Hi all. It was sugested that i make a guide for the mod i did to the front of my Switch 810 so here goes.
Lets start out with the tools i used
*Dremel tool with router base attachment and spiral cutting bit
*#2 phillips head screwdriver
*Power Drill with 3/16''-4.7625mm and 1/4''-6.3500mm drill bits
*Quick clamps
*Utility knife
*Tape Measure
*Hammer
*Pen and mechanical pencil
*Right Left and Straight cut snips
*Painters tape or frog tape. (NOT! masking tape. To hard to remove)
*Emery board <-- not as aggressive on plastic as a file
*Soldering iron. Solder
*Heat gun
*Any wood saw i use a 10" power miter saw but any saw will do
Now the fun begins.
First take off the front pannel. Lay it on its face and remove the screws that hold it together.
Use the painters tape and tape the whole thing off.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Time to make the Jig
For the next step i use a piece of (sheetrock/drywall/wallboard) as ase a base for the jig
Why draywall you may ask? Well drywall is easy to cut, drill, and Dremel. Also it is very smooth and flat plus i have a bunch laying around being a building contractor. Did i mention it is dirt cheap. 7.00 USD for a 4x8 foot sheet.
Take the panel and put it face up on your piece of drywall
Press down firmly over all the posts that are touching the drywall. Carfull not to move the panel befor you press on All the posts. This will leave slight indentations in the drywall.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Mark the indentations with a pen or pencil so you can see them
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Drill out the hols with the 3/16''-4.7625mm drill bit. You may need to hollow out the holes a bit to get all the post to fit in the holes. Now line up the post with the hols and and push the panel down untill its flush with the drywall
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Now you will need a scrap piece of (3/4''-19mm) plywood about the same size as your drywall and some scrap pieces of wood to frame in the jig.
Cut some scrap wood strips to make a frame around the panel with 2mm of space all the way around. Now clamp the strips in place one at a time and screw then all the way through the drywall into the playwood. Once that is done you can remove the the clamps the screws will hold the wood strips in place. The jig is done.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Time for the Dremel HAHA. Make sure your router base is tightly screwed on and set your depth at (1/4''-6.3500mm). Turn the Dremel on the highest setting and plung into the panel a little towards the middle and move to your edge using the wood strips as your guide cut all the way around. Go slow and steady keeping the router base tight to the wood strips.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Unscrew all the wood strips and lift the panel from the drywall but DON'T take the tape off just yet. You will need the tape in place if you want to paint the edge you just cut
Now use the Emery board to clean up the inside edge of the panel. Once you have sanded any rough spots you can paint the thin inside edge. I used satin black Krylon spraypaint
Once your paint is dry you can remove the tape and start on the mesh.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
The mesh.
I bought a 500mm x 500mm x 1mm sheet. I wanted smaller hole size to help with dust.
I used the painters tape to center on (12"304mm x 7 1/2''190mm). I used the holes as a guide and marked the tape with a pen then cut it out with my snips.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Once your mesh is cut you need to tape it to your drywall that has the holes in it from the panel making sure you have a even space on the top and the 2 sides. Now grab your drill with the 1/4''-6.3500mm drill bit and use the holes in the drywall as your guide and drill the mesh to mach the holes. You should have 7mm of mesh on the outside of the holes
Now before we start bending the mesh slip it on the panel and make sure the holes line up
if they don't just use your snips and adjust them to fit.
You will need to cut the angle. Remeber you need to keep 7mm on the outside of the holes for a bending tab. I use a piece of tape on the outside edge of the holes and marked 7mm
on the tape and cut it
Time for the bending.
This part is easy if you take your time and go slow. All i did was cut some strips of wood to length that fit on the inside where i needed to make the bend. I Clamped it down to the edge of my bench and slowly tapped the edge up with my hammer little by little woking side to side. This made perfect 90 degree angles
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
When you clamp the wood to the mesh and your work surface make sure you clamp on the 7th line of holes so when it bends you have 6 holes showing all the way around
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Now that we have all 4 edges bent up give it a test fit.
(OPTIONAL)In this photo it also shows that i cut out the dust filter from the back of the panel.
For this step i just used the Dremel and buzed it out staying away from the edge and followed up with the emery board to make it straight and smooth
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
If all went well you are ready to paint the mesh.
Once it is dry you are ready to reassemble the parts and it should look like this
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Now Lets light this bugger up.
