Face Plate Design

The guts are cool and everything but you want the thing to look good... maybe that's just me being a perfectionist but why not get a proper face plate made for your amp's controls?

Here's roughly what you have to do to get a professional looking face plate.

1. Design it. Break out the pencil and paper and figure out what controls you need, how far apart they need to be spaced and the area you have to work with. Make sure you have enough clearance with your parts, the chassis and anything else.
2. Digitize it. To do this you need a high resolution image to give to whoever is going to produce your panel. You can use Inkscape to make vector images. It's open source and easy to use which is awesome. There's a great tutorial and sample file which you can use to get started at Sound Garage Tales which is how I got started with my design.
3. Try it out. Print it off and put it on your amp. Does it look ok? Is there enough clearance for knobs to rotate freely? This is your chance to figure those mechanical things out. 
4. Print it. Having your final copy is amazingly helpful for finishing your chassis machining.
5. Make it. Find a trophy shop, a laser engraver,... anyone who will make your design a reality. I've ordered mine through BNP Lasers and hope to get it soon!