Warhog

And neither do I. Please don't take my comments about using painted acrylic as a criticism of anyone's work. I was just wanting to illustrate that engraving plastic is preferred for several reasons that have already been mentioned. Exactly what I was wanting to show. It is a great effect.:) It just amazes me that we come up with so many different ways to achieve the same result. Anton, thats just brilliant. I had never thought to do that. I love it..:thumbup: Question though...how do you hold your work down when you cut the backside for the backlighting? I use double sided tape and that would yank the paint off the front of the panel.

Lars, here is a sample of what I was referring to: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Laser-Rotary-Engravable-Sheet-of-Plastic-Stock-/161608087164 I buy virtually that same material from a company called Romark. Now once you have engraved and cut everything you still need to paint the edges black. I use a paint from Model Masters called "Aircraft Interior Black". Its a very close match to the engraving plastic. Its also not that dark black, its a slightly lighter shade if you can envision that. Yes I tried the painted acrylic except I use clear acrylic and paint the back of it black and then I engrave a mirror image of the letters on the backside. I do this for indicators like the Gun Ready light. The end result is a nice glossy surface with no real indication of what the lettering is until it lights up and then it really stands out. This is a good example of what I am referring to. Also, note the use of styrene for the housing. When you paint the inside of the housing black, which I haven't done in this pic yet, you don't really see the lettering until its lit. And this is what you get when its lit. But I think you were asking, have I done it the other way you were talking about. No. Its not a great way to do it as the acrylic doesn't engrave as well as a material that is made specifically for rotary engraving. I also see lots of issues with that method such as creating a uniformly even thickness of paint and then just cutting through that surface and no further. There is no room for error and I would think it would cause you to be trashing quite a few panels due to cutting to deep. One more point, I have ta real ADI and a real HSI. When I place my work beside it there is very little difference in shades of black. It is certainly not noticeable.

Please keep your posts relevant to the subject matter of this thread.:) Thank you for your consideration. John

Bad idea Lars. See email I just sent you. Thats not the professional way to create panels. You use engraving plastic.

Once I glue it all together Hans, you would be hard pressed to break anything without the use of a hammer or similar type tool. But it also depends on what you are building and how you design it structurally. I guess its all in getting to know what the limits of this material are. Another point I failed to mention is that I frequently drill and tap this material so I can eliminate the need for backing nuts. In those situations I always under drill the hole before I tap it. The threads are gripped much better that way. Just try and pull a machine screw out after doing that...impossible:smilewink:. I would not use anything thinner than.06". If I need it a bit stronger I will double up, sandwiching two pieces together with glue. The other thing I try and always keep in mind is that I'm not taking this to war so it doesn't require the degree of strength we see in most real parts. I offer this as an alternative to other more difficult to fabricate materials. It just makes it more fun this way.

Yes that would be fabulous. And as LynxDK mentioned, firing the cannon would be just awesome. Unfortunately it doesn't produce much of an effect. But having said that, the unit still makes for a super flight. I will tell you one thing, when I hit the ground in my A10C and it explode...I almost flew out of my chair:shocking:. Talk about emmersive.:lol: I'm sure we will find someone who can make changes to the audio and really take advantage of this device. And BTW, the OP is correct. We should stay on topic.

I use the Butt-kicker as well. The seat rumbles as you accelerate down the runway without needing to do anything. And then when your wheels leave the ground...WOW. You know your in the air.:thumbup: I love it. I just wish it would handle some other things like the wheels up lock. THUMP! Or when you jettison the canopy or..the list goes on. Even if it doesn't handle everything it is an excellent device and I would not be without.:) John

or its tied to the ADI which basically defines where you are.

