Lots of Booster Cover Work

After two conspicuous days of no building activity, I finally got back to work on the booster covers. (I was roasting in 100 degree heat at the Dodger game yesterday. I have no good excuse for Friday.) I was determined to finish the remaining major cuts on the booster covers. I literally held my breath during most of them, sometimes due to sawdust.

First up, routing out the 90 degree arc from the bottom of the booster covers. I used a cove bit for that.




So far, so good.

Next, I needed to cut 37 degree angles off the corners of the booster cover tops. This part was really nerve-racking, because we are trying to achieve a very weird shape here when it's all done.




Wow, I can't believe how well that worked!

The blueprints call for a three degree angle to be chopped from the front face of the booster cover top (upper part sticks out further than the lower part). So once again I angled the table saw blade, clamped the piece upside down, and ran it through. More success.




The last item of business for the day was routing the grooves in the main part of the booster covers. I set up the fence and stop accordingly, and ran the booster covers through the router four times each (once for each groove).




The little bit of waviness at the bottoms will go away later on, when I chop the bottoms of the booster covers off to open up the "tuning fork." I still need to cut a groove around the main part of the booster covers too, but I'll wait until I know how the booster covers are mounted, so I can match the existing grooves on the legs.

I have to say I am really glad that the trickiest parts of the booster cover build are behind me, and I do feel a small sense of accomplishment having made it this far. A big thank you to all that have helped with booster cover tips and advice (Alan, pixelFiend, Mike and others), your input and encouragement are really appreciated!