Making Flight Sim Panels with my eBay Laser
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- Опубліковано 21 чер 2018
- Welcome to The Warthog Project!
This video explains the basic construction method of the panels in my cockpit. I'm using the Fuel QTY panel as an example, but all are basically the same design.
The laser I'm using is a cheap eBay (the cheapest actually) Chinese 40 watt 'K40' style laser.
BE AWARE- Those lasers are barely usable from the factory- I've upgraded mine using a upgrade pack from www.lightobject.com, as well as a 60 watt tube.
Expect to spend double what you pay for the laser to have one that is any good. All up mine cost a little over $1200 AUD (including the machine), which is still relatively cheap considering that the decent brand name ones are about $5000. Its not the greatest most capable unit around, but its perfect for my needs as one hobbyist in his garage.
All my plans, panel files, and 3D printing .stls are free for download at thewarthogproject.com/
I sometimes livestream on twitch- / thewarthogproject
Or check out my Instagram at- / thewarthogproject
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
How much did this cost?
Answer is explained fully right here! - • What it Cost! - A10C W...
What Game/Sim is this?
Digital Combat Simulator World (A-10C Tank Killer II) - www.digitalcombatsimulator.co...
Can I have a free copy of all your panel design files?
Yes you can! - thewarthogproject.com/downloads
What software do you use to warp the projector image? Fly Elise-ng Immersive Diplay Pro - fly.elise-ng.net/products/
What software do you use to export the gauges on the main panel?
Helios - github.com/HeliosVirtualCockp...
What are your PC Spec?
Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master, Intel i7-9700k OC to 5ghz, 32GB Corsair RAM, Gigabyte Aorus GTX1080ti Waterforce Extreme Edition, Samsung 920 EVO M.2 1TB SSD (OS and DCS), Samsung 860 QVO 2TB 2.5" SATA SSD (Storage), Two XSPC 360mm Radiators, EKWB Velocity CPU Waterblock, EK-RES X3 250mm with D5 water pump, Custom Hard Tubing, Lian Li PC-011 Dynamic Black Case. All RGB turned off!
This is only the second video of this project that I've seen, and I didn't realize it was all made from scratch. You must be quite proud of all the craftsmanship involved.
Wow - this video brings the possibilities using a K40 laser to a next level! Perfect. Thank you and greetings from Germany!
Ex avionics engineer here. And yeah, that looks seriously good. Really respect the effort you've put into it. Well done!
As others have said, this is simply fantastic. Your skills and vision are inspiring. Thank you so much for taking the time to share all this with the rest of us and I'm already looking forward to learning more. Keep up the excellent work
your commitment to detail is awe inspiring. keep the videos coming, Im getting so many ideas.
Your technique to create a guide for the engraving at 13:00 is brilliant. Great video, keep them coming! Thanks.
Quick coat of brown spray paint would remove any confusing lines as well.
I know I'm late to the party but I buy foam board like 20 sheets at a time to make guide sheets (and I normally reuse it to cut test shapes out of after I make a template out of it) and have *never* thought to tape down the foam board how am I so dumb.... I normally just locate it into a corner of my bed but that works like crap lol, I will say I see no reason to tape the piece your engraving to the template though... imply rarely reuse it it's so cheap...
gamechanger!
Amazing work. Everything done just right. Love the use of the vinyl to cover up the light bleed as well as insulate the wires.
Great stuff! I've been scheming on using my Glowforge to build both my avionics panel and individual instruments. Thanks for the insights and demonstration!
probably the best rear-illuminated panel method I have seen. Excellent work! I used your conformal coating idea on the wiring for safety on exposed hi-voltage on my own boards. Cheers
Really don't know why I watched this other than nosey curiosity.... But wow totally blown away with the quality of your project. Thanks for posting 👍
OMG! YOU ARE THE VIDEO IVE BEEN WAITING FOR! nice job my friend!
Clever use of materials. Nice work.
Thanks for sharing...
Awesome videos mate. Your explain it all and show it all really well. Nice to see your work methods. 👌
The panel looks superb, thanks for showing us your technique.
Well done mate, great job! Some tips like how to position the panel on the laser for etching is gold. Thank you
I found that one of the most informative video's on UA-cam... Nice clear and easy to understand what you were doing at each stage... And now i am even more jealous of your A-10 Warthog cockpit and how you have built it, i just wish i had the know how and cash to spare to build something like this...
Good job mate, great video and well presented. I learnt alot of tricks in such a short time. Just about to route through your other videos please keep them coming
Amazing work, really detailed and very clean build!
Very nice, I was looking for this kind of videos long time ago, waiting for more, please.
A fascinating process! Thanks for taking us through it!
This is an awesome video! I am looking forward to a video on how you make your custom gauges.
