Painting panels for laser engraving

[Braeden108]

I bought some acrylic and some matte black rustoleum spray paint and attempted to spray my panel black.

 

Let me sum it up.

 

Dust, dust, and peeling probably from oil.

 

So I tried to sand it with 600 git for a better finish. That went badly. It all went badly...

 

 

Help. What kinds of paints and techniques do you guys use to paint your panels? Also I plan to engrave it with a laser cutter. (which can do engraving too)

[Thick8]

Lexmark makes plastic sheet with a black top layer specifically for laser engraving. The results are great. It is best to paint it with a matte top coat after engraving to keep it from scratching. Here's an example.

 

This one is black on translucent white. They also make black on solid white if you don't plan on backlighting.

[agrasyuk]

dust is always a problem but it is possible to minimize it. if i'm painting bare acrylic i will try to scuff the surface with fine waterpaper, finer then 600 and wipe clean to remove as much dust as possible prior to painting. don't attempt to cover it in one go. i find that my best results when i do about 3 thin layers 20-40 minutes apart (depends on temperature, paint needs to be completely dry to touch). make sure you using rustoleum that is safe for acrylic, their enamels will attack the material.

 

i no longer use white acrylic for panels however. i find material rowmark lasermax gives me much better results. my process is to cut the outline of the panel, paint (LM is still to glossy) in several layers, spraying from the angle so to cover the edges and then laser engrave .

 

as for sanding from my scale modeling projects i learned to patiently wait. give at least 24hours , better yet 3 full days for the paint to polymerize. not that i sand panels

 

good luck

[Thick8]

Correction. It's Rowmark not Lexmark.

[Braeden108]

Thanks guys

 

How do I know which is translucent and which isn't? I plan to backlight.

 

Out of curiousity does anyone know how the air force does it? Do they use plastic or glass? Glass shatters into sharp unpleasant bits but plastic burns. I hear they have a mirror finish under the paint to reflect the light better.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Braeden108

[Thick8]

I'll pull my receipt to get you the product number. The cool thing about the stuff is that there is no painting or prep work to prepare the top plate of the panel. I bought it, put it on the laser bed, then completely cut out and engraved all of my panel top plates in one pass. Almost too simple.

While it is a matte finish, Agrasyuk is right that the finish is a bit shiny. But after brush painting the edges black I put on a coat of matte picture protector paint (from Michael's) that both protects the panel and gives it an even more matte finish.

[Thick8]

Here it is:

 

JOHNSON PLASTICS No Carolina

6210-B HACKERS BEND CRT

WINSTON-SALEM,NC 27103-9501

United States of America

Sent By: Ginger Moss, Ph 800-869-7870, Fax 770-236-9625, Email gingerm@johnsonplasti

Description_______________________________________ _____________________

2.00 ENGPLAS EA 91.6800 183.36

ENGRAVING PLASTIC

** PART NUMBR: LM922401 COLOR : BLACK/TRANSLUCENT WHITE

** PLY : TWO PLY THICKNESS : 1/16

** COMMENT 1 : MFG TIME 5-10 DAYS ARO

** GA WAREHOUSE TO CUT MATERIAL **

** DOWN INTO 8 "12 X 24 SHEETS" **

** MATERIAL TO RIDE FROM MFG TO **

** GA WAREHOUSE. **

Est Material Tot: 183.36

Est Handling: 2.50

Actual Freight Will Be Billed

Est Total Quote: 185.86

[hansangb]

Hmm, I'm thinking this would work with CNC engraving, no? I'll check it out

 

thanks

[Braeden108]

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I can't find any translucent lazermax. I googled that item number and I only found another post you made. When I check the row mark website I found a product with an identical code but it ended in 2 not 1.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Braeden108

[Thick8]

It was a special order. The price was comparable to the other one as you can see.

[agrasyuk]

never tried it with "translucent" lazermax, never knew such thing existed and IMHO its all same material we are talking about. its not acrylic btw, its a variant of polystyrene with a nice layer of paint. i use normal black on white. its very thin and as such will not block light from shining through.

ADD

just visited Johnson plastics webstore, thranslucent is the normal stateof their lasermax, with transparent being the special order option . and i don't seeanything that they describe as opacue.

 

 

Hansan, lasermax will engrave perfectly, they do however have materials they position specifically for mechanical engraving

Edited November 24, 2016 by agrasyuk

[hansangb]

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. I can't find any translucent lazermax. I googled that item number and I only found another post you made. When I check the row mark website I found a product with an identical code but it ended in 2 not 1.

 

 

I just went to Johnson Plastic North Carolina site - the one reference in the receipt.

[hansangb]

--snippage--

Hansan, lasermax will engrave perfectly, they do however have materials they position specifically for mechanical engraving

 

Thank you! I ordered the final piece to put my MPCNC together. I'm really getting excite! :)

 

Hansang

[Braeden108]

never tried it with "translucent" lazermax, never knew such thing existed and IMHO its all same material we are talking about. its not acrylic btw, its a variant of polystyrene with a nice layer of paint. i use normal black on white. its very thin and as such will not block light from shining through.

ADD

just visited Johnson plastics webstore, thranslucent is the normal stateof their lasermax, with transparent being the special order option . and i don't seeanything that they describe as opacue.

