Ideas Needed for Instrument Panel Labels

[cliffy]

Need some input on what/how to use for making the instrument panel labels for switches and C/Bs and required placards 

Many engrave the words but what are some other ideas?  Vinyl labels custom made? NO Dymo labels allowed :-)

Engraved plastic plaques? 

Ideas needed please   Think outside the box as the panel surface may be outside the box also. 

[chriscalandro]

Sticker paper and a color printer. 

[PT20J]

If you get engraved placards, get plastic and not metal. The radio shop that worked on the museum DC-3 made metal engraved placards — black base color with the legends silver metal where the black was engraved away. They look great until the sun shines on them and the glare from the metal makes them illegible. I replaced them with labels made on a pTouch label maker.

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[EricJ]

If you're getting new panels cut have them silk-screened or whatever the latest process is for printing on things like that.

[cliffy]

Color in bright sun I can see could be an issue   Had plastic plaques on the old panel (brown with white engraved letters) 

pTouch I don't know about but will look into

Hadn't thought about silk screen  That's one idea

Any more ideas floating around out there?

[LANCECASPER]

The last panel I had done a little over a year ago (on the airplane that I sold in November) they powdercoated a thick layer of white underneath the gray color that I wanted. The CNC machine was able to engrave just through the gray and into the white so that the white letters came out nice.

 

 

 

[Browncbr1]

You could 3D print labels.  If it’s a black panel, use black filament.  Relief a border line around text and relief text to same elevation.  Once print is above base elevation, switch filament to white or silver.  
 

ive also Cnc laser etched and the result is very nice.  See how I did my yoke emblem.  

Edited February 6, 2022 by Browncbr1

[alextstone]

The last panel I had done a little over a year ago (on the airplane that I sold in November) they powdercoated a thick layer of white underneath the gray color that I wanted. The CNC machine was able to engrave just through the gray and into the white so that the white letters came out nice.
 

 
 

"That's a real nice panel you have there, Clark, real nice!"

Sent from my Pixel 5a using Tapatalk

[Andy95W]

Cliffy- probably the most cost-effective option that actually looks decent is the Brother P-Touch.  The one below costs about $35.  The two tape options I use most often are Black on Clear, and White on Black.

The key to make it look good is to trim as closely as possible around the lettering, otherwise the plastic tape will reflect too much light and be noticeable.  Trimmed down (like mine, below) is a bunch of extra work, but worth it.

You'll be out only about $45 total, and you can label stuff around the house until your wife tells you to stop.

 

[PT20J]

6 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

The last panel I had done a little over a year ago (on the airplane that I sold in November) they powdercoated a thick layer of white underneath the gray color that I wanted. The CNC machine was able to engrave just through the gray and into the white so that the white letters came out nice.

 

 

 

That’s the way the pro panel makers do it now. I believe they use a laser to burn through the top powder coat to expose the white beneath. Looks really sharp if you are having a panel fabricated. 

[KB4]

I ordered from these guys http://www.aerographics.com. I like the cost of Cliffy machine better, but some placards may be easier to order 

 

 

[0TreeLemur]

Aerographics will print a sheet of any vinyl labels you want.  Send them a pdf, they'll print and mail it to you.  Cut to size.  That's what I did.  They'll give you a second sheet in case you need a spares or to fix mess-ups.  Not as sexy as laser-etched top-coat, but functional and professional looking.

 

[Browncbr1]

For my panel, I bought a pack of Avery 6521 labels for $8 and printed with my laser jet.  I love it.  Very professional looking.  Cut close to the text and use tweezers to place on panel.  They are clear.  Actual clear.   Not frosted.  They are labels, which I preferred to the entire sheet, so you can store and reuse other labels on the sheet later.  I used them for other placards also, like don’t slam the dang door!

Edited February 7, 2022 by Browncbr1

[cliffy]

Dang !   Lots of good ideas to sift through   THANKS!  But now I have  a headache thinking about all of it  :-)

My panel design philosophy- (for this project anyway)

    This is to be a "bottom line price" project for a complete paradigm shift in panel technology in a vintage airframe in an effort to keep these vintage airframes relevant to an ever advancing world of aviation. Affordable to the "average" owner (if there is such an owner) vs total airframe value. What is the bane of all of small GA? What keeps values down and keeps some airplanes as airport derelicts? DEFERRED MAINTENANCE! And what do we see in most every antique airplane out there (and YES our Mooneys are antiques, OK)? MOST all vintage airplanes have a few or many panel instruments and/or radios that don't work properly or at all. Be honest - how many small GA airplanes have you been in or owned where EVERYTHING in the cockpit worked as it should? 

