I think the dropping the cutout will definitely lose it's charm/uniqueness, but I still would prefer the engraving seeing as I wouldn't really use the lighting on the logo. Making the price have a better sweet spot is a plus too.
I'm all for seeing YOUR vision come to life. I'm rooting for you DrHubblePhD!
It's YOUR design, as long as YOU are okay with it then I will be. Don't release it until it's perfection.
Please this.
Design by comity is bad and has always been bad for a reason.
Understood, just want to be sure that those who showed interest would not be deterred. I consider this a project for the benefit of geekhack, not a project for me that could also help the community.
I agree and support that its your design and decision DrHubble!
However just to be honest and voice my opinion, I personally would be pretty much completely opposed to going with engraving rather then acrylic inlay.
I'm not usually that stoked about lighting or acrylic parts and I'm actually surprised my self it means that much to me on your design.
But the acrylic Mira logo really adds to the overall impression and made the design very unique imo, and loosing out on it might actually end up being a determining factor for me.
I'm also generally not a big fan of engravings to be honest, and going with engraving would to me feel like going with something pretty common rather then something very unique.
Since I can imagine the machining of both case and acrylic to fit perfectly to be pretty expensive and difficult, could it be an option to for example:
- make a rectangle recess on the inside of the case for a simple rectangle piece of acrylic to sit in, then only cutout the Mira logo in the thin aluminum layer above?
(so pretty much have the acrylic below the aluminum rather then sit flush in the cutout to simplify machining)
- make a rectangle cutout all the way thru so you get a flush (or maybe slightly recessed to cover possible gaps on fitting) rectangle acrylic piece on the top and then engrave the logo in the acrylic?
(so pretty much replace part of the case with rectangle acrylic and engrave acrylic just as you would the case itself)
- make a rectangle recess on top to fit a thin metal plate flush with the case, on which the logo could be laser/water cut, which should be a lot cheaper then cnc I guess. Then just fit a slightly smaller piece of acrylic in a cutout below.
(so pretty much replace part of the case with a thin plate with the logo cutout and have acrylic below)
Sorry for the long text btw but I just wanted to throw out some ideas that came to mind to simplify machining while still keeping the unique style of a acrylic logo...