Cut Octagon Port Holders

Today I spent a little time cutting 1/8" MDF octagon port holders for the new aluminum octagon ports that will be going into droid #1.

Using my state-of-the-art workbench, I traced out where to cut.



I used a combination of a hacksaw and the Dremel with the cutoff wheel attachment to cut out the MDF paddles.



Next, I clamped the back piece of the octagon port to the MDF, so that I could use it as a template for where to drill the holes for the screws that hold the MDF to the aluminum. I used the drill press to drill the four holes for each octagon port.



Fortunately, the screws that come with the parts are long enough that I was able to use them to secure the MDF holders without needing longer screws.



Time for a test fit. The top of the MDF paddle will be screwed onto the wooden rib above once it's ready.



The fit of the rear octagon port is pretty much perfect (although reflections and shiny surfaces may give the impression it's not). The MDF pieces will be painted black to render them invisible.



The front octagon port isn't quite fitting in perfectly, it's forced a degree or two counter-clockwise.



I think I may need to Dremel a little material from the frame to make more room, but first I'll double-check that there's not some work I can do on the octagon port itself to make a better fit. Hopefully I'll have some time to work on this during the week.