Finished Dome Drive Bar, Center Foot Shell Door Holder Work

Today I had a little more droid-building time than I expected, so I was able to finish work on the dome drive bar.

I switched from using the QuikGrip clamps to some small C-clamps, which did a much better job of securing the template bar from droid #1 to the bar underneath it for droid #2. I used a spare 5/16" bit to help further keep the bars aligned. And as always, I applied plenty of WD-40 to the areas being drilled.



The three motor mount holes are done.



I used a 1/2" drill bit for the area required by motor shaft.



The last hole drilled was the 1/4" hole for the bolt that is used to pivot the motor mount under tension from a spring, toward the Rockler bearing.



Oh joy, time to hacksaw through steel. The corners need to be trimmed to allow for the curvature of the frame. This bar will be underneath the top plate of the frame, not far from the round edge.




I decided not to follow the exact path traced from the bar on droid #1. Instead, I hacked off a larger area.



Time for a test fit with the motor. Looks good!



While I was on a roll, I decided to do a quick test fit of this bar on droid #1. Still looks good. I think work on this bar is done.



On an entirely unrelated topic, I found that the short PVC segments that I've glued on the center foot shell doors are prone to being knocked off. I decided to pry all of them off and nail them down with two nails each.

I drilled a pair of 1/16" holes into each segment.



I then placed them onto the door, and marked the spot at which to drill a shallow hole, again 1/16".



I drilled the hole, and then prepared to nail the PVC segment in place.



With the segment nailed down, I used the second hole as a template for the location to drill into the door. The second nail will prevent the PVC segment from pivoting.



Done. The top PVC segments each have two nails, and won't move. The bottom PVC segments each have one nail, and can be pivoted to remove or secure the doors.