Panel (outsourcing)

Outsourcing panels produces professional quality, especially for small scale analog-synth manufacture. Some of the firms listed here have been successfully used by well know synth brands.

Sheet metal

Cutting, drilling and inscribing

Europe

• Fahrion GmbH
• Fractory Ltd
• Frontpanels.de
• GravoPrintec
• Grawart
• Polychromal
• Schaeffer AG, provides the free Front Panel Designer program.
• KnK MeFab
• Silmor, silk screen printing

UK

• The Beast UK Ltd
• PCB-Pool
• Re:Synthesis, Moog style panels.
• Screencraft
• Meface Ltd

USA

• ALCO Metal Fab Inc., electronic sheet-metal specialist. Can do powdercoating and screenprinting.
• Cam Expert, as good as Front Panel Express, 30% cheaper and they can do work that FPE cant like anodizing after machining.
• Epinasty Metal Works
• Front Panel Express LLC, and Canada. Well-known maker of low-production metal front panels, provides Front Panel Designer program free. Engraving and paint-filling are available. Is a division of the German firm Schaeffer, which offers a similar service in Europe.
• Hubs
• Lasergist
• Metalphoto of Cincinnati
• OSH cut
• Pretty Lil Panels
• SendCutSend LLC

China

• AllPCB
• PCBWay

Painting and printing

Metalprint is a commonplace process that prints color ink on aluminum, which is then anodized into place. The result is a very high-resolution artwork, better than screenprinting, and tougher than other methods because the anodized oxide coating is very tough and protects the artwork. Many companies offer this service. They typically do not perform drilling, punching, or other sheet-metal fabrication; such operations would have to be performed by a sheet-metal specialist or by the manufacturer. Most Dotcom and all Doepfer module panels are made with the metalprint process.

Europe

• KBA

UK

• Metallurgy 4

USA

• Bay Photo
• Image Wizards
• Metal Mural
• Nor-Cal Powder Coating, powder coater with considerable experience in electronic sheet-metal coating.
• Chemi-Graphic, offers screenprinting and chemical etching on metals or other materials.

PCB

Main article: PCB front panels

Far cheaper than aluminium, use a PCB fab house to produce 3 mm FR4 panels. Also fiberglass is lighter and stiffer than aluminium. BugBrand synths panels were manufactured using this method, the copper layer and soldermask to the front, with silk-screened labeling. PCB front panels need to be designed for normal PCB fabrication.

PCB fab houses known to have been used for PCB front panels

• DirtyPCBs
• ITEAD
• JLCPCB
• Oshpark
• Pcbcart
• PCBWay
• Seeed

Method

Videos

• Designing eurorack panels using Kicad, Freecad and Librecad by Nic N
• Creating Custom Eurorack Panels Part 1 by Nick Gallagher
• Use PCBs to Make Awesome Modular Panels - Part 1 The Passive Multiple by eurorackDIY

Texts

• PCB material front panels advice, Mod Wiggler forum, Jul 2013
• KiCad templates for Euro front panels?, Mod Wiggler forum, Aug 2017
• How To Build Beautiful Enclosures From FR4 — Aka PCBs by Voja Antonic, Hackaday
• Mutable Instruments Clouds PCB Panel by Richard Hogben, Hackaday
• Kicad FR4 Panels using planes / copper area’s, Quinie.nl, 15 Oct 2022
• Making panels in Kicad from DXF, Quinie.nl, 22 Dec 2020
• A tutorial on "Make Noise" style indicator lights and designing an illuminated blind plate using KiCad, Threetom Modular Synthesizers

See also

• Panel (homebrew)

References

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Mod Wiggler Wiki:Manufacturing (View authors).

External links

• Front Panel Designer
• Schaeffer, Front panel Designers tips and tricks, electro-music.com forum, Oct. 2007
• The Holy Grail of Front Panels?, YouTube, economical aluminium front panel production by pcbway.com

FR4

• PCB material front panels advice, Mod Wiggler forum, Jul 2013