and also the double sided tape applied to the back. I made a little jig to align each label so they look identical.

The die is made by a company, also found in the yellow pages, that makes cutting dies for the industry. I paid them a visit to found out what it actually is and I was quite surprised to find that it was hardened steel blades that was sharpened on one side and then pressed down onto milled slits in a wood plate and dies that used heat had most wood milled out. I made two dies, one for cutting the label and one for cutting the holes in the box. Made an arrangement for a Black & Decker drill press and I'm very happy with the results. I bought a big chunk of aluminium for the die cutting the box and mounted it at the back of the die, with the milled slits done all the way through the wood at places so it had thermal contact with the aluminium block. Mounted a couple of resistors with metal housing to the aluminium block to make it hot and reasonable controlled. After a bit of testing I found a good temperature for going through the plastic with minimum "bur" (melted plastic). By pressing from the inside of the box onto another aluminium plate, it becomes a very good clean cut with a bit of melted plastic on the inside and very little on the front easily filed off.

You will need a bit of woodwork skills and tools (if you work with electronics you probably already have this) to do the setup, specially the Black & Decker press setup to align properly and consistantly.

I think there will be a "revolution" at the screenprint companies when they found out about the printing. No more messy screenprinting is needed. But they already use these dies. I asked at at the die company if this is how they cut and he said they have a lot of screenprint customers.

I have still not figured out how the embossing is done or who makes the embossed "mold".
This way of making your own labels have opened new possibilities for me, without having to fork out a smaller fortune for the startup costs the silkscreen companies charge.

MrEd

 

[cyberrat]

What is it that you are trying to put on the front panels?
Is it wording that is in the plastic? Raised or sunken?

We have an engraving machine at work, an ancient affair (think pantograph) that has a fine point that you trace over brass tiles arranged to make the words & it then engraves the front plate. OR we used to use a special film that you could put through the printer, printing an ACAD drawing onto it & it would leave (after washing in a chemical) the wording on.

however, most stuff we get the Manchester Rubber Stamp co to do.

 

[MrEd]

Hi Cyberrat,
I used to work on that engraving machine too. I used to call it typing on aluminium without tipp ex.

What I'm trying to do is embossing (raising) the plastic sheet so that I can put tactile switches under. Then you can press an embossed square and the plastics only bends there, pushing the switch. If I can manage to figure that part out without buying special machines I don't need the front panel labeling companies anymore.

Eddie

 

[abc123]

Mr.Ed,

can you let us know the company that makes the cutting die for you. I am interested in cutting holes (square, round) on the plastic project box. the setup charge for custom cutting service is way to high for us. also is it possible for you to post some picture of your cutting die ? is the temperature of the cutting die has to be uniform to cut the holes on plastic box? how hot should be?

To make a bump on the plastic front panel sheet you need a hot press machine and a mold, initial charge is high. some people use two layers of plastic sheet, top layer is the normal front panel sheet the bottom layer has holes cut for each of the flat push button switch, two layers are stacked together and is flat. you can do it with your die cut tools.

ABC123-