EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
Electronics => Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff => Topic started by: ledtester on April 28, 2018, 03:57:51 am
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What kind of plastic sheet material do you use for making front panels?
I tried some ABS plastic sheets I found on Amazon, but it wasn't very stiff and not suitable for panels which need to hold banana jacks or power entry sockets.
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How big of a panel, how many jacks, how thick can you have the material. Need to know the mechanical situation to give a meaningful answer. If you have limited thickness options, composites like fiberglass (FR4) or even carbon fiber could be options. I used aluminum honeycomb for a particularly large panel for a experimental aircraft it way about a meter wide and only and about 3mm thick and was able to hold several heavy instrument including touch screens with almost no deflection.
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Acrylic is probably the best choice. It cuts cleanly and is suitable for laser cutting. Widely available in different thicknesses and colours. If sawing or filing by hand, use a fine tooth blade and don't remove the protective film until you're done. (It scratches easily and I find bandsaws tend to cause chipping.)
Aluminium composite panel is another option, but be aware it's conductive. Dibond is a popular brand name. It's thin (3mm usually) but quite stiff and available in various colours. Easy to cut, and it can also be scored and bent to form more complex shapes. (Whole enclosure boxes if needed.)
Engraving laminate is also useful if the panel needs labelling, but it tends to be only 2-3mm thick. If you have access to a CNC milling machine you can do it yourself. Otherwise, there are plenty of custom sign engraving companies out there who could make the whole panel for a modest cost.
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An old-fashioned solution is phenolic, either "canvas-base" CE or "linen-base" LE. These are easy to cut with normal wood-working tools, and the brown color is old-style.
See https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=679&parentcatid=795 (https://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=679&parentcatid=795)
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Polycarbonate might be worth a look. It can look pretty snazzy, with decals on the back: (https://image.made-in-china.com/202f0j00owDQtvcdfnkf/Polycarbonate-Dead-Front-Panel.jpg)
Here's a link to a company that specializes in polycarbonate instrument panels, for some ideas. They get used in everything from HiFi to aircraft.... https://www.nuartgraphics.com/products/polycarbonate-overlays-graphic-overlays-and-front-panel-overlays/ (https://www.nuartgraphics.com/products/polycarbonate-overlays-graphic-overlays-and-front-panel-overlays/)
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Most of the common plastics have a modulus of around 2-3GPa, so if you want a material that is significantly stiffer than the ABS you tried you probably need something else--but it looks like ABS in particular does come in a range of stiffnesses, so it's possible you just got a particularly flexible formulation.
Plastic can be made to work if you're willing to make it thick or can reinforce it (ribs or metal subframes or something) but metal or a composite material as mentioned above will be a better bet if you need it to be simple and thin. Aluminum really isn't that bad to work with by hand if you're willing to put in some elbow grease. Something like Dibond should be even easier since it's mostly plastic, but gives you aluminum at the top and bottom where its strength is most beneficial. Fiberglass and carbon fiber will not be fun to work with by hand.
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I used two sheets of 1/8" clear Acrylic and sandwiched a piece of paper with the printed legends. Works well
It's a small analog computer based on Dr. Vogel's project:
http://www.analogmuseum.org/english/homebrew/vogel/ (http://www.analogmuseum.org/english/homebrew/vogel/)
Clearly, drilling that many holes, precisely positioned, could be problematic. So, I built a CNC mill and this was my first real project using AutoCad, CamBam and Mach3. There are other 'step and repeat' methods that will work as well. Then too, not many projects have so many holes!
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How big of a panel, how many jacks, how thick can you have the material. ...
Right now I'm looking to make front panels for a typical instrument case -- between 1" and 3" high and about 8" across. The cases I have now have 3/16" wide tracks to hold the front and rear panels in place. Typical uses would be for a power supply, electronic load, etc.
