Attaching numbers for sidings/toggel switches to control panel

Label Maker.   Clear tape with white letters on red paint.

Thanks - the panel is medium light natural wood that has been poly'd, so I suppose red or black tape with white letters would also work. I'll have to check out label makers on amazon.

Richie:

Buy some Avery colored label sheets (whole sheets) and print out the text and numbers on your printer. You can cut the sheets into whatever strips you want. I have a white panel so I use black text on white sheets.

Joe

Label maker

You can also buy clear adhesive labels for your printer and print with a contrasting color for the panel, looks great.

Here's my label maker results.  Clear tape, white letters.

In the electrical department at Lowes or the Depot, you can find books of adhesive numbers that are designed for wrapping on wires for identification.  Quite small.

I did something a little different, I mounted all my switches/buttons (original Lionel) under clear plexiglass.  After I drilled all the holes and polished the edges, I painted the backside black leaving little clear windows for the lettering to show through from the bottom.  For the lettering, I just printed it up on my printer with the background slightly larger than the windows and just Scotch tape the printed labels on from the backside.  Paint looks a foot deep through the plexiglass, very glossy.  Lettering easy to change, look is very professional but obviously all this has to be done around clear plexiglass panel.  Plex is easy to cut with a good table saw blade or even jig saw.  You will have to polish the edges though.  Do not try to flame polish the plexiglass, I tried that and when I cleaned the plexiglass off with lacquer thinner in preparation for paint, it developed a thousand tiny cracks.  Even the solvents in spray paints will attack flame polished plexiglass.  Spray paint goes on just fine on regular (non flame polished plexiglass).

Chris Sheldon

I haven't seen one in a long time, but Sears, key shops, and jewelry stores used to have engraving kiosks with all kinds of things that could be dngraved pretty cheap.  Plastic plaques, dog tags, and metal charms we're everywhere in my Grandfather's old home.  Even the light switch covers at the front and rear doors had the light I.D. in print on them.

I always liked those platic ones (layers of color, removing part of the upper layer gives a letter of the lower layer(s) color.  Attach by scews, and they are removable, and reuseable... Or use glue. They were also near indestructible &  pretty solvent proof plastics too 

Adriatic posted:

I haven't seen one in a long time, but Sears, key shops, and jewelry stores used to have engraving kiosks with all kinds of things that could be dngraved pretty cheap.  Plastic plaques, dog tags, and metal charms we're everywhere in my Grandfather's old home.  Even the light switch covers at the front and rear doors had the light I.D. in print on them.

I always liked those platic ones (layers of color, removing part of the upper layer gives a letter of the lower layer(s) color.  Attach by scews, and they are removable, and reuseable... Or use glue. They were also near indestructible &  pretty solvent proof plastics too 

I had these aluminum tags on my first layout that my Dad built some 60 years ago.  I still have those tags.  They were stamped strips we attached with small screws.  I reused them on subsequent layouts.

The nice thing about engravings is they can be cleaned with anything without loosing text. It just doesn't get anymore professionally industrial than this imo; and I'm a  former silkscreener. Which is great, but is still "just ink".

Embossed label makers come close and can be used with screws too. Other labels I would cover with lexan, but they are more vulnerable at the edges to collecting crap, weeping liquids, etc.