Custom pre-drilled eurorack faceplates?
I've looked a number of times and never really found a good solution for this. I don't like drilling metal and I'm not good at making it look perfect.
I recently built a CNC machine for someone else. I'm considering building a CNC mill for this purpose. Two questions: Does anyone know of a good place to get custom-drilled faceplates? Would anyone be interested in a faceplate service? (If so, what would you expect the price to be?)
Posted Nov 10, 2020, 12:41 AM UTC
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The home market cnc work I've seen on aluminum panels is not that great. I looked into it before I started ai synthesis and while I'm sure there have been improvements over the last few years, what I saw back then was pretty bad, and those were 2k machines. PCB is the best low cost alternative, but I will always prefer professional aluminum panels.
I was thinking about using PCBs for panels. They can look good in a lofi way, but I'm kind of worried about their durability. How do you drill your panels?
I pay a pro manufacturing company way too much money to make metal film aluminum panels, the best you can get. That way your AI diy builds will look just as good as a factory mutable, intellijel, etc..
Hmm sounds like I've found a need. What do you think would be a reasonable price for one of those panels?
BTW I love your kits
A true metal photo machine would probably tank your investment. if I were you I would start at pricing them out and then decide what you could charge and then ask for pricing. Bc my qty are low compared to the bigger played and their costings are probably cheaper than mine. But metalphoto is afaik patented, so they're going to charge you.
I've been really happy with PCB panels but I haven't put them to heavy use.
It's super convenient to use the same tools for PCB layout and panel layout -- you copy the PCB file, offset everything, adjust the board size, replace the jacks and pots with holes, remove everything else, add some labeling, and you're basically done. PCBWay even does aluminum PCBs, so you can get the convenience of PCB panels with the durability of aluminum. They're a little pricey in low quantity (but still less than shipping cost!), but it drops off quickly in volume.
Do they silkscreen or mask the aluminum side?
Yep. It's copper traces over Al board, with a thin layer of insulator (I think it's the usual PCB material) in between, and soldermask and silkscreen over the copper.
More info here.