Decorating plastic enclosures

[destriaero]

Hey guys!

I have almost completed my first build - as common a fuzz face. Lot's of new learning - etched a pcb, debugging, etc.
Long story short, I went down to a friendly electronics store in Toronto and was searching for a reasonably priced enclosure. Found that a comparable stompbox size an aluminum Hammond was being sold as 20$, while a thick plastic enclosure was only $4.50. I think you know which one I bought. I obviously should've bought off digikey or something (I'm in Canada so stores like Small bear elec are a bit of a wait...), but I got burned before miscalculating the size I need and ending up with a matchbox sized enclosures.

Either way, Now I am wondering, is there any painting I can do on it to get it away from that boring black? Also how would I go about making labels for knobs.

Thank you in advance for all your advice!

[Paul Marossy]

They do sell spray paint made for use on plastic. Maybe you could look into that...

[davent]

You might be able to drive over to E-Sonic and pick up a Hammond 1590b or whatever sizes you need. I believe they allow pickup not sure about a minimum order though.

http://www.e-sonic.com/acc/products.aspx?command=detail&partID=1590B&partIDExt=195

http://www.e-sonic.com/acc/locations.aspx

For best prices on Hammonds in Canada, Tip Top Electronics in Winnipeg, but it will be a bit of a wait. http://www.tiptopelectronics.com/home.asp?txtQuery=1590b 

Last order from Small Bear took a week which isn't Digikey but is still really good for general mail.

Another option for a metal enclosure are electrical boxes from any hardware store.

dave

[destriaero]

Thank you guys, will check out the spray paint and thank you so much for the links. I am always on the lookout for local suppliers On that note, if anyone has any more Canadian suppliers online or not, please do tell. I am thinking of making a compilation of stores in Canada.

How do all of you do your labels?

[MikeH]

The krylon for plastics work REALLY well.  It's designed to bond to plastic so it won't flake off like regular spray paint.


And another tip:  I works awesome on plastic knobs too

[destriaero]

Yay thank you! Going to go pick up a can tomorrow. Is there something I can use to give it more of a gloss?

Anyone do their own labels for pedals?

[Top Top]

They make glossy clearcoat spray as well.

[deaconque]

I've used the krylon fusion colors with their clear coat on a few pedals, works great.

[Paul Marossy]

The krylon for plastics work REALLY well.  It's designed to bond to plastic so it won't flake off like regular spray paint.


And another tip:  I works awesome on plastic knobs too

Yeah, I think that's what I used in the past. It actually works pretty well.