Steel enclosure text & graphics û Etching / labelling / Engraving

[fredUK]

I am currently looking into the available options for applying text and possibly graphics to enclosures (300H x 300W x 210D).

The enclosures are to be Stainless steel or painted sheet steel, depending on what options are available for either in terms of quality and cost. The annual quantities we are looking for is approximately 50-off. Initial tooling cost can be high, as long as we can get the unit cost down.

Does anyone have any idea of what the best solution would be for each material? Does anyone know what method they use for applying text on cars? The enclosure chosen is likely to be stainless steel, if there is a good solution to applying text (and possibly graphics) on the enclosure.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Full color or B/W? You can go with screen printing for color, and lasering for B/W.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[itsmoked]

The standard is silk screening. I have found it very hard to find and keep competent screeners though.

The last few days I have been working with a graphics house to see if they can come up with a stencil by using their knife cutter to cut a peel-off stencil. Then I can just plaster it onto my box face, spray paint it, and after waiting a bit, peel it off, and have a silk screen job, without the huge hassle.

I hope it works as then I could email the art off and get back, in the mail, my stencil. Then hunt up a can of paint the color I want, and poof - have what I want - on my time schedule without driving all over, or shipping panel doors.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[mcgyvr]

Silkscreening for sure.
Supplies are cheap (Under $150 USD to get all you need). 1 screen, 1 can (quart is plenty) of paint, 1 squeegee, 1 can of screen cleaner/rags and some fixturing to keep the screen about .125" off the face of the enclosure. It is an art form but its pretty easy to learn and be able to produce quality marks in little time. Just remember use a sharp squeegee blade dragged through the paint at about a 45 deg angle in 1 nice pass.

I'd stay away from lasers if you plan on painted steel. Stainless steel maybe but silkscreening is a much better option.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Lasering has its advantages (if you were in the US I would offer my services)... on stainless, a YAG will etch the metal itself with a very dark mark, a CO2 (what I currently) is combined with a marking frit to make a black mark (other colors available) that bonds with the steel (to remove the mark you need to remove steel along with it). The lasered marks will also hold up to high heat (cherry red hot) and nasty chemical environments, and while the heat resistance is not necessarily a useful trait on a control panel, it's very useful on panels marking piping branches in chemical plants, controls, etc. Silkscreens may wipe right off with the right chemicals or enough handling.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[itsmoked]

Dan; How about fiberglass enclosures?

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[MikeHalloran]

>>>stencil. Then I can just plaster it onto my box face, spray paint it, and <<<

Before you spray color, spray a film of clear to stop the color from bleeding under the cut edges.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[MikeHalloran]

Our Trumpf CNC punch has a sort of engraving tool that we use to put part numbers on (unexposed parts of) aluminum and stainless panels.

When it's done, it looks as if someone placed a prick punch very precisely over a lettering template at precisely spaced fine intervals and whacked it very precisely with a very precise hammer. The lettering is deep enough to still be visible under powder coat.

I said precisely, not gently; it leaves a burnished witness mark on the far side where an anvil was supporting the stock, and crushed the texture out of the surface.

Every operation of that machine, including this one, is scary fast; you don't really hear the individual hammer blows.

But it's precise enough that you could do crisp lines to outline graphics with it.

Trumpf also offers embossing and beading tools, so you could press your company logo into the sheet, stuff like that.

Also, talk to a laser cutting service. If they crank the power down, they can do fairly high resolution, permanent graphics without burning holes through the sheet.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Keith,

Bare fiberglass is a tough one for low-power CO2 systems (less than several hundred watts), though not impossible. Cutting is all but impossible with a lower-power unit, leading to heaving charring of the cut edge.

If the fiberglass has a coating (such as soldermask on an FR4 PCB), the etch can be quite nice, as the near-white fiberglass is a fairly stark contrast to the colored soldermask, and the resolution is reasonably high (300dpi is a no-brainer, and you may be able to get 500-600 dpi without issue). For a bit of texture you can etch deeper and remove the epoxy until the first bit of fiberglass is hit, but you hit a brick wall at that point.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[itsmoked]

Dan, You realize I am just talking about labeling - permanently changing the color? Not drilling/cutting.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Keith,

See the second paragraph of my last reply... it's about engraving. If the fiberglass is coated with something colored that can be etched away, or if the resin is impregnated with a color that can be bleached by the laser, you have options. Otherwise your best bet is to create the engraving by charring the fiberglass... not pretty, and not of a high resolution.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[itsmoked]

Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarification. I actually need to look at the latest box and see what it looks like, to see if it fits your etchable description. I think most of these boxes are goo with a little glass inside it. I don't think there is really any glass close to the surface. Most of the time you would never guess the boxes had anything to do with fiberglass when you look at them.

I'll see if I can get a picture of it.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[nornrich]

The other option depends on what you have going on inside and on the box. We have gone to a membrane switch label for one of our customers. The label is fairly expensive in lower volumes, but when you figure out the elimination of buttons, spacers and labor, machining, plus the flexibility of mounting your control board elsewhere in the box, the membrane makes financial, functional and cosmetic sense. Plus it opens up the world of four color graphics and texturing. In the 50 unit range we have gotten membrane labels down to about $20 each. We initially had a discussion internally about the reliability of the membrane, due to the bad reputation they had when first introduced to the market, but we have had very good reliability.

Rich.....

Richard Nornhold, PE

http://www.ovenind.com

 

[awood]

As nornrich suggested, the membrane or overlay is practical and something we have only recently considered here. After initial tooling cost, which isn't extortionate anyway, unit price tends to be quite reasonable.

A few places to try in the UK are Fascia Graphics, APEM and IGT Industries.

A single overlay with no holes and 2 colours would be very cost-effective. It's certainly an option I think you should explore!

Cheers