I am envious that you have space to do this stuff. Here in Blighty we live in sheds and if lucky enough to have a garage then it is only big enough to park a small lawnmower. I applaud you saving material at 4:40.
I love sim racing but your DIY projects are so educational that I use them to make sim racing gauges. Nice job mate.
Great job mate, super professional finish 👍
Excellent work. Looking forward to the gauge video you mentioned...
Mate I got to say, the huge nerd in me really like this project!!! Nice job buddy and thanks for sharing. Really tidy looking bit of kit. I have not taken the leap into getting a cnc laser...but it's not to far away.
Not exlend ... Magnificent! This quality of work is rematkable!
Nice mate. Almost exactly how I do mine. Just a tip, apply a little Bondo filler to the edges and sand down a bit to eliminate the seam where the parts meet. Another way around this is by actually welding the layers together first and then cutting as the heat from the laser will make the edges look seamless. Keep up the good work!
Very cool. Love that little laser cutter!
Excellent video. I thought about getting that laser at one point. I like your modifications to it.
Finally found a good channel for this. Keep up the good work. Im making a KSP control panel.
Love my cutter. They're magic boxes. Great project!
Bruh. So nice and good looking. You made me wanna buy a laser engraver.
hey that was BOLD indeed I have never had the time. I am ready now lets get at it. tkank you
Best 17 or so minutes I have seen on UTube in some time tk for the upload hello from Australia
Thanks for the excellent tutorial. I learned some great tips for my K40. BTW, that's quite some control panel on your laser.
That’s really impressive. Nice work. Green with envy!
Yes, way cool. I do model making myself and it is great to see somone being very clever with homemade tools to create something so real looking and functional. I still have a hundred other questions how things were made, guess I need to subscribe.
Great video. Thanks for showing how it's done.
Very clever processes. Thanks for the explanation.
Amazing work - Excellent Craftsmanship! You've inspired me. When I retire, I resolve to build a SIM Cockpit of my very own F18 Super Hornet ! -Cheers
Thanks for an interesting insight into LASER cutting mate!
After a year since you,ve uploaded this one i see this and it has some potentional for " How do they do it" !
It was fun to see how you make these "Important" instruments.
There is a video on here on how Boeing does side lighting for its gauges as well. the technique is quite similar.
Very nice back lights and clever to laser-engrave the paint.
Excellent Work. Thanks for sharing. Amazing work
very cool. great result on the panel
Really nice looking project. Definitely thumbs up
You have a talent for making stuff (including how to videos) and could make and sell panels, etc and probably make decent cash as simulators of all sorts are just gonna get more popular and most people don’t have skills/patience/gear
Well done, indeed! That looks great.
What a great technique. excellent job!
Not only does it look quality, but these videos are also quite therapeutic lol. Great work. Would love to have the room for your set up.
I've always thought it would be cool to have a custom-made control panel above the windscreen in a campervan, like an airplane cockpit with buttons and gauges for all the extra electronics.
Now I know who to ask! 😎
324k views, this video is still one of the best references on the internet for how to make these, fantastic job.
Incredible..... and realistic! Well done.
Top notch! Thank you for sharing your expertise.
I had to repair or replace these panels when I was in the U.S. Navy. Back in 1973 a panel like you made here would cost at least $ 1K. They were certified flight equipment though. $100 for the part, $900 for the cert.
Yours look great.
Well. 100 for the part, 100 for the cert... 800 for the gov contract upcharge...
I used to be a mechanic in the Army (thank you for your service btw) and was regularly blown away by the upcharge on common parts.
This is pure genius. Thank you for sharing.
one of the most satisfying vids ive seen, great job. New sub and like.
Thanks!
@@thewarthogproject Hi mate , I watched few videos about your project and it's really impressive. I'm a newcomer to the subject and after making first simple panel with ~30 switches and buttons I'm working on the more sophisticated one, with backlighting, displays, etc. That's why I have few quick questions, also looking for advices. I appreciate if you could help me.
How powerful power supply u used? I'm playing around with the LEDs in Tinkercad now to see how bright they can still be when connected multiple of them to several teensy/andruino boards but it seems with few dozens of them (in one of the panels with 120cm of width and ~20cm of heigh) it will be better to connect them separately to 12V power supply. They get too dimmed when using 5V, even with few circuts with separate 5v sources. I also consider to use 5050 led strip (30leds/m, 12V) cut in several pieces since I got >10m of it lying down in the cabinet.
The middle plexi sheet - what transparency % would you recommend?
Would it be not better to use also opal sheet for front panel? Tho I didn't have any of them in front of me, I though the solid one won't allow the light to go through.
Cheers
Mark
Ooh one more question. What font size you use for engraving text?
