Support Forum
Production category
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Engraving Depth
FrontPanelExpress is one of the most fantastic companies I've ever dealt with. Your order/production process is great! I wish you people were around about 30years ago.
The subject says it all... is it possible to specify/reduce engraving depth in FrontDesign???
Posted By: Doug Evans on May 05, 2012 04:35AM Category: Production
:) Thank you
Not in the Designer but we can do this for you.
The standard settings for engravings are:
0.2mm deep when using tool 0.2mm
0.4mm deep for all other tools
Tool 0.2 and 0.4 are engravers with 40 degree angles. All other tools are endmills.
Those micro tools tend to break easily, which is one of the reasons you can't modify engraving depths in FPD. However, all endmills starting with tool diameter 1mm work fine (optional as dxf import and choose cavity)
Just leave a note for us in the panel properties to request the changes you would like us to do.
Thank you again for your kind words.
Diane
Posted By: Diane Haensel on May 06, 2012 01:44AM
ReplyOh I forgot, reducing the depth is not limited to a tool.
We would go in the mill program and make the changes there.
Posted By: Diane Haensel on May 06, 2012 01:47AM
ReplyThanks for the info, Diane... but I'm still somewhat confused.
I just had two small panels done and they looked great. But the source drawing for one of them was wrong and I stupidly didn't double check my drawings against the actual enclosure for errors. So I need to submit the corrected design.
On the original panel, I had legends done in Euro 5 stroke, 0.060" high text. The legends came out looking great, but I feel they're too deep (no fill-in). I'm also confused by your description of the 0.2mm tool being a 40deg tool. I looked at the engraved legends with my 10x loupe and they all appear to have been done by a square tool.
From what you said, I would assume that deeper engravings would tend to break the fragile 0.2mm tools more often. But would shallower engravings, say 0.05mm to 0.1mm, cause less breakage?
I am changing my design to use Univ 1 stroke, 0.080" text height, 120% x-scale. Would an engraving depth of 0.05mm to 0.1mm be possible with the 0.2mm tool??
Posted By: Doug Evans on May 10, 2012 04:09AM
ReplyHello Dough,
On the original panel, I had legends done in Euro 5 stroke, 0.060" high text. The legends came out looking great, but I feel they're too deep (no fill-in). I'm also confused by your description of the 0.2mm tool being a 40deg tool. I looked at the engraved legends with my 10x loupe and they all appear to have been done by a square tool.
Our hpgl tips show a picture of the available tools. Both the 0.2mm and 0.4mm tool are engravers with a 40 degree angle. You might not be able to see it with a 10x magnification.
From what you said, I would assume that deeper engravings would tend to break the fragile 0.2mm tools more often. But would shallower engravings, say 0.05mm to 0.1mm, cause less breakage?
Exactly, but shallower engravings won't hold the paint. The position tolerance of our machines is 0.05mm, which means an engraving depth of 0.05mm could be almost invisible. The Euro 5 font will be more defined in a size of 0.060" by going only 0.1mm deep but we cannot perform the paint infill.
I am changing my design to use Univ 1 stroke, 0.080" text height, 120% x-scale. Would an engraving depth of 0.05mm to 0.1mm be possible with the 0.2mm tool??
Univ1stroke in 0.080" with 1205 x-scale should work in 0.1mm depth. However, no infill paint can be applied and an additional programming charge of $15 will be added to your order (because we need to modify the milling program manually).
I hope this explains it a little more in detail. Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.
Best regards,
Diane
Posted By: Diane Haensel on May 14, 2012 09:55PM
Reply -
Powder Coat Textures
Can you provide either a stippled or crackle powder coat finish, or is the only option a smooth finish?
Posted By: glenn bilawsky on Apr 24, 2012 06:19PM Category: Production
We offer only a smooth finish so far. However, there is always the option of sending us material you provide to do the machining.
Here is how it works: Newsletter Customer Provided Material
Best regards,
Diane
Posted By: Diane Haensel on Apr 26, 2012 04:24AM
Reply -
Anodize Post-Processing
I would like to order a black anodized plate with a hole pattern and engraved lettering.The ideal finished product would be an orange finish on all cut surfaces (holes, edges and lettering) and black everywhere else. Since other parts in the assembly will be orange anodized, it would be ideal to plate the finished panels with the other components as a batch. How would an additional anodizing pass affect the original black finish?
Posted By: Bryan Booth on Apr 06, 2012 10:41PM Category: Production
Hello Bryan,
Thank you for contacting us with your inquiry.
It is potentially possible to accomplish what you are looking for with a very specialized anodizing process at a facility dedicated to these practices.
At Front Panel Express, our focus is on providing the highest quality surface finish possible, and to this end, all of our sheets come pre-anodized. This allows us to pick out any flaws in a sheet of material before machining, and we are able to keep the highest level of quality.
One way to attain a similar look to what you're after would be to begin with a sheet of orange acrylic, then paint the top surface black, then have us perform the machining.
Alternatively, you could layer a very thin layer of black aluminum on top of a thicker layer of orange aluminum to create a similar effect (orange infilling on the black panel engravings would have to suffice).
If we can provide any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to let us know.
Kindest Regards,
Paul Birkeland
Customer Service Manager
Posted By: Paul Birkeland on Apr 07, 2012 01:49AM
Reply -
milled surface of clear plex
Would the surface that is milled in the clear plexiglas be somewhat opaque rather than clear after the milling? Is it smooth or does it have mill "bite" marks?
Posted By: Jeff Wilson on Feb 27, 2012 05:18PM Category: Production
Hello Jeff,
I just went through our forum posts and noticed you never got an answer to your question. My apologies for that.
The milled plexiglas surface won't be clear and will also show the typical mill marks.
What is the application of your plexiglas part? Maybe I can suggest an alternative or provide a solution to polish the surface.
Best regards,
Diane
Posted By: Diane Haensel on Mar 26, 2012 04:41AM
Reply -
Powder coat thickness on inside cuts
Hi,
How much powder coat is deposited on the inside surfaces of holes or rectangles?
Say I have a rectangular cutout that is .4" X 1", what will be the actual opening size after the powder coating?
Thanks!
Roger
Posted By: Roger Foote on Feb 23, 2012 03:09PM Category: Production
Hello Roger,
Thank you for contacting us regarding powder coating.
The approximate thickness of the coating is 0.07mm (0.003"), so you would want to add twice this dimension to any cutouts that you are planning to have powder coated.
Do also note that we can cut objects through the panel after the panel has been powder coated, just leave us a note in the Remarks for Production and let us know what you have in mind.
Kindest Regards,
Paul Birkeland
Front Panel Express
Customer Service Manager
Posted By: Paul Birkeland on Feb 24, 2012 08:11PM
Reply -
conductive finish
Do you offer an electrically conductive finish?
Regards,
Dave
Posted By: David Davenport on Feb 11, 2012 04:37AM Category: Production
Hello Dave,
Thank you for contacting us with your inquiry.
We do offer a material that is anodized on the front surface and chromated on the back. This selection is available in the Materials drop down menu in our software.
Feel free to let us know if we can be of any additional assistance.
Kindest Regards,
Paul Birkeland
Customer Service Manager
Posted By: Paul Birkeland on Feb 15, 2012 04:21AM
ReplyHello Paul,
Thanks for pointing that out to me. The chromated back will work well since it mates with the conductive coating on the connectors that I am using. However, I would really prefer a black anodized front surface that would match the rest of the black enclosure. Is there any chance of getting a black version of the chromated panel?
Thanks,
Dave Davenport
Posted By: David Davenport on Mar 12, 2012 06:55PM
ReplyHello again Dave,
While we do not have any plans to offer the anodized/chromated material with a black anodized finish, we have successfully powder coated just the front side of several anodized/chromated panels black.
This service is available upon request, and it would meet the needs of having both a conductive finish on the rear and a black surface on the front, as well as adding the bonus that the edges of the panel are also coated black.
If we can provide any additional assistance, please do not hesitate to let us know.
Kindest Regards,
Paul
Paul Birkeland
Front Panel Express
Customer Service Manager
Posted By: Paul Birkeland on Mar 12, 2012 07:11PM
ReplyHello again Paul,
I think that powder coating the panel will work for me. I will get into the details of how to get the lettering on the powder coat when the time comes.
Thanks again, you have been a great help,
Dave
Posted By: David Davenport on Mar 12, 2012 09:42PM
Reply
