Control Box


Binding Post:

Styrene stock (various shapes):
Parts and Intro

Did everyone save their scraps from the REECE hitch cover? (i.e. the Shroud) If not, you'll have to find some plastic that's at least 2 mm thick.

The Hitch cover scraps provide the two side pieces, and the rest is a mix of styrene rods, sheets, round tube and rectangular tubing.  Unfortunately only a small amount of styrene is needed, and most Hobby stores sell it in bulk packs. I don't have prices since I made this with Styrene I already had.

  (2 pieces)- 2 mm thick plastic sheet (Hitch cover scraps) at least 3/4" wide by 1-3/4" long.
  (1) 1/4" x 3/16" rectangular styrene rod.
  (1) 1/4" x 2.5mm rectangular styrene rod.
  (1) 3/8" dia styrene round tube.
  (1) 3/8" x 1/4" rectangular styrene tube.
  (2) nylon binding posts(Home Depot)
  (2) #3-48 x 1-1/4" miniature machine screws(Home Depot)
  (2) #3 miniature hex nuts(Home Depot)
  (1) thin sheet styrene. 
  "Car Siding" works the best, since one side is smooth, and the other has ribs which makes cutting straight lines easier.

The binding posts I found just happened to be black, but I've seen the same UPC code in white, so it really doesn't matter.  You could even get the longer ones, but the important thing about this piece is that the head is exactly 3/8" dia. They come packed individually -1 male and 1 female.  I used two Females, but if you want to save a few pennies, all you really need is the head anyway, so you could use both.


 
Basic Plans

You have to be really good with a dremel to make this look right.  The hardest part is getting the two main side pieces cut exactly the same.  I made these with the intention of having them cast in resin.

 


 
Useful Tools

You need a Dremel of course, but I highly recommend using a flexi-shaft for this. If you have a Dremel, and don't have a Flexi-Shaft yet, you really need one!  It's like having an electric exacto knife, and makes fine detail, like what I'm going to show you here much easier.  A belt sander also saves alot of time, and gets edges straight and even.

Here is a pic of the bits I used in the Dremel, and what we will be using them on.

Mark 3:00 and 9:00 on top of the spacer.  Follow these lines down the sides of the tube and mark a line 5/16" up from the bottom, and 1/8" wide on each side.  The lines should have rounded ends.  Use the force on this step, believe me! 


 
Templates

Here's the templates I made for the Hitch cover scraps (sides of box) and the styrene sheet which will be applied to the box sides after it's all together. The hitch cover pieces each have 3 squares inside the border. This is where we'll thin the plastic out with the round grinding wheels. The styrene pieces are separated into two sections per side.

I'm not a draftsman, but when I printed this out, it came out exactly to scale, so you can cut them out, and trace them onto your sheets. The pic resolution is 72 dpi.


 
Layout

I found out a neato trick while tracing the template onto the hitch cover.

Tape the template down with double sticky tape, and trace with a razor blade.
Remove the template.  Use a RED Sharpie marker to trace OUTSIDE the razor lines for the outer border, and INSIDE the 3 squares.  You'll notice that a RED Sharpie comes out a very reflective gold color on the black plastic!  If you are careful, the sharpie won't bleed over the razor score line.

This helps when you're cutting with the Dremel, because the plastic melts while cutting it, and if you have a nice gold line leading up to your razor scoring, it lets you know when you are getting close to your mark. I always cut as close as I can, and then use the belt sander to finish it up.


 
More to come...