My thoughts have always been that we can keep the basic airframe in tip top shape mechanically but we are constrained by the 75 year old technology on the instrument panel. One only has to look at the Sport plane market to see the "new technology" and it application to efficiency and safety.

Thoreau once said, "Simplify, simplify, simplify"  He had the right idea. The more you can simplify the less you have to break on the panel. Complication brings headaches with reliability and usability. 

When "glass" first came out it was heralded as the end all to SIMPLIFY and lower the pilot's work load in flight. It seems it has done just the opposite.

How many buttons do you now have to memorize their functions of to operate the TVs in your cockpit? Buttonology is the new name now. 

Where we had a simple ILS (most were almost identical), a simple NDB procedure and a simple VOR approach we now have a plethora of different approaches all with differing formulations to try to decipher in flight by "armature" pilots (NOT disparaging PPs, just stating facts that they do not do this IFR flying stuff on or in a professional frame work of every day occurrence and training). Different levels of capability yet the same complexity of the system and cockpit design philosophy. 

We now look at our panels and want to emulate a 787 with 5 or 6 TV screens and more info displayed than a full crew could assimilate in a short period of time.

For the average non-professional pilot flying doesn't have to be complicated. Now with the new technology the panel doesn't need to be complicated and still retain full usability. We fly because we want to be in the air looking out the windows at the world going by below NOT having to spend every minute staring at TV screens trying to decipher what they are all conveying. If an owner wants to hang all the shiny objects on the panel so be it but no one seems to want to go or talk about the other direction-  Simple and full usability can go hand in hand. 

SIMPLIFY. SIMPLIFY. SIMPLIFY.   That's what this project is all about- simplify and keep costs to the bare minimum yet move into a new paradigm for vintage airplane instrument panels. No mix and match, No half way measures. Just a complete shift to new technology using the old adage- KISS- Keep it simple Stupid!

(And keep the costs down). 

More to come in this saga  :-)

[Vance Harral]

For a professional look, I can strongly recommend engravers.net.  Lots of choices, but I recommend black 0.020 Lexan with silver text.  Matches vintage-era placards very nicely, plastic rather than metal as PT20J suggests.  What I really like about the engravers.net guys is that they'll custom cut the placard to any shape you want, drill holes, etc.  You just have to give them a detailed template.  I send them a to-scale PDF with dimensions, and I get back exactly what I spec.  Very inexpensive, too.

 

 

[carusoam]

Way to go Cliffy!

You have great project control!

-a-

[N201MKTurbo]

I silk screened mine when I redid it in 17. A local silk screen company only charged $40 to make the screen. Which was ridiculously cheap for the work they did. It was about another $20 for the paint and squeegee. It came out really good.

Edited February 8, 2022 by N201MKTurbo

[cliffy]

Will probably set the mockup panels in place this week to see how things look. 

[RLCarter]

I purchased this kit a few years ago, learning curve isn’t real steep but you have to go step by step…

DecalProfx

[cliffy]

And the winner is?   :-)

After due deliberation on ALL of the good ideas I've decided to start with the Brother P-Touch idea first as I have only 2 "signs" with only 7 words between them to put on the panel. I go that way to see what it looks like and to keep in touch with my predetermined ideas about a new "affordable" all glass panel. 

With the way the panel is now designed should I want to change course I can have the panels out in 30 mins total to refurb both finish and lettering.  

[jetdriven]

On 2/6/2022 at 7:17 PM, PT20J said:

That’s the way the pro panel makers do it now. I believe they use a laser to burn through the top powder coat to expose the white beneath. Looks really sharp if you are having a panel fabricated. 

The pro panels makers I’ve seen Print powder coat onto the panel with what looks like a CNC inkjet printer. And then it prints clear powder coat over that.

 

[PT20J]

That may be another way of doing it. The shops I talked to used laser engraving though.