Experiments with toner transfer onto anodised aluminium

[frequencycentral]

I'm building a Eurorack modular synth this year. I bought a Schroff 19" Eurorack and blank panels, the panels are anodised, which means they won't etch (believe me, I've tried). However, the anodisation means that they take transfer better than stock aluminium......hmmm, a plan is forming in my brain cell.....

So this was yesterday's attempt:





The toner didn't take in a few places, as you can see. As there is actually not so much toner, that may be the issue, as the photo paper wasn't adhering so well to the panel. So I thought I'd try again today with a more toner rich graphic:





Now that's a win! Perfectamundo! This anodised doodad is really fcuking tough, sanding by hand doesn't touch it. As is the toner once transferred to it. I think the heat process makes some sort of permanent bond. I cleaned off yesterday's panel, but there's still a weird really faint shadow....

On the finished panel the toner is a little grey, but a light rubbing with nail varnish remover blackens it up - I've found on the previous attempt that I have to rub incredibly hard to get the toner to come off, so I think it will be resiliant enough to last.

[earthtonesaudio]

Cool!

...and LOL at th FC->UK logo.   

[daverdave]

Looks nice Rick, take it you're starting with the ADSR?

I can never seem to build up the enthusiasm to actually paint or finish most of the stuff I make these days, think I'm procrastinating more as I get older.

Will somet harsh like isoproprynol take it off?

[frequencycentral]

Looks nice Rick, take it you're starting with the ADSR?

I'm modular already. The original idea with buying the Eurorack was to rehouse this:




.....which I built 15 years ago. It's a combination of Roland, Moog and Oberheim modules. Works great but looks even worse in real life than it does in the photos. Though the more I think about it the more impractical it will be to rehouse those modules into the Eurorack, so I'm just going to rehouse the VCOs and VCFs, the rest will be harvested for parts and rebuilt. The ADSR was the first. I've done a nice layout for the Roland 100m ADSR if anyone's interested, and I've been selling a few etched PCBs for it too: http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49355

My next side project is a modular version of the TAPLFO2 with external voltage control of all features, I'm planning to do some partial kits including chips and crystals once I've verified my PCBs: http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49661

....and yeah, frequencycentral won't really fit across a Euro panel, so my Euro tag is FC>UK, which is a source of great amusement to me.......

[daverdave]

Wow man, I think it looks pretty badass, kinda 50s sci-fi. Although I'd love to see the finished article.