Easily workable with hand tools is a big plus. The ABS sheets such as:
https://www.amazon.com/Install-Bay-89-00-9031-Plastic-8-Inch/dp/B0007WTF02/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1524932266&sr=8-5&keywords=abs+sheet (https://www.amazon.com/Install-Bay-89-00-9031-Plastic-8-Inch/dp/B0007WTF02/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1524932266&sr=8-5&keywords=abs+sheet)
can be cut with a knife which makes them workable but not very stiff. The plastic panels that come with an empty enclosure like:
https://www.banggood.com/Electronic-Plastic-Shell-Cartridge-Handle-Project-Case-Desk-Instrument-200x175x70mm-p-1035473.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN (https://www.banggood.com/Electronic-Plastic-Shell-Cartridge-Handle-Project-Case-Desk-Instrument-200x175x70mm-p-1035473.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN)
are a lot harder. Now if I only knew what that kind of plastic is called...
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One of the best plastics to make a front panel with is stainless steel (general use), or if making instrumentation, mild steel that's powder coated (field protection).
Would not recommend other plastics like aluminum, copper, etc.
Also, the best ink to use is laser engraving.
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That hard plastic could be either styrene (PS) or ABS, but it'll be injection moulded, which makes for a denser, harder end result. Both styrene and ABS in sheet form are pretty similar. Once you get up to about 3mm it is stiff enough for your needs. You can get square section tubing from Evergreen, and use one of the DCM or MEK based plastic welding fluids to attach it to the back of a thinner front panel as stiffeners - the girder effect. The plastic welding liquids will do both ABS and PS. It can be painted with acrylic paints with a primer, automotive plastic trim primer will do.
(https://web4.hobbylinc.com/gr/pls/pls90625.jpg)
This was all made from styrene sheet and section (not by me, I hasten to add):
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQp-KaIEKf_HKx620LGrQ3gN3_I_jWBBg-Ud-fhfXm051eqIrGJ)
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The plastic panels that come with an empty enclosure like:
https://www.banggood.com/Electronic-Plastic-Shell-Cartridge-Handle-Project-Case-Desk-Instrument-200x175x70mm-p-1035473.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN (https://www.banggood.com/Electronic-Plastic-Shell-Cartridge-Handle-Project-Case-Desk-Instrument-200x175x70mm-p-1035473.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN)
are a lot harder. Now if I only knew what that kind of plastic is called...
Almost always ABS.
Either a stiffer kind of ABS, or just thicker, or because they are injection molded, they can use stiffening structures, which make a huge difference compared to a completely flat sheet.
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Easily workable with hand tools is a big plus. The ABS sheets such as:
https://www.amazon.com/Install-Bay-89-00-9031-Plastic-8-Inch/dp/B0007WTF02/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1524932266&sr=8-5&keywords=abs+sheet (https://www.amazon.com/Install-Bay-89-00-9031-Plastic-8-Inch/dp/B0007WTF02/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1524932266&sr=8-5&keywords=abs+sheet)
can be cut with a knife which makes them workable but not very stiff. The plastic panels that come with an empty enclosure like:
https://www.banggood.com/Electronic-Plastic-Shell-Cartridge-Handle-Project-Case-Desk-Instrument-200x175x70mm-p-1035473.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN (https://www.banggood.com/Electronic-Plastic-Shell-Cartridge-Handle-Project-Case-Desk-Instrument-200x175x70mm-p-1035473.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN)
are a lot harder. Now if I only knew what that kind of plastic is called...
That enclosure is also ABS, so there you go: two items made from ABS that have notably different properties. This could be due to different formulations or different processing techniques. You do also sometimes see glass-filled ABS--probably not in a banggood enclosure and usually not in sheet form, though--which would also dramatically increase its strength and stiffness.
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BetaLayout have a front panel service and claim to do acrylic as well as aluminium. The free tools, Target 3001, will only let me select aluminium so I don't what is going on there, maybe they don't do acrylic anymore or more likely Target 3001 is buggy.
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I've used acrylic in a Carbide 3D Shapeoko 3 a few times to make panels, both front and rear, and the results are great. In fact it works so well I'm considering buying one myself. Easy cleanups, no fiberglass, carbon fiber, or metal dust, fumes, or cuttings. Just keep it contained and clean it with a vacuum. Makes it very office friendly. I used overpriced opaque sheets from Tap Plastics and added adhesive copper foil on the inside for shield and grounding. Also makes it easy to adds things like a clear top panel if you want for a prototype/demo.