Printing on the face of gear

[junomat]

Hey!

I have a piece of gear that I'd like to print some text on the face.

Does anyone have any idea how to do this? At least the process?

Is it screen printing?

Mat

[kslight]

Screen printing/silk screening for mass made gear, small companies like boutique guitar pedal people will do water slide decals (you print on the label, peel it off and affix it with water), or you could do labels if you don't mind the sticker look. Obviously the former is not practical for a one off thing...Which is why many resort to the labelmaker embossed labels..

[junomat]

Excellent! Water slide decals it is!

Thanks so much.

[jmiller]

Electronic stores like Fry's have those decal sets that you rub pencil over to transfer the letters on to the gear. I did it on the pre's I built and although it isn't super nice looking, it kinda has a cool "prototype" look to it (enhanced by the military green primer that I painted the chassis with).

It can get rubbed off, though, if you don't clear coat over it with something. I didn't, and it hasn't been an issue but it might be on a stompbox or something. Clear nail polish would probably work.

[casey campbell]

well, if you have the patience, you can do what i used to do when i was the chief designer - builder at a small boutique guitar pedal co. i used to work at:



it's quite a process, but it looks mean and very industrial, and the letters will NEVER wear off!

when it starts looking grungy, just take some 200 grit sand paper to it!

[cgarges]

well, if you have the patience, you can do what i used to do when i was the chief designer - builder at a small boutique guitar pedal co. i used to work at:

Man, that looks totally badass!

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

[casey campbell]

well, if you have the patience, you can do what i used to do when i was the chief designer - builder at a small boutique guitar pedal co. i used to work at:

Man, that looks totally badass!

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

thanks! yeah, our clients never had to worry about lettering wearing off on the road.

it was alot of work, but totally worth it in the end.

[vvv]

On the other end of the spectrum, especially if ya just want to temporarily mark settings, try one of those fine-point white-out pens.

Actually, I marked some pre-amp settings on the Meek in my bedio and they have been on there for a cuppla years ...

[The Scum]

I seem to use a lot of silver Sharpie...it's OK for stuff that doesn't get handled too much.

As for more permanent solutions:

Dymo and Brother labelers are OK, and you can get cartridges in contrasting colors (like white letters on clear tape) for labeling things that aren't white. "Autoclave labels" are tougher than plain sticker stock...they're made to withstand being sterilized.

Then there are these:
http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRCM3?PARTPG=NNSRIT

And there are engraving services if you want stuff really clean and permanent. You might try trophy shops, and you can use companies like frontpanelexpress.com. You could use little brass plates, or even take the chassis apart, and have them engrave on the panel itself.

[ott0bot]

The engraving stuff looks rad it's done right.

Check out this guys work:
http://www.natedort.com/

His screen name on here is nate.. He does some cool work with racked PM1000 stuff and what not. You might PM him for details.

plus thread here:
http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... light=dort

He used a company called FPE, and just sent them an Illustrator file. I'd imagine most engraving companies could do this type of stuff now. I was thinking of doing this to my racked PM1000 channel strips someday.

[space_ryerson]

Depending on what you are trying to do, you can etch the face with the same acid that you would etch a circuit board with. It's a great look when done well. There's a tutorial on the diystompboxes.com forum by the user 'Slade'.

[jgimbel]

Depending on what you are trying to do, you can etch the face with the same acid that you would etch a circuit board with. It's a great look when done well. There's a tutorial on the diystompboxes.com forum by the user 'Slade'.

Here it is:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/i ... ic=80962.0

[space_ryerson]

Depending on what you are trying to do, you can etch the face with the same acid that you would etch a circuit board with. It's a great look when done well. There's a tutorial on the diystompboxes.com forum by the user 'Slade'.

Here it is:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/i ... ic=80962.0

Thanks! I was too lazy to dig up the link.

[Nate Dort]

The engraving stuff looks rad it's done right.

Check out this guys work:
http://www.natedort.com/

His screen name on here is nate.. He does some cool work with racked PM1000 stuff and what not. You might PM him for details.

plus thread here:
http://messageboard.tapeop.com/viewtopi ... light=dort

He used a company called FPE, and just sent them an Illustrator file. I'd imagine most engraving companies could do this type of stuff now. I was thinking of doing this to my racked PM1000 channel strips someday.

Actually, my personal 4-channel API pre was the only one I've had done through FPE (frontpanelexpress.com as The Scum mentioned above). They were pretty expensive for what they did though. It was around $120 for a 2U panel. Everything else I've had done has been through Prodigy Engineering, but I won't be using them again after some bad customer service on their part.