+1

Our next steps are making the template for the Lowrance. The beauty here is no measuring, no figuring, just DO-ING.

I tend to ramble....so if I forget something, tell me and I'll go over it in better detail.

Few things....I bought a cheap piece of shelving material from ACE (close to the house) and the rest is stuff I have already....but you can find them easily in your town too....

Plastic bondo spreaders
Polyester filler (bondo)
Hardner
Packing tape
Pencil
Drill
Jigsaw
Bonus....Smart makes a product that rocks! It is a 12x12 tear off pad for mixing, using, and discarding filler. It is pictured below...

So...I take the profile of the Lowrance into consideration. There is the cover to consider here...

Will it be used? If yes. does that change the way I make the "plug"?

No. Matters not. If Mike wants to utilize it when is storage...or as you Yanks call it..."The Off-Season" (sorry...had to)

....we can make it a part of the final at any time without concern...

More on that specific detail later....

We need to protect the Lowrance...or what ever we are making a template for. Be it a gauge, copy, switch, lever or light (and so-on) we need to preserve the original part so we can use it later.

Now...you can make a decision about what you wrap your piece with for protection depending on what you want as a final result. Me personally, I use packing tape.

It is thin. If I make a plug from the original without any unnecessary addition, I have a near exact negative to work from....


This is the first piece of tape across the display. As you can see, it kinda bunches up at the corner. This is fine, we wrap a single piece around the perimeter at the end...
Attachment 488523

All taped up, ready to cut the template....

Face down (we are working in reverse) and trace the outline....but go big. We will need room for the "bondo"....

No need to be accurate when cutting....this is only allowing us room around our object so we can make an exact negative...

I use the stepped bit to open a hole at each opposing corner of my traced outline.....this way I am not "fighting" the jig saw around a tight corner...

As you can see, there is a substantial gap around the Lowrance. This is a good thing! We need enough room for the polyester filler to squeeze in, as well as room to be thick enough to not be fragile. Trust me on this one....less is N O T more in this instance...

I take the template material (shelf) and flip it over....and put packing tape across the opening. This serves two purposes....

My plug (Lowrance) has something to stick to when I center it in the cut-out space, and the "bondo" will not make a mess under my template as I push the filler into the gap.

Time for the goop....bondo....polyester.....

Mix hot, push in....dont worry about air as you do it....just do it....

I will end here tonight.....

This next image is of the front....or down side while I was working. As expected, I have areas that did not get enough.

This is not a problem, as the next set will be removal of the plug "Lowrance" and final filling of the template....

As usual, stay tuned....

Looks good man. Ill be home tues or wed. Can't wait.

Sounds good.

I just landed the service account for fedex, so I've been super busy.

Tomorrow and Wednesday I am swapping out two bath vanities in one of the rentals.....so I'm stuck....but come by the shop on Thursday or by the house fri night....

Texas Holden and jack is my plan....and we drank the beer you left