Re: aaaand so it begins - starcraft rebuild
Told her foam is really for a debri trail so the coasties can find us....She may never go out with me now! lol
Hansel and Gretel have nothing on us, my friend.
This weekend was less productive than I'd hoped. My first setback was having the wrong rivets for the plywood. The home depot rivets work great for securing stringers back in place - but the heads are nowhere near big enough to hold the deck down. You know, the thing that most everything else will be attached to in some way? In my own little utopia where everything goes the way it does in my head, I would have had the floor secured and epoxied tonight. Whelp... if at first you don't succeed.... lower your standards.
Again, with the rain. Frig.
I did manage to get my windshield done this afternoon. I went to the depot and got the thickest stuff they had - 1/4 inch acrylic 2' X 4' sheet was $55. they didn't have lexan in that size or thickness. I bought the big sheet and small test piece - figured I'd test my heat gun method on the little piece and and return the big one if it didn't work. I was worried that the heat would discolor the acrylic. All went well. So I made a template out of cardboard.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...authkey=Gv1sRgCLis177855WxrgE&feat=directlink
and used it to cut the acrylic. The protective plastic is still on both sides here. I kept it on as long as I could. I had to remove it when it was time to heat the acrylic.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...authkey=Gv1sRgCLis177855WxrgE&feat=directlink
I used the router table to put a bullnose edge on the windshield before bending it. No pic, sorry.
I was going to make some kind of jig to bend the acrylic around, but then realized that the console itself was all the jig I needed. I set the piece in place and used weights to hold it down (uh... after I was done working out with them, of course). I used a heat gun on the corner ($30 depot jobbie that I had from back in the day). Key here - go slowly and heat the corner evenly. Don't force it, but use mild/moderate pressure to bend around the corner as the acrylic gets hot enough. Hold it in place for a few minutes while it cools and this is what you get (the console is face-down here):
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...authkey=Gv1sRgCLis177855WxrgE&feat=directlink
Here's the final fit. Up close, it looks like something some guy made in his basement. But I can live with that @ $50 vs. who knows how much to have one made. There was certainly nothing at any price off the shelf (or web, as it were) that would fit my console. If this one breaks (it is surprisingly sturdy), I know how to make another one.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mpprovo...7855WxrgE&feat=directlink#5331769695197599986
I also picked up some half decent speakers on clearance at boater's world. I was going to put them in the console somewhere - but alas, I've run out of room. I decided to put them in the bench. You can see one of the cutouts and enclosures in the background of photo #2 above.
My time line keeps moving back. The minute I want to start rushing, I have to remind myself that this is the time to do sweat the small stuff. Rather than cut up my bench later for speakers, or try to make a windshield after everything's been painted, it's good to do it now.