@@thewarthogproject Any chance you could let us know what type of vinyl you're using at 15:58? Would love to see the method too if possible! :)
Fantastic! I do the same to make my F35 panels! Good job!
Wow, just awesome. Thanks for sharing.
Nicely done man!
That is super cool looking!
Knocks my MDF flight panels into the shade. Inspiring video.
Best thing ive seen yet, fairly new to your channel so catching up :)
That was awesome finally a decent video about using a k40 :)
awesome ... Very professional outcome..
Great video! Thanks for all of the wonderful information. Why not paint before you glue the panels together?
Looks amazing!
Just superb work!
Funny, last year we made a complete cockpit for a C5 and for a KC-10, for Terminator, I used almost the same method.
Hint: you don't need to copy-paste-save as from a new tab, you can export selected object to dxf from the very same page you used for drawing directly.
I'm glad you said Zed table as I couldn't tell if you meant C or Zee when you mentioned it earlier, Zed is less confusing as no other letter has that same sound unlike B, C, D, P, T, V and for septics (septic tank = yank) Z, we can discount B, P and V, but pronunciation can bleed when pronouncing C, D, T and Z if someone uses American pronunication of Zed.
Very intresting, thanks for sharing!
Looks like I have to get myself a laser at one point...
Fantastic to watch..... I Would love to buy some finished panels if you end up selling some...
Outstanding
I’d love to be able to do this
Amazing work
Thank you for doing what you do.
Love the video. Your technique to create a guide for the engraving was smart, can you paint the board white before engraving the outline for the next guide? Would that help.
Hi there -- Big Thumbs Up on your nice panel making. Did you ever make the video on making the gauges? In this gauge I noticed that you have watch-like concentric needles/hands and was wondering how you implemented the hand mechanics. I would sure love to see your gauge making video as I want to make some gauges/meters for my own use. Anyway, really awesome work and attention to detail -- Thanks!
Brilliant video! man what machinery! jealous!
Insane quality! It looks perfect. I'm curious about the modifications you've made to the laser engraver, do you have a video or post detailing that?
I second the motion! Please upload a dedicated video about your laser cutter, along with the mods you've done.
If you search for k40 laser cutter, youtube is full of detailed mod videos, there's also many blogs on the net about it.
this is a great video, love your technique. at 10:30, you mention that you taped off the exposed middle layer switch surround -- if you hit the edges of the tape with a bit of clear (satin or matte) spray paint and let it dry before you spray the matte black, you can get perfect edges; this is called backmasking iirc. I understand that perfect edges are not critical in this situation, but I thought you might appreciate knowing about this trick
Absolutely brilliant.
done properly, great work
wow that turned out really nice.
10:00 you could also laser engrave the led pocket, by cutting the part mirrored. great work, keep on.
This is really damn cool... well done!
nice video going to use this idea for my car instrument panel
Genius !! i have a warthog stick and throttle but nought else
Awesome... I wish my ford truck and my mother in-laws car gauges ,air conditioner,etc Gauges switches were done like that.instead the lettering explaining what each button does is worn off.so when I use her car or try to use any button even the backseat front seat locks,seat directions, ect. I have to guess mostly .its very aggravating,the buttons aren't arranged intuitively either,and look the same.her car is only 2years old.Buick.it takes more thought and time.but its not only good to look at,but has a absolute purpose... In an air plain,you don't want to guess what buttons to push because of saving a dollar or two or more.
Good work,very nice panel.
Agradezco mucho el que hayas compartido este conocimiento.
Super video; super project. Sure would like to see a video on the actual gauges. Have an application that has to have a custom gauge that I can't purchase. Will you be doing one sometime?
Great work, great vid. Very tight.
VERY PROFESSIONAL, WELL DONE
Great video. Gave me lots of ideas to do on mine. Have you done video’s as to how you upgrade your laser? If yes, where would I find them?
Thanks.
Absolutely fascinating.
Mate what a legend!! Home grown talent in Oz
laser cutter is a budget... but the result wow! I'll have to negotiate with madam... :) As everybody asked before in the comment, It should be really great to show us you've upgraded your laser (if it's not already done somewhere else and if it not only an option to get better results).
PS : otherwise I have a reflection to do that with a milling CNC but as I'm a completely begginner I suppose the result will be someway really bad to engrave acrylic... (If somebody have an experience with that it should be great...)
You can use rubber cement as a masking agent in the dial recess instead of tape - the liquid form will ensure no seeping of the spray paint at the edges of the mask. I know since the dial went over it wasn't a big deal, but IF it was this would allow that precision. Likewise, it can be much faster than trying to get the tape to conform.
I learned so much from this!
hi man your cockpit is really awesome i will build your compass for my f16 cockpit
I fly on DCS and BMS 4.35
good job keep it up
mike-simulation
checksix and viperpit