Control Panel Paper Problem

[msh]

I'm building my control panel, following shamus' idea of a nicely printed diagram between two pieces of plexiglass and feeding the LEDs and DPDT switches through holes in specific places.

While I've been quite successful so far, I've come across a silly problem and I'm stuck.

When I punch the holes through the paper for the components, this naturally creates ragged edges on the trailing side, similar to drilling a hole in wood. With the wood you can sand this off, but I can't seem to come up with a clean way to remove them without damaging the map or making a shambles of the hole itself.

HELP!!

 

[cidchase]

Hi Mike,
You can mark around the holes with the paper in place, then remove the paper and punch or cut out the holes.
OR, cut the paper in place thru the holes using a SHARP exacto knife.
OR, lay the paper against the front or back plexi piece with it lined up and use the exacto thru the paper first using the hole as a guide under the paper.
Just my best guess--

 

[alkcnw]

msh, Try marking then then cutting them out with your modeling knife. If they are close enough to the edge you can try nibbling them out with a paper punch!

 

[Vic]

A few things that might help....Use only brand new drill bits....Drill very slowly....drill a pilot hole with a smaller bit prior to drilling the actual hole....lube the drill bits with beeswax or parafin...lay the plexiglas on a hard flat surface while drilling...don't try to hold it and drill thorough it and use a steady even pressure on the drill.

That's tough stuff to drill cleanly...hope this helped

 

[msh]

I've got it

After reprinting the final design and cutting the edges to size behind the front piece of plexi, I taped it to the back piece of plexi, turned it upside down and used a light to locate my holes one at a time. Then using the hobby knife I cut the along the edge of each hole, flush with the paper, and managed 22 very nice holes with only minor (and unseen) fraying.

Thanks to cidchase for the idea that did the trick. I guess I just needed to hear a friendly word to get on with it.

 

[shamus]

Hi msh, The idea behind using the two pieces of plexiglass is to drill through them with the paper inside first, then remove the first paper (Throw it away) and clean up the plexiglass then insert the second paper between the glass. This is all explained in the article. For those interested, here's the thread for it.

http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=164&highlight=control+panel

Shamus

 

[msh]

Hello Shamus,

I've already completed the control panel to my satisfaction, albeit not perfectly, without "fully" reading your instructions before I started. (duh!) So, for future reference... according to your instructions the first piece of paper gets sandwhiched, drilled and tossed - using it as the guide for the holes. Then you sandwhich the second piece of paper and proceed.

My confusion is, are both sheets of paper in the sandwhich at the the time of the first drilling (what I am thinking), or must you drill out the holes in sheet number two when it is placed in the sandwhich?

Since this is certainaly not my last control panel I'd like to be certain - cutting the holes manually was a pain.

As if you've not heard this enough - you are my idol, my sensei and modelling master extrodinaire! Thank you so much for your look into what's possible.