How to make professional looking front panels

[@mschwage]

SUPER brilliant!!! I have a project with a single LED display, and I was wondering how I would make a good looking bezel for it. Your technique here for the display will give me a nice finished edge. Thanks!

[@GenePavlovsky]

Nice video. When applying the sticker, it's good to go from one side to the other slowly, and to press it down with something (special roller, squeegee, credit card). Otherwise you might have trapped bubbles

[@homelessrobot]

"You want holes in your project, not yourself" Well, that is an interesting little cut you have on that thumb you are using as a guide. It looks like recent experience is a great teacher :P

[@stevenreynolds2580]

Nice project love the simplicity and great tutorial have been looking for ways to make some switch panel labels for a camper-van, This will do nicely thanks

[@stuartmcconnachie]

You can also use a laminator to make a more durable label. If you require a window, cut the hole in the paper before you laminate it. Stick on with glue or double sided tape.

[@jeffersonjanaina3671]

thanks for posting this.. labeled switches etc, are More important than what goes on, on the inside.

[@immortalsofar5314]

Thanks for this. I've got 3 LiFePO4 packs that look like something from a drug smuggling operation. I've found the perfect box for them (a Homebase Black and Decker toolbox for £20). It looks great but I really need to add some labels to it.

[@jaydee2559]

Thanks, learnt a few tips from this :-)

[@xXxDJDANxXx1]

Thank-you. Help me with one of projects 🙂

[@mschwage]

Great video. A little scary with the mid-air drilling, though. I once didn't get my finger far enough out of the way... and on more than one occasion, I've had the drill grab my case (it happens more often with aluminum). I recommend drilling on top of an old 2x4 chunk of lumber.

[@NearFarMedia]

Yeah, I do that now. :) Aluminium is bad for grabbing, soft enough for the drill bit to bite deep, strong enough to hold on and not let go...

[@GenePavlovsky]

I also thought so. Also, had experience in the past where the object being drilled just broke from too much pressure (from the drill)

[@timkemp]

Packing tape or clear shelf liner over the top of the paper will greatly improve the durability of your label.

[@NearFarMedia]

Yeah, the trick is finding the stuff here in Japan. Packing tape is good for smaller projects, but this one was juuuust a bit too big.

[@GenePavlovsky]

@@NearFarMedia Maybe just spray clear acrylic lacquer on the paper? Or apply it with a brush (I use clear acrylic nail polish top coat)

[@pir869]

Ink jet printer media ,the ink will bleed over time,i printed pcb layouts and it bled over the period of 3-4 yrs,it may seem a long time but you want it to stay intact,laser printers are the best,colour laser printers are horrendously expensive. The best method so far i have seen for good diy panel marking is laser printable water slide,it comes in colour or clear and you have to clear or satin coat over it,but it wont ever bleed,it might chip,but then you can as you did plastic coat it.

[@NearFarMedia]

Yeah, I want to try the waterslide decals. I'm actually trying to find an easy way to apply white lettering to front panels to restore HP and Tektronix equipment. Too bad white laser printer toner isn't more common...

[@livvy94]

How do you print off the design so precisely? Windows Photo Viewer always resizes it whenever I try

[@NearFarMedia]

I print from Adobe Acrobat, Illustrator, or CAD software like Rhinoceros 3D, but you could use Microsoft Office, Inkscape, GIMP, or almost any other vector or graphics software you can find.

[@mac_uk5464]

can put a link for the paper stuff & sticky you mention, please.

[@Rangvishwa_Enterprises]

nice video

[@kulcsarzoltan1410]

This is a nice job.

[@043SECTOR5]

What software did you use to make the drawing of the label ?

[@NearFarMedia]

From memory I would have used Adobe Illustrator, but any graphics software would work ok.

[@EmbSysDev]

Neat work !

[@tastymacification]

Good ideas here. Thanks!

[@reverse_engineered]

Great job on the video, quite comprehensive. There were a couple of things you skipped, though, that I wish I would have seen. You said you made the opening square with a file. What kind of file did you use? Are there any tricks to getting a nice, clean edge? Also, how did you eventually cut out the holes in the label for the terminals and switch?

[@NearFarMedia]

To smooth out the square hole, I just used a flat file to carefully make the edges straight. For the holes, I just cut them out with the same knife I used for the square hole..

[@GenePavlovsky]

He's an electrician, so he can make a nice straight edge with a file with no tricks. Just practice and practice, I guess! File to the line.

[@hossammoghrabi1021]

what is that sticky paper? can a cheap printer print on it?

[@mschwage]

Should be available at any office supply store. Avery makes sheets of label paper for printers.

[@matthewreynolds8025]

Where did you get the enclosure? can you provide a link?

[@alfredcalleja450]

Thank you: brilliant!

[@jago5300]

Educational nice

[@brucewoods9377]

Where did you get that enclosure?. Link please

[@friedmule5403]

To cut square holes, maybe you could bye a cheap scroll saw and use that together with some fine files?

[@stephendarling5876]

Hi. What cad design software do you use to design the panel please?

[@NearFarMedia]

I use Rhinoceros 3D but any vector drawing software that allows you to draw to measured sizes and print at 1:1 scale will do the job.

[@stephendarling5876]

OK Great. Thank you

[@liammc47]

For a simple panel, like this, the drawing tools in MS Word work well (if you have Office anyway).

[@bassreaper7779]

Front Panel Designer.........www.frontpanelexpress.com/downloads/front_panel_designer/

[@movax20h]

Really nice cutting mat! Is it ESD disspaiting thing? If so can I know the brand name?

[@NearFarMedia]

It's not specifically ESD, but I have it on a larger ESD mat that covers my whole bench. It's one I bought in Japan from the hardware store called 'Viva Home'.

[@liammc47]

Can you point me towards a source of the panel nibblers?

[@badhonebrahim7707]

Search LCR Meter

[@liammc47]

Did that. No nibblers in the results

[@daviddavidson1372]

Link to enclosure. Thanks.

[@NearFarMedia]

I can't find it on ebay anymore unfortunately, but I'm sure the likes of Hammond or Takachi etc would have something similar I'm sure.

[@daviddavidson1372]

@@NearFarMedia yeah.i found one similar....Thanks great video

[@bassreaper7779]

@@daviddavidson1372 How about a link to the one you found.

[@daviddavidson1372]

www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-PACTEC-Plastic-Electronic-Handheld-Enclosures-Case-Model- Saids out of stock. But sure you can fine them somewhere else. HP-9VB/253851468292?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

[@bjl1000]

well there's 17:34 wasted!

[@NearFarMedia]

Sorry to be a disappointment, but it seems you still watched the entire video anyway. :)

[@typedef_]

"professional"