Panel Material

[Oresther]

Hi everyone ,
i am new to the cockpit building building and after gather some money i am ready to build my 737 panels and cockpit ,  i need some help with the panels, when i was looking over the internet and youtube i saw people use a white plastic for panel building (i have a cnc machine and laser machine) , can anyone tell me please what type of plastic is it ? is it acrylic ? is it polyethylene ? please somebody tell me  , also several of the video they show  the laser machine engraving the letters when the machine is engraving the letter coming up really nice and white is it because they using several cote of paint ? or is it the type of the plastic ? the way i try to do it is to engrave the letter and then try to fill it will white acrylic paint (didn't go well ) also the panel will be back lighted

please help me
Thank You

[Trevor Hale]

Hey there.

Some people use acrylic and some don't.  I would say the majority use Acrylic. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf7tQNYqliw

They generally paint the Acrylic white and then Gray/black.

Then the Laser removes just the Gray/Black.

[Oresther]

thank you so much for the reply

is this the same process as this video ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g2ipxu-VgM

[Oresther]

hi again,

also they say in the video "Painted White With Laser Color" and "Painting Black Lightblock With Special Laser Color" where do i get this color? what names i will look it up ?

Thank You

[Trevor Hale]

LOL.  Sorry but that is likely going to have to be for you to experiment with.  Nobody will likely divulge the exact colors they use.   "Consider it proprietary information" But I would guess start with a white, and with a black and see how your laser cuts it.

Trev

[milezee]

I had reasonable success with 8mm black perspex laser cut.
I didn't undercoat but roughed up the surface with a wire brush on a dremmel, and then used Tamiya model paint – Tamiya Model Spray Paint – AS-27 Gunship Grey.

[Joe Lavery]

Hi,
You need to use cast acrylic not extruded or your laser, the white I use is just white automotive  filler coat. I build up quite a thick coat onto clear acrylic then go over that with RAL 7011, which is the colour most of us use for Boeing 737s. Then I laser engrave  through the grey to reveal the white.

If you're going to backlight the panels you'll also need to route the back of the panel using your CNC router to allow the LEDs or Bulbs to sit inside the panel. That way you'll get the best and most even illumination. Alternatively you could make a second board and mount that on stand-offs with the backlighting on that.

There's no definitive way to do this, it took me a lot of trial and error but the result is worth it. You'll end up with panels that are better than some of the cheaper ones on sale and it's satisfying to do it yourself. It is a long process but that's why panels like those from FDS are more expensive than others.

Incidentally the engraving shown was a test and isn't very sharp, later ones were much better.

Hope that  helps. 
Joe.

[m0ng00se]

I watched that simparts.de video .. some good quality panels. They have a fiber/yag laser for engraving I think, so they can accurately engrave through the paint layers. Luxury that I don't have

My method, and seems to work well for me .. I also CNC clear acrylic. I then stick a thin film of plastic 0.25mm (called plasticard in the UK) on top. I then paint it and when I engrave with a co2 laser, the 0.25 plasticard gives me nice white letters when engraving.

[Atomic_Sheep]

My method, and seems to work well for me .. I also CNC clear acrylic. I then stick a thin film of plastic 0.25mm (called plasticard in the UK) on top. I then paint it and when I engrave with a co2 laser, the 0.25 plasticard gives me nice white letters when engraving.

That sounds like an excellent idea!

[bernard S]

spray film goob first 

then white
then white

yup  then white till.you bored with it

then few coats black

then your pick of grey  .. there is no such thing as boeing grey or brown in real life they differ ..if  you back lighting think.of circles 😉  since yiu dont have machine to engrave go throphy place  and give them  coral.draw file ..

then laser engrave .. who cares of the depth .. so long as they work .  you are not building the aircraft so ambient lighting not issue nor are most using the master dimmer box

the important things are   up down left right faster slower turn and stop .plus out the window

[ifeliciano]

spray film goob first  ...

I'm sorry, but what is "film goob"?

[archen]

I watched that simparts.de video .. some good quality panels. They have a fiber/yag laser for engraving I think, so they can accurately engrave through the paint layers. Luxury that I don't have

My method, and seems to work well for me .. I also CNC clear acrylic. I then stick a thin film of plastic 0.25mm (called plasticard in the UK) on top. I then paint it and when I engrave with a co2 laser, the 0.25 plasticard gives me nice white letters when engraving.

How do you stick the plasticard to the acrylic sheet?

Does does plasticard cut well on the co2?

Is this still the method you use or did you change anything?

Planning on getting a co2 laser and want to be able to make some panels for my sim.

Br.
Anders


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