the wondrous tales of a software guy in hardwareland

A Case Of Kickassery

Yeah, baby, I’m gonna go all panel mount on this one!

So, I got my buttons delivered 10 days ago. I also bought a PVC hard foam board, 3mm thickness. Yesterday I made a test to check how feasible (and easy/hard) it is to use it as the front panel base. And guess what? Test PASSED!

Panel 1st test - front

I did the cutout with a standard cheap cutter, no more than 5 minutes. They fit just perfectly, no wiggling at all. This is the backside, where you can see some of the cutout details, near the corners of the buttons:

Panel 1st test - back

All in all, I’m very pleased with the result. I will also buy an X-Acto (or similar) precision knife, just to feel more like a pro. But even without the right tool for the job, man, this panel rocks :-)

The only downside: the PVC board is quite flexible, which could pose a problem with the dimension I have in mind (25x18cm). I will have to use thick wood for the case sides, and probably also put a reinforcing wooden beam in the middle, to avoid the panel flexing down when I’m pushing buttons.

In case you’re interested, this seems to be the brand of my hard foam board: Caleppio Robex Creativ. It’s in German only, but you should be able to find something similar for a couple of bucks at your local hardware store.

cheers,
Aldo

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