Gauge upgrade
 

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...uges-here.html

What do you guys think?

Looks good.Nice idea with the plug ins.

Thanks

It's up to mike, but you guys might want to stay tuned to this for a while....
He's heading out again, but I volunteered to fall on the sword and help him out on this project.....
The design will be his decision....and I will help him create the reality.

Couple of ideas coming......

Yes and I certainly appreciate it Rich!!

Here we go.....
 

All right folks....

Here is the outline:
I am going to make a panel...options and design are 100% the owner (I.C.U./Mike) and the finished product is his entirely for zero, zip, zill, zilch, nada..u get the point....

I am not the best at fab....but I am good. If there comes a time when u are wanting more info....tooling....sourcing raw materials...technique, please...speak up. If I know, I will share.

My next post will be a description and opinion of process.....and I will post daily on progress as mike and I approach a final product.

If you are better equipped/knowledgable about this process, please....chime in! A fellow member/members of our community will benefit from me/us.

So....it begins......

Tooling
 

Really easy here....and a minimum of cost and space required....

Simple things you most likely own already...
Drill (vari speed)
Screw gun...not a 1/4 inch impact!
Jig saw (also vari-speed)
Router table. I put the (.) at the end to convey the importance. It is not optional. I can build anything...
A
N
Y
T
H
I
N
G
(almost)
with the items listed above...but nothing without the table.

Here it is....and as before...cheap. WITH router and electric add-ons and a simple selection of bits and bearings, I am wayyy below 500 for a start....

Basically, it is a table that I made using box tube, angle and plexi with a hinged front access and a rubber rim.

Later, I added a JessEm lift...not necessary, but whoa what a great piece of machinery...

The router is a 3/4 horse Porter Cable with a 1/2 inch chuck (collet) but I also have the 1/4 inch collet.

The JessEm gives me infinite adjustment on the "x" axis.

Here is a look at something I did to mount a fishfinder and GPS on acrylic in the ProLine (no...not the one that the phuckbagz in Port Charlotte sank)....

I take a piece of crap 11x3/4 inch pine shelving from Lowes/Depot and trace a heavy border of the piece ONTO the pine.....cut it out...bigger than needed...and force bondo into the gap between my "part" and my "template"...

Oh....and make sure you tape your "part" to prevent phucking it up with bondo!!!!

I lay the part (GPS/gauge/switch/whatever) face down on wax paper to prevent my project from messing up my router table...

I now have a 100% exact negative of the perimeter of the component I am trying to make an accomodation for in my panel....which in this case....is the Garmin ++...

Once I have that "frame"....I can transfer to whatever I am working on....wood....metal...glass...

Two big pros are....I have the template and can manipulate the position and where and any how....plus....it is a press fit into the finished part with a VERY low profile.....but still has the ability to be serviced and or replaced...

So...now to our resident task....

Mike (I.C.U.) and his upgrade...

Here is the collection along with the original helm panel, and proposed replacement...

Asthetically, my issue with this is the layout and "extrusion" from the panel.

Not baggin Mike....but really no need for an upgrade unless youre gonna
U
P
G
R
A
D
E
Right?

So....where to start....??

We need a "clean" surface...then we can do the layout options..

First pic looks like a big square....but pic two shows the protective (peel coat) removed and you see we are dealing with 1/4" semi-transparent acrylic.

NOT PLEXI-GLAS!!!!!!

Acrylic.

I lay the original on my N E W dash (helm) panel...

Very nice work, you explained the router and jigging process very well.I did a dash upgrade last winter and went through your pain i got a little lazy and got it done w a cnc setup but mine was also 3 sided. I used 1/4 polycarbonate as a backer then bent my wing pieces on a heavy sheet metal brake with adjustable jaws. I also had a duplicate made from a carbon fiber veneer with an adhesive backing. I sheared it into 3 pieces and glued them on. Pm me if you want pics for ideas I noticed there wasn't any talk of what you were gonna make the dash panel out of

Trace it out....use a F A T tipped marker.

I say this so you don't cut your new piece to small. There needs to be a bit of margin for error there.....and if you "cut" the line....you are always "safe"......

Up to you...but here are a few tips....

Use a vari-speed jig-saw
Use it a L O W speed when cuttin acrylic
Use the blade tension at loose while cutting.....

Below, you will find my tried and trued results....without shameless promotion...

When it comes to ANY plastic/acrylic and cutting, heat will ruin your day! Just consider....it is heat that is used to create these products from raw material....