Was it an Evergreen product Gordy? The .06" sheets? Even if it comes out of the laser like 'insert vulgar slang here" you can always cut it by hand. Many of my projects were cut by hand. its very easy to work with.:thumbup:

Peter, I made everything but the motor and the Easy Driver board. The case is made from .06" thick styrene plastic sheet. I have been trying to push people towards using this white styrene plastic for some of the cockpit components. The model railroad guys use this stuff for everything they build. Its basically a staple for model builders. But its most celebrated quality is the ease in which you can make nice looking stuff with a minimum selection of hand tools. I use my CNC mill to cut it because it's easier on my hands which now have some major arthritis in them. But most people use a sharp hobby knife, a steel rule and digital calipers to measure cut lines. Oh yes, and a supply of model glue. Tamiya has a great plastic cement and thats what I use. This is the product: http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/ I believe its available world wide.:thumbup: To show you what it can be used for I offer the following: The backing for the panel is .06" styrene just thrown together quick and dirty since its the back. The three switch levers (red, grey and green) are made from three layers of .06" thick styrene. They are glued together, wait a couple of hours and then cut them out. So one sheet of 0.06" styrene can offer many possibilities. My fire pulls are also made from this plastic:

To the great unwashed it is called the G-meter. I have posted below a link to how I built the G-meter below. It starts with the use of the duel shaft VID 28 motor and how you make use of both shafts with some aluminum and brass tubing. It then proceeds to illustrate the use of acrylic for the meter and the use of white styrene plastic for the housing. The installation of the motor involves the fabrication of two (2) PCB's that basically sandwich the motor between them. This is mostly due to the way the motor pins appear on the front of the motor housing. Jumper pins between each PCB connects the motors to the rear PCB which supports two (2) Easy Driver boards that run each of the motors inside the VID28. I think the progression of pictures on the Flickr site are pretty much self explanatory. If not, I would be happy to answer any questions. I hope you enjoy them.:)

My most sincere apologies to all that read my post #8 that used an offensive word. I have since edited that post and removed that one word. Again please accept my apology for this oversight of the forum rules. I will endevour to be more vigilant and cognizant of all my future posts as I do not wish to offend anyone nor violate forum rules in any way. Thank you all for reading this.

My pleasure Clay. I'm glad you were able to resolve the problem.:)

What I wanted to say was every one else could have use of them but not this guy. That was rather insulting. He obviously has no idea what retirement can do to a person economically. Sure I have money right now and I spend it on my hobby and also save a load of it for the up and coming "No work" stage of my life. It's just a rather touchy subject with me as I am being forced to retire due to health issues. I have had my own business for 30 years now and I will be shutting it down within year. So its not something I am looking forward to. And to insinuate that I'm a scrooge when my intent was to keep these photos alive and well for others to use and learn from, regardless of what ends up happening to me, well what can I say. He did point out one thing I was not aware of though. Apparently my Flickr site provides me with 1 TB of storage at no cost. I had no idea it was that much space. That will surely be enough storage space to document building this project. So at least I thank him for that bit of information. In light of this new information, I consider this thread closed. Thanks guys for taking the time to read this.

I think you missed the part in my OP that said "I generally have no issue with spending money to increase storage space but as I am getting close to retirement, money will become an issue soon." When you go from +$120,000 a year to $15,000 a year...you figure out the math.:mad: I guess I could sell my 24mm-105mm or 5d to pay for another account but then what would be the point of having an account. Or maybe I just keep my photos and only send them to to people I like.

The ones I purchased were Avago HCMS -2973.

I had considered reducing the size but I feel the resolution is very important and not worth sacrificing in lieu of file size. I use professional grade lenses (Canon L series) which provides extremely sharp images. That enables you to zoom in to an incredibly small area of a picture and still see excellent sharp detail. As a result, users have access to a level of detail (and information) that most pictures on the internet don't have. I use a tripod most of the time however you can sure tell when I don't:music_whistling:.

