Show Your Letter Stamped Enclosures

[swever]

Here's my first attempt. Cyrillic letters ftw



Then I added a name. This word is a goofy, inappropriate in this context translation of the word "compressor" that sounds like machine translation.





I have to say I'm really liking the result. In fact, this is my first successful attempt at applying text/graphics and "finishing" an enclosure. Neither etching, spray painting nor toner transfer have ever worked for me.

I used a steel block anvil so the enclosure does not get bent when stamped. After stamping I painted the letters with a black paint marker, and then lightly sanded the whole surface with a fine sanding sponge pad. I think I will not even bother to clear coat it and let it oxidize and get scratched. I am sure it is only going to add to the character.

[thermionix]

I guess Gro is volume?

[swever]

Correct! Гро is Громкость which literally means Loudness.

[duck_arse]

it's a good looking thing. are you going to have a single double-stamped letter on each build? (would have been extra points if that one read "CNC".)

[swever]

Heh. Well, there is a nonzero chance I get more double stamped letters in future builds if I decide to do stamping after having a few beers. Not sure how many beers that should be to make CNC in place of one letter, though!   

[Plexi]

Good looking job..!
Tell more about the method, I'm curious!

[swever]

Thanks! There is only so much to tell, really. It's actually pretty simple. I mean, if I can do it... 

You want to make sure you have something heavy and flat under the enclose - directly under the wall that gets stamped. Otherwise the whole thing gets bent badly (a mistake I made when I first tried stamping - on my test enclosure lid). I was lucky to be able to get a piece of stainless steel cut to my custom dimensions in the company where I work. I made it 30x50x80 mm so that it is suitable for 1590a, b and bb.

I am yet to find the best surface to work on. My first guess was that it has to be something heavy and stable under that piece of steel. I used the concrete floor on my balcony but there was a lot of recoil. Maybe something a bit more ductile will work better. But it still has to be stable - a jumpy table will not be a good option I guess. For the same reason they say it's best to use a brass hammer as it reduces recoil. I used a 450g steel hammer. Too small/lightweight hammer will not work very well, obviously.

I didn't manage to make each imprint with just one good hit - took me 4-6 for each letter. It's actually not too hard to keep the stamp in position once you have at least a shallow imprint after the first hit – just have to make sure it locked in the previous imprint before hitting again. I obviously did not do that well enough when I was doing the first С.

I started with the knob names. I knew each one was going to be three letters long so I started with the center letter and the moved outwards from there. The same with СВЕВЕР except that it has an even number of letters, so I positioned the two center letters accordingly. I did not do any real planning before I started – did not draw or tape any lines or individual letter positions. Maybe I will try that next time.

[EBK]

Maybe put a mouse pad under the piece of steel.  Might absorb just enough of the shock without affecting the result.

[pruttelherrie]

Tight Mettol clone:


Zeke clone:


Barbershop clone:


As you can see, I made a mistake on the "HANDMADE" and just kept it that way, adds a bit of handmade charm 

[swever]

My second letter stamped thing. A ROG Splitter-Blend with true bypass I just finished building for a friend who plays bass.

[Fancy Lime]

Hey Alexander,

that looks fantastic! Gotta get me some of them letter punches.

Andy

[Plexi]

Love it..!
I'll looking for some stamp letters.

Any advise, than firm base under the stamp area?

[swever]

Thanks guys! 

Plexi, I'd check forge equipment suppliers. They may have something that may work.
Other than that, I'd just look for some company that can cut you a steel block of your size.

[swever]

A darkglass b3k clone

[davent]

Lost to the ether that is photobucket so here we go again. A bit of a different take. Originally posted in 2013.








dave

[thermionix]

That's awesome, how did you do the riveted sheet metal texture?

[bluebunny]

Lost to the ether that is photobucket so here we go again.

Worth repeating.   

That's awesome, how did you do the riveted sheet metal texture?

Yes, do tell!

[davent]

Thanks guys! The enclosure is covered with aluminum tape sold in the heating/cooling section of the hardware store. I'd cut a small piece roll a toothed embossing wheel around the perimeter for rivets then stick it on, over and over again.



Bought mine at an art supply store, my mom had one which she probably bought at a fabric shop.

A pile of pictures i can still see using the 'photobucket fix' and and a long detailed account of all the tricks from way back in this post.

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=36392.msg896346#msg896346

Tools; aluminum duct tape, embossing wheel, steel rule, heavy razor knife, cutting matt and India Ink. You cut out a well-squared, random sized rectangle of aluminum tape, 'rivet' the perimeter with the embossing wheel working on top of the soft cutting matt, peel the back off the tape and stick it to the enclosure. Continue cutting, embossing and sticking until the enclosure is covered, that's it.. then you get to play.

Added more texture to the individual panels by pressing files and rasps into the tape, used the thread of screws and bolts to leave an impression, hammer and a nail, anything handy that would leave an impression in the tape. Rolling a round rasp over the tape left an interesting pattern, used that for the back. The punching of letters was nasty, the Hammond enclosure was much harder then expected and needed a far harder whack to leave a good imprint then i was willing to deliver. Should have done the lettering to the tape before putting that panel on the box. At this point burnished the tape down with a brayer to ensure good contact with the enclosure.


Once textured, painted it all over with India Ink, let it dry a bit then wiped it off with paper towel, do that a few times until you get what you want. At this point i'll do an "isolation" clearcoat with a mix of GAC200/Airbrush Medium to protect the ink layer so if i don't like what goes on next i can hopefully remove it without messing up the earlier efforts. (The first go round i reached a point where i didn't like how it was going so used acetone and a scrub brush to take it back to the undressed tape.) After the ink-  it's paint  splatter, stencil, stamp, rub the paint around with your fingers, wipe it off before it's totally dried, (working one colour at a time let it dry before doing another so you don't get mud.. unless of course that's what's called for), sand it chew it up some more, there's some very old dried out dry transfers buried on there, anything goes really... Lots of isolation coats done through the colouring process.

Knobs and bezel thrown in a can of screws and bolts, shaken up, not enough damage so used files and sandpaper to chew things up more. I wanted to use gravel in the  can but at this time of year around here, no dice. Follow that with the India Ink treatment. These bits and the enclosure are lacquered, (waterbased).

Switch plunger-cap got roughed with sandpaper and a file and finally the  India Ink, lacquer

Brass hardware, ammonia fumed.

Switch's and jacks' nuts/washers, propane torched.

Some more play with the punches, used as stamps but i did get around to using them as punches.



How do you turn an image, should be 90 counter clockwise.





dave

[thermionix]

Thanks for the explanation Dave!  I figured you had stuck something on that box as opposed to etching or whittling it down somehow.

I need to get a set of those stamps.  I've seen them in Brownells catalogs, but I bet they're cheaper somewhere else.

[brianq]

Do yourself a favor & don't ever buy cheap punch sets, one of those "you get what you pay for" mistakes waiting to happen....


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