CNC Services

The Beast can offer a selection of CNC (computer numerical control) cutting services, from engraving and routing strange shaped holes in front panels,
right through to isolation milling and computer controlled drilling of 'PCB's.



Panel Engraving

Some examples of milled shapes on high gloss material -





Below is a 5u Oakley Modualar 'One-of-three' VCO panel being engraved.






The raw panel from the photo above:







A variety of infills are also possible:





And some more detailed engraving work, with drilling.
(milling gives a finer hole cut, but is more time consuming - when the edge wont be seen, drilling is sufficient)





And below are some photos of one of the finished deveices, courtesy of its owner, David.









In the close up photo directly above, the smaller numbers are only 1.2mm high.
Given that the text on your last bank statement was probably about 2.7mm in height, you can start to see the resolution that is possible even before changing to diamond cutters.
(Diamond drag creates very very fine lines, but these do not generally look as good as the cuts made by a rotary cutter)



Below are some small panels, made to interface some moogerfooger devices into a eurorack system.
The holes on these panels were milled, rather than drilled, and you can see the cut quality.



Common questions about panel engraving -

What materials can be reliably engraved?

Engraving is quite dependant on surface. Although pretty much anything can be engraved, for most work i         would strongly recommend sticking to anodised alluminium (note: anodised is not the same as brushed)         Anodised surfaces are availible in different colors and finishes, matt black and satin being the most common.         I would recommend satin for the bulk of jobs.

Do the panels come pre-drilled?

This is a very common query, and, unfortunatly, doesnt have a simple yes/no answer -         There are two ways to get a hole in a panel. With a drill, or with a milling cutter. Both have pro's and con's         Drilling is done on a drill press, after the CNC machine has marked the hole position. It is fairly quick, but is only good for         round holes, not hugely accurate (hole sizes are normally in 0.5mm diameter incraments, and, most importantly, the edge of the         cut is not always completely clean, and escaping swarf may mark the surface arround the hole.         Milling is done on the cnc machine, with a milling cutter. It is slow, messy, and noisy, but produces excellent results.         Pretty much any shape of hole is possible on the mill, but any corner will have a radius equal to half the diameter of the milling         cutter. 3mm end mills are commonly used (so a 1.5mm radius on all corners) but smaller mills can be used if needed.         In this, the choice would seem clear - just mill evreything. But i must emphasize that milling takes a lot of machine time,         and is priced accordingly. If the edged of a round cut is to be covered with the component skirt (so never visable) you may         well consider a drilled hole to be sufficient.         To go back to the original question -         Panels do not come drilled unless specifically required.

Do you supply the metal work, or do i have to send it in? Can you work on material i send you?

I can supply common sizes in common finished (Frac, eurorack, 5u, 19" etc) and can order in metal in other sizes         as required. (although there are MOQ requirements on smaller sheets)         I am also happy to work on customer supplied materials, providing they are anodised, and not brushed or powdercoated.

Can you do large panels?

The maximum work area of the engraving machine is 700mm x 300mm, but anything over aprox. 19" x 5u (500mm x 223mm)         would require custom clamping, which will increase the quoted price.

What file formats do you accept?

The machien itself runs on g-code, which can be created from most vector formats.         If you are working in a graphic application, like corel or illusrator, save off the files as .dxf format (preferablt R12)         Again, if you are working in a true CAD enviroment, send over the R12 dxf files. If relevent / possible,         put the engraving on a different layer to the milling / drilling         If you are working in front pannel designer, simply send over the fpd files.

And, finally, tips for reducing your quoted costs -

Drill the panels yourself. This is a job anyone can do, and will save you singificanly. Use a punch and a slow rpm drill. Keep to stock sizes / finishes. And if you want somthing different on smaller panels, use the same size metal for at least 5 designs. If you need milling, try to keep away from very small radius corners. Working with a smaller endmill is very slow.