Well I have maxed out my allotted storage space on Photobucket and my Flickr account will be getting maxed out as well although that account is devoted strictly to my ADI and HSI retro fit project. I generally have no issue with spending money to increase storage space but as I am getting close to retirement, money will become an issue soon. I want these photos to be around for a long time so others can access them for ideas. I would feel really bad if half of these photos were lost because I couldn't afford to keep the site open. Are there any more photo storage sites around that you have found to be acceptable and... FREE:music_whistling: I had toyed with starting another account at Photobucket under a different user name and email address but I don't know if thats such a good idea. I wouldn't want these photo lost because they might consider this as fraudulent activity.:( But on the other hand theres no reason my wife couldn't start her own account on my PC for her photos. Shes a pitbldr as well.:music_whistling: So what do you think. Any ideas? John

They were on eBay Peter but I haven't seen them since I originally purchased them.

Hi Clay So I did some calcs based on the pics you provided. Bear in mind that because your pictures are not razor sharp pictures :music_whistling: I had to estimate the actual thickness of any particular line within a letter. Regardless, the estimates I got are pretty good for this exercise. The change in thickness of the cut line from one panel to the other using a 60 degree v bit would require a change in cutting depth 0.005". There you have it Clay. Thats what you need to be able to control to maintain consistent line thicknesses from panel to panel. Hope that helps. John

Your absolutely correct Anton. Had I been of sound mind and body at the time, I would have used the OLED's I purchased just for that purpose. But they looked so cool... I just couldn't ...you know? Something came over me :pilotfly:

Thanks Gordy. Actually, most of my panels started that way as well. It wasn't until I was getting close to finishing most of them that I decided to rebuild a couple and see how compact I could make them. My Caution Panel went from 6" deep to less than 1" deep. My AOA gauge was 4 inches deep and now it's 3/4". It all comes down to planning. And thats really hard when your not used to making things like this. When I have a finished panel sitting in front of me I can see where changes can be made. But before hand...not so much. As I got older (last year to be precise) I lost my ability to see and design in 3d. That makes it doubly difficult. But so far I have rebuilt at least five panel and they are all now under an inch. BTW, the ability to make your own PCB's, in my mind, is critical to the whole process. You need to learn how and start doing.:thumbup: And Calum, to answer your question... is this enough... They're the same ones Anton has. John

Yah I think a rebuild may be in order :music_whistling: Now that your new found skill set is available you might as well take advantage of it. BTW, you are doing extremely well Clay. You may want to think about adding a few accessories to your mill. ER11 collets are pretty small and there is not much you can do about that but what you should do is get the largest collet size they have (5/16" I think) and an end mill to match. Also see if you can find some end mills that are .375" (3/8") dia. but have a 1/4 shank. There will be quite a few times you need the larger diameter end mill so you should start thinking about it now. I also sent you a file that you might be able to make use of. John

Well thank you all for the wonderful comments. They are very much appreciated. You know it sometimes takes huge blocks of time to get a panel finished and looking just right. Or maybe you finish it and upon closer inspection you realize that "this looks like crap" and into the shitter it goes and you start all over again. But when you do get a panel that is just as you want it, it nice to see that others appreciate it as much as you do. So thanks again guys. As to getting the CMSC lit up, it will be a little bit longer wait before I'm ready to program it. I'm actually waiting until Ian has finished his work with DCS-BIOS before I get into making it functional. I didn't want to have to rewrite the code for each panel even if it is minor so I will wait. I will however post a "how to" when it is complete, assuming it doesn't burst into flames upon power up.:music_whistling: I did test the displays just to ensure they would be as awesome as I thought they would. WOW were they ever. So much so that I broke with convention on the Fuel panel and used one for it instead of a rolling tape counter. The Total Fuel Display is now a rolling OSRAM display. :thumbup:

Clay, I don't think you did anything wrong. :music_whistling: Well maybe you did. :lol::smilewink: With all the checking of your x and y axis for accuracy and reputability, did you do the same for the Z axis? What I suspect is that your process of setting zero on the Z axis is not consistent from project to project. That would account for why your fonts are thicker or thinner from one setup to another.