Question about finishing/appearance item

[repoman]

I'm wondering if anyone knows the process of how aluminum face plates are manufactured for certain pedals, IE how to go about finding someone or a business that deals in this sort of thing-

I am curious about the aluminum face plate that adorns the front of pedals such as Tym pedals or the DBA Reverberation Machine- a thin piece of aluminum that has graphics printed on the front. 

Thanks

[vigilante397]

Welcome to the forum

The most common place I've been recommended is trophy shops. Most shops that do custom engraving like trophies can work something out for you as they already have the best resources for things like that.

[patrick398]

I am looking into the same thing at the moment. For the aluminium plates themselves i think aluminium business cards could be a good way to go for 1590B as they're 60x40mm. For 1590BB i've found the 80x80mm plates look good. I have no means of cutting/sanding aluminium so things like aluminium business cards are a good resource.
As for the graphics there are a number of options:
Toner transfer and etch which i'll be trying once i've found a better toner transfer method.
Toner transfer no etch; just clear coat. I'm a fan of this as it's cheap, clean, and easy.
CNC laser engraving; seems to be getting more popular round here with the availability of relatively low cost machines
Sublimation printing; i can't find anywhere near me that could do it but could get very good results

[bluebunny]

+1 on Nathan's advice.  I've used similar services on eBay for one-off plates for the few black stomps I've done (clear waterslide on black ain't so clever...).  Here's an example:

[dennism]

Marc-

Can you point me toward a listing on ebay to get something custom "printed" like the example you showed?   Or just suggest what terms I should search for, I seem to be striking out with my guesses.   Thanks.

[bluebunny]

PMed.

[antonis]

Here's an example:

I love those unlabeled pedals...!!!

They leave me the choice of math combination X per Y (X = number of knobs where Y = number of functions) which have to be decided rather quickly on stage..