Ran into a bit of a temporary roadblock tonight, but I’ll report progress anyway.
First thing I did tonight was the enclosure skin with the vinyl that I bought - it went pretty well but maybe not as well as I would have hoped. The result is a subtle touch of carbon fiber that you’ve gotta really look at to understand.
I searched for a little while to find an SR-71 graphic, and found a top down silhouette, then threw it into Photoshop on a canvas about the size of my enclosure, then printed it out on two sheets of paper and cut it out.
This photo is the printout taped onto the back of the vinyl, which is taped to a board so I could cut it out with my exacto.
After about 10 minutes of meticulous cutting, I got the design cut out.
In order to adhere properly, I cleaned all my work hands fingerprints off with some alcohol
After installing, I had my first real look at my work. The install was actually quite easy, but it took a little while to get it straight.
I still have a ton of vinyl left, and I felt like it could use a little more, so I added a straight strip at the top and I quite like it. This was much more difficult to put on because I had to go around the corners at the top. This was my first time skinning anything so I was obviously a bit inexperienced and didn’t have an application squigee.
There’s still some ripples in the front one but I did my best to get them out. I think it looks pretty awesome
I wonder if maybe a clearcoat of some protective polyurethane or something would help protect the vinyl from being damaged - might consider adding that in the future.
Next thing was installing the threaded inserts, again something I haven’t bothered doing up until this point. Screws through the deck aren’t really an eyesore to me so I’ve just always done that - they can’t fall out or anything either.
I read through most of the threaded inserts thread, and because I didn’t want to mess up my deck, I did a test one. It seems like they’re gonna be decently hard to install but not too bad. I understand now why people were saying the brass ones strip occasionally, I tried installing this one with a big flathead and it kinda skipped off and broke.
In order to prepare for the inserts anyway, I drilled all of the holes through the enclosure and tapped them into the deck so I could then open them up to the 17/64 size required for the inserts. I used a 5/32 bit to do this since I’m using M4 bolts and it’s about the right size for their through-hole installation.
As I was sitting on the ground reading the threaded inserts thread, I found @longhairedboy’s video on installing a threaded insert on instagram with a washer and a regular screw, which is a much better way than using a big flathead. I’ll be using that method to install them tomorrow, however, I also read in that thread that it’s a good idea to use epoxy on the threads to make sure they don’t come loose.
@b264 recommended JBWeld 8265-s original formula so I’m gonna pick up some of that from Home Depot tomorrow along with some M4 setscrews for my motor pulleys if I can find them. If anyone has any other recommendations on threaded insert installation, throw them my way, I’m all ears.
One final shot of the board as it is right now, all of the threaded insert holes are drilled out to 17/64 and ready for installation.
