Resist Printing on Wood for DIY Electronic Panels

In my audio and electronics projects, I always struggled to make decent‑looking front panels. I usually ended up with a badly drilled piece of metal or wood, with crooked LEDs, switches and pots poking through. Sometimes I even taped on hand‑written labels because I couldn’t remember what each control did.

That painful era is over! After getting an MSLA 3D printer and doing a few experiments, I finally found a quick way to make clean, professional‑looking panels for my projects. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to print a neat, customized panel directly onto plywood.

1. MSLA 3d printer
2. Plywood
3. Sandpapers
4. Double sided tape
5. OpenScad

Create your panel layout in your favorite vector graphics software (I use Inkscape). Keep in mind that your printer screen sets the maximum size of your panel. In this example, I used the whole screen of my Anycubic Photon Mono 4k so it must fit in a 132x80 mm window.

Pro tip: The dimensional accuracy between Inkscape and the final 3D print is perfect — no scaling adjustments needed!

To convert your 2D vector design to a 3D printable STL file for your slicer, use this simple OpenSCAD one-liner:

This imports your SVG file and extrudes it 0.5mm thick along the Z-axis. If it renders cleanly in OpenSCAD's 3D preview (F5), export it as STL (F6 → File → Export → STL) and load it into your slicer.

The height = 0.5 parameter sets your print thickness—adjust as needed for your project.

⚠️ Important note: OpenSCAD only imports SVG polygons. Fonts, complex contours, and other vector objects will create buggy results.

Quick fix: Export your design from Inkscape as a high-resolution PNG (1000 DPI), then re-import the PNG into Inkscape and use Path → Trace Bitmap to convert it back to clean vector polygons before saving as SVG. Delete all shape groupings that can arise from the vectorization process (ctrl+shift+g several times).

Load the STL file into your slicing software (⚠️ Important settings):

1. Disable auto-lift/raft
2. Disable any scaling factor
3. Disable mirror/flip functions

Positioning: Place the design flat on the buildplate (Z=0).

Visual check: The design should appear mirrored/reversed on screen (like a negative mask) — this is correct for resin printing. Verify it matches your expected layout before printing.

Cut your plywood to the dimensions of your design (with some margin) and attach it firmly to the buildplate with double-sided tape.

Surface preparation (critical step):

1. Sand with 80-grit paper until you reach the bottom of the deepest surface imperfections
2. Finish with 200-grit paper for a smooth working surface

Surface roughness tradeoff:

❌ Too rough (porous wood): Absorbs uncured resin → difficult cleanup

✅ Medium roughness: Perfect resin adhesion

❌ Too smooth: Resin sticks to FEP film instead of wood → features lift off

Pro tip: High-density hardwoods absorbs less chemicals. Always sand on a flat surface to maintain consistent wood-to-screen gap during printing.

Clean thoroughly with a brush after sanding to remove dust before printing!

For a perfect result: Apply a thin priming coat (epoxy resin or clear varnish) before printing. This:

1. Boosts resin adhesion to wood
2. Blocks uncured resin absorption into porous fibers
3. Simplifies cleanup dramatically

I haven't tested this yet—let me know your results if you try it!

This step varies by printer model. For my Anycubic Photon Mono 4K:

⚠️ Problem: The stock Z=0 leveling range is too short for 3mm plywood + buildplate. The screw clearance is also insufficient.

Solution: Print a shorter buildplate holder:

Buildplate Holder for Anycubic Photon Mono 4K

Critical safety steps:

1. Remove buildplate completely
2. Go to home position
3. Install new shorter holder + buildplate + plywood
4. Manually verify clearance
5. Level carefully (I nearly smashed my screen on first try!)

Once leveled, you're ready to print your panel!

Use your standard resin printing parameters. No special settings needed!

Post-processing (wood-specific):

1. Immerse entire plywood panel in IPA for 1 minute (safe for wood)
2. Scrub wood fibers with a soft toothbrush to remove uncured resin
3. Rinse thoroughly and air dry

It is possible to immerse the whole plywood panel in IPA for a minute with no issues. I reccomend Scrub wood fibers with a soft toothbrush to remove uncured resin since ood fibers trap uncured resin like a sponge! Clean well before curing.

Result: MSLA precision shines through! Even tiny details like the 0.1A dot (½mm wide) come out crystal clear.

1. Add drill guides

Include a small centering guide at each hole's center. This ensures your brad-point drill tip sits perfectly positioned.

2. Use seal rings around holes

Add thin rings (2-3mm wide) around all holes for clean edges without torn fibers. Easy to peel off after drilling if desired.

3. Build in drill clearance

Leave 0.5mm gap inside seal rings to prevent drill contact that would destroy them.

4. Avoid bold fonts

Burn-in layers naturally widen features. Normal fonts print bold enough!

5. Space features apart

Close elements merge (see GND symbol). Minimum 0.5 mm spacing between details.

💡 Your design rules will evolve with:

- Printer resolution

- Resin type

- Wood species

- Layer count

A few test prints will dial in your perfect settings. Now go make pro-looking panels for all your projects!

I hope this tutorial helps you create professional front panels for all your DIY audio and electronics projects!

Beyond plywood: MSLA printers can pattern any material that tolerates resin chemistry. Online makers have etched copper boards for custom PCBs. Artists could also blend this precision with traditional materials for stunning hybrid creations.