White lettering on black front panel - suggestions

[Dunluce978]

Building a DAC and have a Modushop case to house it, the front panel is a 10 mm Aluminium panel anodised black. I'm just wanting to add the DAC name (DDDAC) in about 5mm high letters so any suggestions of how to do that without having to send it to an engraver are appreciated.

Letraset etc. are probably a non starter unless they can be applied without showing the clear border that you can usually see around the letters.

Sorry I bought black instead of the Aluminium colour, would have been easier ;)

[danilo]

Glue on Cast or laser cut ali letters (individually unfortunately) These come in Many sizes and typefaces. Hunt about?
Screen printing could work but anodised is tricky .
Alternate B... would be no advert signage? Any real chance yer gonna forget the gizmos function?

[Macca]

Make a stencil, tape it in position, white paint straight onto the case. Not sure what paint would be best. Acrylic maybe?

[struth]

Go to a sign company they will do you a stick on one any format any size easy enough. Depends how fancy you want it

[Macca]

They come off though. Paint on metal is the laboratory look. I'm assuming that is what Al is going for. If not ignore me.

[Dunluce978]

Yes, I want a professional looking job as the case is a nice one and I want the project to look "finished" unlike my other DIY cases ;)

[alphaGT]

Stick on emblems are quite doable, but for a single unit, probably wouldn't be cost effective. A stencil with an airbrush would be excellent! Using "Auto-Air" paints, water soluble automotive paints in any color or texture you like. i.e. Flat white, gloss white, metallic white, rainbow prism white, etc. top with flat clear for durability.

And another option would be a decal. When I built model railroads I bought decal paper that will run through your ink jet printer. You design the logo on the computer and print it off, seal it and then trim as close to the lettering as possible. Float it onto the device, let dry, then spray with a Matt clear coat with an airbrush. Very permanent and done right it looks like it grew there. Practice on scrap metal to perfect your technique. Great results but a learning curve to be sure. And most ink jets cannot print in white, but you can get white decal paper.

Or, they make tiny sand blasting kits. Using a stencil you can cut the black finish to leave metallic letters.


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[YNWaN]

You can laser etch through anodising and this gives a super neat result (I've done it quite a lot). There are loads of companies on line now offering laser etching services. At one point I did offer a design and make service exactly as above but time constraints no longer make this possible.

[Marra]

I've used these guys before. Quick service and good product.

http://www.dawsonsigns.co.uk/

[Dunluce978]

Thanks for all the suggestions. The Vinyl service Marra has mentioned sounds good and also the Airbrushed stencil method might be a solution. I can probably find a custom airbrush guy somehwere that can do it, or have a go myself on the rear of the plate and if it is a disaster it will be hidden ;)

[Dunluce978]

Sorry - Double posted.

[YNWaN]

I've done sprayed logos before - you can get the paint off with cellulose thinners easily enough.

[Dunluce978]

Good to know.

[Qwin]

Building a DAC and have a Modushop case to house it, the front panel is a 10 mm Aluminium panel anodised black. I'm just wanting to add the DAC name (DDDAC) in about 5mm high letters so any suggestions of how to do that without having to send it to an engraver are appreciated.

Letraset etc. are probably a non starter unless they can be applied without showing the clear border that you can usually see around the letters.

Sorry I bought black instead of the Aluminium colour, would have been easier ;)

Genuine Letraset transfer lettering does not have any kind of border. I often use it, though getting harder to find. If you over coat it with Acrylic laquer (build up light coats) either satin or gloss it encapsulates the lettering so it can't be scratched off. You could also screen print the lettering, though if you are not experienced at this, the learning process and cost for a one off is prohibitive.

[Dunluce978]

@Qwin,

I'll check out the Letraset. I used it years ago for a few small projects and it was good, so worth a shot maybe.

[Qwin]

It's getting harder to find Letraset, the last I got off ebay was passed its shelf life and wouldn't stick, cracked and broke up when I tried to apply it.
WHSmith used to keep some basic fonts in Black, white and a couple of Gold and Silver, I've used these ok.

If you follow the link on my signature and go to my Battery Powered Phono stage project, that's letraset under acrylic lacquer on the front panel.

[Dunluce978]

The lettering on your project looks great. As you say it will be hard to get the genuine Letraset in good condition now.

[alphaGT]

I've got an alpha-numeric punch set. Probably too ugly for your front labeling project, but I find it great for making serial numbers or marking "in" and "out" on rear jacks. I've even smeared paint into the recess for visibility. Good for secondary markings.


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[Qwin]

Great tip AlphaGT!

I have a set of those punches, would work well for rear panel.
Like the idea of the paint fill.

[alphaGT]

I just transferred the serial number of a guitar to the back of the headstock, small 1/8 punch size. I taped a ruler to the surface and used it to keep it straight, and square, tapped each number with the same force, and then rubbed in with a Sharpie marker in black, on white maple. Then wiped it with alcohol on a kitchen towel, and it looks beautiful! Looks twice as good as the factory serial numbers that were a decal that I sanded off.

Where I used to work, we had small aluminum plates with peel and stick adhesive on the back, really sticky! And it as the company name, and a blank for serial number. I had a jig that I would place the card, and stamp the serial number on. Then peel and stick to the rear of our products. They looked very respectable at the time, I thought. Perhaps some thin aluminum sheet and contact cement could pull the same trick? If the steel were too thick to get a legible stamp into?


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