I have several serial LCDs that need to be mounted with keypads to be more useful. I've done panels before but this time I've made it with laser cut acrylic and feel it's an easier way to achieve good results without using cutting tools. So here it is:
To make this, you need a design file. I've uploaded the design files to my phi-panel google code page (coreldraw and svg files). You can have this made at a laser cutting place or online at ponoko.com At ponoko.com you can choose 3mm thickness acrylic of your favorite color and a 180mm*180mm template to fit two of these face plates on the template. It's around $20 for the design to be cut, so you get around $10 per face plate. The mounting holes are made for M3 screws and 6-32 (I believe) so you can use whatever hardware you can get from your side of the pond.
I mounted my phi-panel serial LCD backpack with the display so the keypad is directly connected the LCD back pack. I am powering the serial LCD keypad with moderndevice.com usb-bub-II adapter. Your setup may be different where you need to pass the keypad connections to your arduino. Either way there is enough space.
More pictures:
Very nice, isn't it? If you are interested in my serial LCD panel with this face plate, you can find it on inmojo.com
So if you are interested in using such an assembly, what project would you want to use it for?