 

 

Hansan, lasermax will engrave perfectly, they do however have materials they position specifically for mechanical engraving

 

 

 

That, that is gorgeous. But I don't recognize it. What aircraft is it from or is it your own design?

[Thick8]

I've seen it. I want to see how you've wired it.The panel DXF files would be great too :D

[agrasyuk]

That, that is gorgeous. But I don't recognize it. What aircraft is it from or is it your own design?

 

this is a control head of an/arc-210 radio. not modeled in DCS version of A10 as it is several upgrades behind the r eal thing, but it is present in the more current hogs. my main point though is to showcase how backlight looks through painted lasermax (airbrushed modelmaster 2040 aircraft interior black")

 

Thick8, best picture that i have of wiring is probably this: https://public.fotki.com/tankist/cockpit---/laser-engraved-panels/20151118-182346.html not to detailed however. after it was taken i managed to rearrange lighting (entirely new PCB and lightplate) to get a better distribution. buttons and backlight LEDs are all SMT now, rotaries will have their own connections.

i don't mind sharing, but its not complete set of drawings one can just copy and use. it is still WIP at this point (after all this time , yes), i can't vouch for precision, i'm not building for common elements (buttons are custom made to my strange measurements) and frankly my drawings are quite a mess. if you interested in this project and would like to try to make sense of things we can have a screenshare and discussion some evening. ping me.

[bnepethomas]

Hi Guys

 

Another approach is to use white acrylic and paint it with either a Matt Black or Satin black. Some piccies here

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=107808&page=12

 

I used three layers, the bottom used black acrylic with both switches and backlighting leds mounted on it, middle is a spacer for hiding the switch nuts along with holes for the led lighting to pass, and then the top layer is white acrylic.

 

What was a little interesting was the experience of different paint manufacturers, the cheaper ones did not come up as well as a good quality quick dry.

 

Cheers

Peter

[hansangb]

I couldn't find the pictures in the link, but it was a good read nonetheless. You certainly got it going on! :)

[Deadman]

this is what the real one looks like. If you can limit the amount of light bleed around the buttons it makes a huge difference. In viewing the panel.

[Braeden108]

Hi Guys

 

Another approach is to use white acrylic and paint it with either a Matt Black or Satin black. Some piccies here

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=107808&page=12

 

I used three layers, the bottom used black acrylic with both switches and backlighting leds mounted on it, middle is a spacer for hiding the switch nuts along with holes for the led lighting to pass, and then the top layer is white acrylic.

 

What was a little interesting was the experience of different paint manufacturers, the cheaper ones did not come up as well as a good quality quick dry.

 

Cheers

Peter

 

 

Damn good job Peter on your pit. Just one thing bugs me, the knobs on your lighting panel. I don't know if you've changed them but, if not I've found the very ones from the A-10 on digikey. Best part they're $0.61 each.

 

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&itemSeq=211238400&uq=636157127509294015

 

As well as the smaller version:

 

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&itemSeq=211238397&uq=636157217529476229

[Braeden108]

this is what the real one looks like. If you can limit the amount of light bleed around the buttons it makes a huge difference. In viewing the panel.

 

 

That's what I'm really hoping mine will look like. As for back lighting, I was planning to put my LED's down inside the enclosure, not up on the second layer like I've seen many others do. Do you think this method would work? I don't know much about the lux scale but the LED's I'd be using claim 14 lux at half a meter.

[hansangb]

Damn good job Peter on your pit. Just one thing bugs me, the knobs on your lighting panel. I don't know if you've changed them but, if not I've found the very ones from the A-10 on digikey. Best part they're $0.61 each.

 

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&itemSeq=211238400&uq=636157127509294015

 

As well as the smaller version:

 

http://www.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&itemSeq=211238397&uq=636157217529476229

 

 

Hmm, those links take you to the master search page. First link says Results: 5,374,388

[Deadman]

I am not sure what you mean by down in the enclosure? I would make the panels with as the real ones are with reliefs for the nuts and a pcb for the back that would have LEDs surface mounted on it.

That's what I'm really hoping mine will look like. As for back lighting, I was planning to put my LED's down inside the enclosure, not up on the second layer like I've seen many others do. Do you think this method would work? I don't know much about the lux scale but the LED's I'd be using claim 14 lux at half a meter.

[Braeden108]

I am not sure what you mean by down in the enclosure? I would make the panels with as the real ones are with reliefs for the nuts and a pcb for the back that would have LEDs surface mounted on it.

 

Sorry for the confusion, I'm familiar with how the it's really done. But I didn't plan for that and I don't feel like making a board for surface mounting if I don't have too. My idea was to just get some LEDs and drop them down below the panel on the bottom of this enclosure.

https://forums.eagle.ru/picture.php?albumid=1271&pictureid=8332

 

They'd be maybe an inch or two away from the panel I figure this would give me more even lighting.

[Braeden108]

Hmm, those links take you to the master search page. First link says Results: 5,374,388

 

Really? They work for me, probably because they've linked from my order/account.

 

These should work

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?keywords=GH7657-ND

 

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?keywords=GH7652-ND

 

If not here are the digikey product numbers

GH7657-ND

GH7652-ND