Carling Contura V-series Switch Laser Etching

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CaptainMike1970

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Hi All

Many of our boats have the Carling Contura type switch gear.

The later V-series rocker switch actuator heads can be etched or engraved to show any pictogram / logo / text which then lets the light from the in switch body led/light shine through - see rockerswitcherpros.com based in the USA for examples.

Does anyone know of a company here in the UK who offer this custom laser etching service?

Thanks

Mike
 
Yup, Axon do this very nicely indeed. Axoncomponents.com, based in yorkshire. I have bought several from them and they can do one offs and small quantities. They also do custom dash panels. They are oem supplier to many boat builders

email paulw@ the above url. You'll find them very helpful. They also sell on ebay as "controlelectrical"
 
I had the same question two or three years back and found Applied Automation in Plymouth were able to supply and etch Carling Contura V switches. They were very helpful and efficient and I have used them several times now - they will even do a single switch if required, although postage costs start to make that somewhat less economic!
 
The other day I had a cardboard stencil made by local firm that cut it on their little laser cutter. I was chatting to the girl who ran the machine and asked if they could etch plastic (like Carling switches). She said that it would be easy to do but may not show up (i.e. you might just end up with a black etched shape on a black switch).

Does anyone know if these Carling switches are made from plastic that comes out white when etched?
 
I think they are translucent plastic painted black or pewter. The laser etching removes the paint so the back light shines through.
F1F08B2A-8288-4180-A3ED-3E55E2DFE4CE.jpg
 
petem said:
That makes sense for yours, it was the older rectangular ones I was thinking about +the ones that fade). All a bit academic as Axon do such a good job that there would be no point in trying to compete.
Click to expand...

Are you thinking of the ones that were printed on ? I wouldnt bother with them as they don't last. I have the ones shown above, might have a spare blank at home to see how it's made, will look later.
 
petem said:
That makes sense for yours, it was the older rectangular ones I was thinking about +the ones that fade). All a bit academic as Axon do such a good job that there would be no point in trying to compete.
Click to expand...

The older rectangular ones are not contura V. They were contura I and II and you can't create nice backlighting with them (the illumination has to be in little windows, that look a bit moonrakerish). Contura III and IV aren't that useful or nice. The new ones in my picture above are Contura V.
I think it is all academic trying to deal with the old ones that were variously printed and engraved. Might as well replace with v actuators if doing an upgrade.

And yes I doubt it is worth competing with Axon et al. (Note that you have to deal with a compound curved surface) . Here are some others - the possibilities are endless. You have a choice of Carling's standard backlighting colours and can use customised colours if you want to get really deeply into it

GROUP.jpg
 
jfm said:
The older rectangular ones are not contura V. They were contura I and II and you can't create nice backlighting with them (the illumination has to be in little windows, that look a bit moonrakerish). Contura III and IV aren't that useful or nice. The new ones in my picture above are Contura V.
I think it is all academic trying to deal with the old ones that were variously printed and engraved. Might as well replace with v actuators if doing an upgrade.

And yes I doubt it is worth competing with Axon et al. (Note that you have to deal with a compound curved surface) . Here are some others - the possibilities are endless. You have a choice of Carling's standard backlighting colours and can use customised colours if you want to get really deeply into it
Click to expand...

Love the Moonraker comparison (assuming you meant the movie). I love that film and watch it every time it's on the TV, even though it s all a rid silly. But I concur, Moonraker style switch gear is not a look you want to emulate.

I think the early Fairlines (90's) had Contura III's and it does look like they are printed / painted. One of the boats that I looked at last year had half the switches upgraded to V's. Looked blimmin awful as he'd only done half the job.

Incidentally, can you remember if III and V actuators are interchangeable or does the switch have to be replaced to? I assume they're plug and play.

I was intrigued by your 'compound curve' comment. We discussed this at work and can't see an issue. There's plenty of clearance between the laser and the bed of the machine and the size of the text wouldn't require the text at the left and right edges to be enlarged. Was there another concern?
 
Plug and play. The original switches haven't changed in many years and will take any actuators from series I to V. In recent times there is more choice of LED colours etc in the switches but the dimensions remain same.

I've never played with a laser etcher so if there is plenty of gap then yep the compound curve won't be a problem.

I meant moonraker the boat! tcm coined the word years ago :D
 
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