How to get the acrllics for the cp in shape?

[the_gamer]

Hi folks,

i am wondering how to get acrillcs in shape for the Control Panel. I am really afraid it will brake or get scratches when trying to drill it. I guess the most hard part are the holes for the buttons and for the joystick. How do you do that? is there a way to get the holes in safely? Or are there shops who take your planes and drill the holes for you? I can find shops who cut it in the right measures but I am still afraid of the holes.

So could you give me any advices or hints? Or will some shops or companies take the plans of my CP and do it for me?

[level42jeff]

Not sure of an answer for you, I'm curious myself, but why not just get a small piece of acrylic and drill it, see what happens...

[yaksplat]

drill it over a piece of wood to keep it from bending.  Use a drill bit big enough for a router template bit to go through. Then trim all the holes with a router and template bit, using the cp as the pattern.

[Well Fed Games]

Generally it will have a plastic/paper sheet stuck on both sides- leave this on until you are 100% done with working on the acrylic, as it scratches super easy, and is a dust/particle magnet. First, make sure all holes (including the screw holes that will retain the acrylic) are drilled in the wood or metal or whatever is the base of the CP. Then sandwich the acrylic between a scrap piece of wood and the control panel body, using the existing holes as guides. As has been mentioned, it is the drill pulling up/down that is likely to crack the acrylic. If you use clamps, sandwich it between the wood, and go slow, it should be fine (I just used this method the other day, and I was freaked out beforehand- but it worked fine).