I bought a 16' roll white self adhesive leds for $19.00 USD on amazon and went LED CRAZY!!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Just some final pictures
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Lets start out with the tools i used
*Dremel tool with router base attachment and spiral cutting bit
*#2 phillips head screwdriver
*Power Drill with 3/16''-4.7625mm and 1/4''-6.3500mm drill bits
*Quick clamps
*Utility knife
*Tape Measure
*Hammer
*Pen and mechanical pencil
*Right Left and Straight cut snips
*Painters tape or frog tape. (NOT! masking tape. To hard to remove)
*Emery board <-- not as aggressive on plastic as a file
*Soldering iron. Solder
*Heat gun
*Any wood saw i use a 10" power miter saw but any saw will do
Now the fun begins.
First take off the front pannel. Lay it on its face and remove the screws that hold it together.
Use the painters tape and tape the whole thing off.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Time to make the Jig
For the next step i use a piece of (sheetrock/drywall/wallboard) as ase a base for the jig
Why draywall you may ask? Well drywall is easy to cut, drill, and Dremel. Also it is very smooth and flat plus i have a bunch laying around being a building contractor. Did i mention it is dirt cheap. 7.00 USD for a 4x8 foot sheet.
Take the panel and put it face up on your piece of drywall
Press down firmly over all the posts that are touching the drywall. Carfull not to move the panel befor you press on All the posts. This will leave slight indentations in the drywall.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Mark the indentations with a pen or pencil so you can see them
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Drill out the hols with the 3/16''-4.7625mm drill bit. You may need to hollow out the holes a bit to get all the post to fit in the holes. Now line up the post with the hols and and push the panel down untill its flush with the drywall
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Now you will need a scrap piece of (3/4''-19mm) plywood about the same size as your drywall and some scrap pieces of wood to frame in the jig.
Cut some scrap wood strips to make a frame around the panel with 2mm of space all the way around. Now clamp the strips in place one at a time and screw then all the way through the drywall into the playwood. Once that is done you can remove the the clamps the screws will hold the wood strips in place. The jig is done.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Time for the Dremel HAHA. Make sure your router base is tightly screwed on and set your depth at (1/4''-6.3500mm). Turn the Dremel on the highest setting and plung into the panel a little towards the middle and move to your edge using the wood strips as your guide cut all the way around. Go slow and steady keeping the router base tight to the wood strips.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Unscrew all the wood strips and lift the panel from the drywall but DON'T take the tape off just yet. You will need the tape in place if you want to paint the edge you just cut
Now use the Emery board to clean up the inside edge of the panel. Once you have sanded any rough spots you can paint the thin inside edge. I used satin black Krylon spraypaint
Once your paint is dry you can remove the tape and start on the mesh.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
The mesh.
I bought a 500mm x 500mm x 1mm sheet. I wanted smaller hole size to help with dust.
I used the painters tape to center on (12"304mm x 7 1/2''190mm). I used the holes as a guide and marked the tape with a pen then cut it out with my snips.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Once your mesh is cut you need to tape it to your drywall that has the holes in it from the panel making sure you have a even space on the top and the 2 sides. Now grab your drill with the 1/4''-6.3500mm drill bit and use the holes in the drywall as your guide and drill the mesh to mach the holes. You should have 7mm of mesh on the outside of the holes
Now before we start bending the mesh slip it on the panel and make sure the holes line up
if they don't just use your snips and adjust them to fit.
You will need to cut the angle. Remeber you need to keep 7mm on the outside of the holes for a bending tab. I use a piece of tape on the outside edge of the holes and marked 7mm
on the tape and cut it
Time for the bending.
This part is easy if you take your time and go slow. All i did was cut some strips of wood to length that fit on the inside where i needed to make the bend. I Clamped it down to the edge of my bench and slowly tapped the edge up with my hammer little by little woking side to side. This made perfect 90 degree angles
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
When you clamp the wood to the mesh and your work surface make sure you clamp on the 7th line of holes so when it bends you have 6 holes showing all the way around
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Now that we have all 4 edges bent up give it a test fit.
(OPTIONAL)In this photo it also shows that i cut out the dust filter from the back of the panel.
For this step i just used the Dremel and buzed it out staying away from the edge and followed up with the emery board to make it straight and smooth
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
If all went well you are ready to paint the mesh.
Once it is dry you are ready to reassemble the parts and it should look like this
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Now Lets light this bugger up.
I bought a 16' roll white self adhesive leds for $19.00 USD on amazon and went LED CRAZY!!
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Just some final pictures
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
