Cutting Corners

I have a set of Michael McMaster's excellent octagon ports. These come with mount areas to screw the parts in place, thus they are square in shape.



I decided that I'd prefer to mount the aluminum octagon ports the same way I mounted the resin ports on droid #1, using a paddle from behind that is attached to the frame from above. This means that I can lop off the corners of the octagon ports, thereby saving a little weight, and more importantly, avoiding some chopping on the wooden frame.

I dropped by my buddy Kelvin's house, where he used his bandsaw to cut the corners off the octagon ports.



The bandsaw is well-suited for jobs like this, just cut slowly and keep the blade lubricated. Three of the four corners are cut on this part so far.



Both octagon ports are ready for drilling and installation, but that's still a little farther down the road.



Next, I need to do a little bit of chopping on the frame for the Large Data Port, and at least one of the two Pocket Vents. I hope to get to that tomorrow, but the forecast calls for rain. We'll see.