So....while cutting, go slow! Go easy!

How many times have you taken something apart...and put it back together with minimal "force"....only to realize later that it is now PHUCKED?

Slow. Easy. Oh yeah....and slow.

WD-40 helps too! Keeps it slick and cool....ask my wife....

NO...DON'T!!!!!!!:lolhit:

Back to the task....

Now...cut it out ROUGH with the jig saw...no shameless plug intended....but remember to go SLOW....and keep it tight to you line without going inside....

A closer look shows the final prep for the router table...2-sided thin tape from a local supplier (national actually) and the adjustment of the JessEm to the factory (original) panel to the NEW panel

Grrrrr....gettin drunk now...

This is where the JessEm makes life easy....I adjust the height of the cut "X" in 1000ths. Important due to the fact that the bit has a 1/16 gap between the cut and bearing

Cut....

Slow.....

Mess.....

New panel to start N E W layout....

OK gang...thanks for playin.

Time for bed here on the east coast....got a horny wife that has no clue about WD-40 talk....so take it easy if you see her at an event....

Her name is :

D
U
U
U
U
H
H
H
H

Someday....she'll find out about this....and I am gonna need a place to stay....so it you tell her....

I AM

COMING

TO

YOUR

CRIB

!!!
!!!
!!!
!!!:poopoo:

More tomorrow...and maybe a vote thread....

FOR THE DESIGN GUTTER RATZ!!!!

Very awesome Rich. I am glad I left it in your capable hands. Can't wait to be back off the boat and drunk with ya!! This thing is gonna be so badass when it's all back together with new armrests with cupholders(again thank you) and all my interior redone.

Here is the port side panels being painted. They will have some airbrushing done when I get them back. All panels will be repainted this color.

One thing I can not stand to see....in a finished product...

Fastening method....

So much of new styling and design is about the lack of detectectable fastening method...

Makes you go hmmm when you look at it.

Special in any build or design is what you can't see....even if you are trained...

Trust me braugh.....urrrrr gonna see what I mean ove the next posts....

If'n it aint too late, tell the paint shop to remake those outta 1/4" whathahelleva and "skip": the holes for fastening....

We gotcha

Ok. I'm gonna go with these like they are. If I end up not liking the fasteners when all is said and done ill remake these 3 at a later date. Still have 2 more by trim switches and throttles to do and ignition switch side and toggle switch Side. So still a lot to figure out.

Once everything else is done shouldn't be a very difficult process to shave screw holes from these pieces and reshoot.

Yup, yup....

More tonight....gotta charter at 10 till....?

Awesome Rich. Hope charter goes well

Great job thanks for sharing.

Sorry
 

Oh well.."

I came up with about ten different designs...had the pics forwarded to my home tower.......with descriptions ready inmy cerebrral cortex...

Daughter had a fable due tomorrow....needed to use the tower for WORD....and I can't post images from this here ipud.

I will put some tomorrow...she has all weekend to do whatever homework....

Damn school work. Lol. We need to go offshore. Time goes slow sittin at te dock.

Time to Design
 

We have a new panel....

Now, I need a way to "simulate" the placement of the various items that I plan to use in this area....

As you noticed, the peel coat stayed attached to the factory panel when I seperated them....but that is fine. You can use frisket paper or even cling wrap (for food) to protect the surface and allow you to draw or make other refrence marks..

Of course, you can get a contrasting color of paper and cut circles to simulate the gauges...

I like to use objects for placement that I have laying around...

FloScan just so happened to be the same as a 3" pvc coupler.

And the gauges were the same as (most) spray bomb caps...but not rustoleum.

Details....
 

So, red for stbd, black for port, single white is fuel and the two remaining are p/s trim.

All iof the items are max dimention without rings. I can add, but of course, this would change the placement slightly.

I do not have a recommendation. These are all possible layouts and all can be tossed out the window.

I will say, I prefer to have port and stbd segregated so that I am not looking all the way from on end to the other in a row as is was from factory....

And thats all I have to say about that!

Your avatar f*c*ks me up everytime I see it. Haha

I feel like a kid in a candy store waiting to see.

Ok...Im gonna take the next four days off.....

More posts on Tuesday!!!:eekdrop:

That's just downright mean!! I'm gonna be makin a run soon so god only knows how long I'll be stuck offshore without phone signal. Gotta take a heliport out to a platform.

Just kidding.....
 

I know....that wasn't nice....:party-smiley-004: