Saturday 12 October 2024

Synthesizer Extra's No.5: PROFESSIONAL LOOKING PANELS using WATERSLIDE PAPER.

 An easy way to make your panels look really professional.

I've been doing this hobby for over 4 years now and all that time I always used black powdercoated aluminium to make my panels from and I always use a white acryllic pen to write all the labeling etc. 
It works fine but it doesn't look very professional.

For a long time I've seen people using waterslide decals to apply to their panels and it looks very slick. I wanted to try that myself so I ordered some "Water-based ink jet water transfer paper". That's what is says on the label. You can order this from AliExpress or your preferred webshop. If you Google it you'll find lots of sellers.
Make sure, if you use an inkjet printer like I do, to order transfer paper suitable for inkjet printers. It must say inkjet on the package and it must be transparent. If you use a laser printer then there's special transfer paper for that too.
There is also white transfer paper available so you can have white decals on a dark background but I'm not going any further into that.

First step: Design your panel layout.
I did my design in Photoshop. I like working with Photoshop because you can work with layers and the centimeter markings on the side are very accurate to how it will roll out of the printer.
There are also special layout design programs on the internet, like 'Schaeffer AG Front Panel Designer' which you can download for free.  There is also a free program called Inkscape which should work very well too. You can download that by clicking here. I have not worked with these yet although I intend to try them out soon.
You can find decal designs on the internet or make your own. Make sure you draw in dots for the places where you need to drill holes in the panel so you know where to drill them.
One tip I can give you is to make your panel design just a little bit smaller than the actual panel. Just a millimeter on the sides and have it start and end inbetween the holes in the panel where you screw it into the synthesizer case. That way the lacquer you apply later will seal those edges and prevent them from coming loose. 
Here's a picture to illustrate that point. You'll see in the light reflection on the top how the lacquer forms a protective layer over the edge which runs just under the mounting hole:


Btw, that panel had a typo in it, the plus signs should have been multiply signs but I still used it because it came out so well. This was the second panel I ever made using this method and it went perfectly.

Here is my first design for the Digisound-80 VCO, made in Photoshop and printed on A4 paper. (feel free to use it if you want):


I drew in the Octaves and Freq Fine control markings after measuring on the VCO where they should go so they actually indicate where the different octaves are and on the fine control where the notes are within the octave. However I used a 2M7 resistor for the fine control, not a 3M3 as recommended so my fine control covers a little more than the normal half octave. Note the dots that indicate where to drill the holes for the potmeters and sockets.

Step two: Prepare your waterslide paper.
Now print your design onto the waterslide paper. Then cut it out nice and straight. I use one of those paper cutters with a rotating knife on a rails that you can put the paper under. It guarantees a straight cut. Round off the edges a little with scissors.
Now apply a few thin coats of clear acryllic lacquer onto the paper. Make sure there's no dust or hairs on the paper and let it dry for a day. If you use a laserprinter that uses toner then you don't have to apply the lacquer. However inkjet prints are not waterproof so they must be protected with lacquer. Make sure it is well dried before moving on.

Step three: Prepare the panel.
Take the design you made and print it out again but this time on a normal piece of paper. We are going to use this to drill the holes in the right place. 
Take your panel material, in my case white powdercoated aluminium, and apply the printed design to the protection layer of the panel with doublesided tape. You can use other methodes but I find this the easiest to do. Usually the panel material will have a protection layer against scratching, if it doesn't have that just tape it to the panel but make sure it can't move.
Now use a very thin drill to make the first pilot holes. I used a 3,3mm drill but that was too big and I couldn't place the drill accurately enough which caused me some problems when I put in the potmeters. 1,5mm will be better. So make sure you drill very accurately. Then drill the holes to the right size and take off the paper/protection layer. Make sure you de-burr the holes you just drilled. There must be no upstanding edges around the holes because that will cause air pockets under the waterslide paper. 

Step four: Apply the waterslide paper to the panel.
Now take a nice big bowl and fill it 2/3rds with slightly luke warm water. Put one drop of washing up liquid in in the bowl. This decreases the water tension. (Don't make the water all bubbly from the soap because then you can't see what you're doing). Put the waterslide paper into the bowl. It will immediately curl up. Carefully roll it out with your fingers and make sure it is completely in contact with the water. The paper will straighten out. Wait about 20 seconds until the image layer can be moved over the back paper. In other words until the image can be slid off of the paper. 
MAKE SURE the image doesn't come off while it is still in the water!! Or all the glue will wash off. That's why I say 20 seconds in the water is about right.
Put a little water on the panel with your fingers to wetten it a little. Make sure the panel has been de-greased and free of fingerprints. (A little alcohol does wonders in cleaning the surface beforehand).

Now take out the waterslide paper and place it over the panel. Grip it carefully with your fingers on the top side of the panel and then slide the back layer down from under the image layer. It is important that you don't move the waterslide paper too much once it is applied to the panel because this will impact on the stickiness of the paper. The slippery stuff underneath the image layer is actually the glue so you need to make sure this is not washed away by too much movement.
There are special 'decal setting solutions' available for purchase, that will cure the layer and make for a good bonding between panel and image layer. I don't own any of that myself but I might try this later, however you don't really need it. 
Now carefully squeeze out the water underneath the waterslide image by using the backpaper as a squeegee. Carefully move it over the image layer and squeeze out any water underneath. Be careful not to crease it! This takes a bit of practise but it doesn't have to be perfect. The image layer may still look a bit rippled but that will disappear when it dries up. Make sure there are no folds though. When the water has been squeezed from under the paper, you can use a fine cloth to dry the surface of most of the water. Be very careful though. If you don't trust yourself, leave the water on top or carefully use some tissue paper. I put it on the central heating in my room and it was dry within an hour. 

Step five: The final touches.
When the panel is dry, cut out the parts that are covering the holes you drilled with a very sharp knife. Take your time with this, don't rush it. You can ruin it otherwise. Use a very sharp knife to clear the holes and make a scissor action (cut) against the metal so you don't pull on the image layer. After that you must coat it again with a few layers of clear lacquer and when that is dry you can put in all the knobs, switches and sockets. . When you put in anything that needs screwing down, and that's everything, make sure there are rings underneath so the screwing action doesn't cut into the waterslide material. This is a bit problematic with sockets because they don't come with rings, so be careful when you tighten them. (You can apply some extra layers of lacquer in those areas to protect the paper if you think it's necessary.) You can hold the screw and turn the socket or potmeter from behind the panel, do what you think works for best for you.

And that's all there is to it. Anyone with a computer and a printer can do this. I do advise to make a practise piece first and use it to hone in your skills. I went directly to making a panel and although it looks okay there are some creases here and there that are visible when the light hits it, but here is my first result:


VIDEO TUTORIALS:
I found a few video tutorials on YouTube that show the proces from beginning to end. These are all about guitar pedals but it works the same as with synthesizer panels. 
I urge you to watch these before you start, so you have a good idea of what's involved.




Okay that's it for this one. I hope this is of use to you. If you have any questions or remarks please put them in the comments below. They won't appear directly, comments are moderated, but everyone of them is answered by me. You can also post your questions in the Facebook Group for this website.

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