When I removed the paint for engraving the characters, the white perspex looked less white than the original white.I do not understand why, but it is a fact. So the contrast is not very good. Thats is why I wanted to fill it in with white ink.But because I fill it in with a small brush the ink was not distributed evenly. Thats why backlighted looked less.I totally agree whit Tuomas about the adaptation of your eyes. So I will do this experiment again when I am farther into the building of the shell.Perhaps it would be better yet to use crystalclear plexi/perspex for panelmaking.Norbert

As promised, here are some photos of my attempts to create backlit panels with my cnc.This is 3mm translucent white perspex with 2 coats acrylic black undercoat and 2 coats top colour.OK, first of all, I know it's not the right colour so don't all jump in with that one. It was the best I could do for the test.Secondly, the text is a little 'not so good' in places, as I had my z axis backlash adjusted wrongly. Some of the text, is very clean and clear though.This is the left side of an MCP originally designed by Johan Nauwelaertz de Ag

oops, attached the same photo twice.Here's the backlit one.David

Hi , very interesting information here!. Now, I am experimenting with Corel Draw to export *.plt or *.eps to Ramsgold and then, I try to generate Gcode to load in KCam4.I have designed the trasponder panel of the 737-800 pedestal. I found a problem when I wanted to simulate engraving the fonts. The size of the fonts is very small to use a 0.5 mm router bit diameter.Am I doing something wrong?. It could be useful if someone with experience could share the followings parameters :Type of Font utilized (I use Future )Size of FontType and diameter of router bitStrategy used in Ramsgold. (Profile, face, slot, etc)Thanks in advance. Alberto Maligne

Hi Alberto,Ok, here's what I do.I use a single line font (Stick 40).Size of font is up to you.cutter: I took a dremel drill bit, and carefully ground it down to a very sharp point which leaves the fluting on the bit for removal of the paint away from the surface. Because of this, the diameter is 0 with an angle of 60deg (if I remember rightly)Strategy: Slot (not bi-directional)Another great way to make face labels for Korrys or annunciators is to use 1mm clear perspex, paint with a couple of coats of black paint (sand first and use acrylic paint). In coreldraw, reverse the text so when you engrave, you have a nice shiny side with the engraving done from the back. It looks great.Hope this helps.David

>Hi Alberto,>>Ok, here's what I do.>>I use a single line font (Stick 40).>Size of font is up to you.>cutter: I took a dremel drill bit, and carefully ground it>down to a very sharp point which leaves the fluting on the bit>for removal of the paint away from the surface. Because of>this, the diameter is 0 with an angle of 60deg (if I remember>rightly)>Strategy: Slot (not bi-directional)>>Another great way to make face labels for Korrys or>annunciators is to use 1mm clear perspex, paint with a couple>of coats of black paint (sand first and use acrylic paint). >In coreldraw, reverse the text so when you engrave, you have a>nice shiny side with the engraving done from the back. It>looks great.>>Hope this helps.>>DavidThanks a lot David!. I followed your advices and I could solve the problem. Now I have another question:Which kind of G-Code do I have to generate for K-Cam. Ramsgold have two options: ISO-Gcode and G-CODE2. Which one I have to use?What kind of Dremel drill bit you use?Thanks again!!Alberto Maligne

First of all, I used to use Kcam. It was user friendly but had major problems with adjusting the backlash compensation. The motors would loose all torque and .. well it was just a major problem. I turned to Turbocnc. It is a dos program, not very pretty to look at, but it works perfectly and reliably. I would have trouble going back to a windows based program now.From Rams, I generate ISO-Gcode. This saves it in *.cnc format. I do have to make a few edits to remove the first couple of lines that Turbocnc won't work with.I then use CNCsimulator to varify that it is going to cut what I need, then straight into Turbocnc.KCam requires a *.gc output, but if you generate *.cnc, then just go into explorer and change the extention to .gc it should work fine.The Dremel bit I use for cutting is #113For engraving, as mentioned in the previous response, I use a basic dremel drill bit but grind the tip down to a fine point.David

I will try and tell you about.Thanks again! for your advices.Alberto

Could you tell the lines I have to edit in ISO-Gcode ? Thanks for your support!Alberto