Good evening everyone,
First post here. I've scanned the forum titles and I'm not sure the best one to post my question in. So I will try it here, if someone thinks it's more appropriate for another forum please let me know.
I've taken a picture of the part I am trying to duplicate. The piece in the picture is a 'overlay' for a gauge pod in my car. No one makes these, and this one is tinted orangish/red, so it's impossible to change dash light colors. Though all the hashes/numbers etc appear whitish in the picture, when held up to the light there's actually a tint to it. This piece appears to be made of multiple layers, though it's perfectly smooth on top.
So my thought was is there a CNC device, be it laser, something that physically cuts, router/dremel etc etc which could be capable of taking a thin sheet of plastic and making letters/numbers/symbols/lines? Though I don't know how this exact part could be duplicated, I thought if i could etch/cut the letters/numbers/lines in a thin sheet of plastic, I could overlay that on a opague sheet (to act as a light diffuser to the bulbs behind it) and then start making these custom pieces.
I am a electronic engineering tech by trade, I can solder through hole/surface mount quite well and am very mechanically inclined. i'm willing to spend up to $1000 dollars, and would be happy with either a fully assembled machine, or, most likely, a kit that I could put together myself. it wouldn't have to be big, just a 'table top' unit, maybe with a 1'x2' or 2'x 2' bed at the most.
I really don't know what device I am looking for and would appreciate some advice on this. I think I need something more robust than a vinyl cutter, but I can't afford $3000-5000 for most of the CNC machines I find on the internet when I do a google search.
Thank you!