There are a lot of options these days for making your instrument panel. You can lay it out in a CAD program, then give a file or drawing to a shop that will cut it out for you. You can have a friend that knows someone that has a cousin the owns a laser or water-jet take your drawing and blank panel and return one with holes. You can ditch the blank Van's panel entirely and buy a custom-made panel cut to your specifications. Or?.most radical of all?you can take van's blank panel, lay out the design of your choice, and actually cut some metal by yourself! Of course, this is a personal choice based on your own skill assessment, but I'd like to propose that anyone who has built the airframe has acquired enough metal-working skills to accurately cut a few holes in a sheet of aluminum. I am finishing up a new panel blank for Louise's -6, and came up with a few thoughts and tips that might be useful for others who choose to go the "traditional" route?
1) think about Investing in an instrument punch. For a little more than $100, you have a punch that will cut 3-18" or 2-1/4" holes perfectly, every time, with no danger of bodily harm. I have been cutting holes in instrument panels on and off for years, and finally decided to just get one. If cutting round holes precisely is the reason you are willing to pay someone $250 or so to do it for you, just buy the punch, do it yourself, and pocket the change. I cut the Val's panel on my drill press with a fly cutter, and that certainly works - but I always feel that when I am doing that, I am one slip away from a ruined panel or a lost finger. A bit nerve wracking. With the punch, all you have to be able to do is accurately drill the pilot hole.
2) In order to get a really accurate panel, practice putting holes exactly where you want them on a scrap of aluminum. I never use a new tool or technique on a part I intend to use - I always use scrap to get a feel first. To do a panel, you need to be able to draw your layout accurately (use a fine tipped sharpie and good straight edge), use a center punch on the holes you are going to drill, pilot the holes with a #40 drill (carefully started by "teasing" the trigger in the center-punched dimple), enlarge the hole with a step drill (either to final size for a switch or breaker, or to the size needed for the punch's bolt (usually 5/8"). There is an art to being precise, but mostly, it comes down to being slow, and then practice, practice, practice. Get a scrap, lay out a grid, and drill a hole in every intersection. Don't be afraid to adjust the drill angle as you cut the hole to make sure it is going where you want it. Have plenty of good light.
3) With the advent of glass cockpit displays, there are a lot less round holes, and many more square ones these days. Cutting straight lines is easy with a cut-off wheel and a steady hand. I try and cut about 1/64" inside the final line, to give myself room for error. Another trick is to keep your hands firmly anchored on the work piece, as well as the tool - just like flying with you arm on the rest will make you smoother, you don't want the tool "floating" over the work. I also find that if I make a shallow pass down the entire line before I try to cut all the way through gives me much better control as I make the final cut. Plunging the wheel all the way through and then bulling your way down the line is a good way to end up off line.
4) To bring rectangular holes to final size, I like to clamp a piece of steel bar stock on the face of the panel, with the edge laying tightly and exactly on the line I am working to. I then use a file on the aluminum edge (or a sanding disk on an angle grinder, which works fast and slick!) until the edge of the aluminum is flush with the steel. Voila' - a perfect straight edge, right where I want it! Work carefully in the corners - you probably want to drill the corners first anyway, to give you a little radius - trying to do it with a file is tedious.
5) The step drill (Unibit) is your friend! I use it anywhere I am going to make a hole larger than 1/8" if I can. The holes are nice and round, and even de-burred automatically! They can also be steered if your pilot hole gets you started just a little bit off. When I am drilling holes for switches and breakers, I not only draw a center point, but I draw a hole (using a circle template) the size and location of the finished hole. That way, I can adjust as the Unibit goes in if I am not exactly on target - I can see it reaching the finished hole size.
6) In laying out a panel, you can use all the CAD programs you want, and even do a full-sized drawing on paper (both of which are good ways to start), but in the end, nothing beats laying the entire design out on the panel itself to make sure everything fits! Acetone makes a perfect "eraser" for sharpie ink, so don?t be afraid of making mistakes and/or changes. For Louise's panel, I ended up changing almost everything by a little bit over several versions to get everything to line up and not interfere with the panel ribs and connection points. This is where those drafting tools, triangles, and straight edges are going to com in handy. Don't cut a thing until you are happy with the design. And don't forget to leave sufficient space between instruments and radios - they are bigger behind the panel than in front! A chunk of an old panel is invaluable as a template for holes - especially the funny cut-outs around the knobs on an altimeter.
7) Don't get into "production" mode and drill four attachment holes around every instrument cut-out. Many have a knob in a corner, or simply use two diagonal holes, with an empty corner. Custom drill each hole for it's instrument, or risk having someone ask you "What is that hole for?" at the next fly-in you attend?.
Cutting your own panel can be fun, rewarding, cost-effective, and quite satisfying. I probably have a total of four hours labor into cutting Louise's -6 panel - it really doesn?t take long with the right tools. And "the right tools" will cost you far les than paying someone to have it done. But it is, of course, up to each individual to decide where to put their money. Personally, I'd hand cut ten panels if someone else would fill fiberglass pinholes for me?..
Paul
1) think about Investing in an instrument punch. For a little more than $100, you have a punch that will cut 3-18" or 2-1/4" holes perfectly, every time, with no danger of bodily harm. I have been cutting holes in instrument panels on and off for years, and finally decided to just get one. If cutting round holes precisely is the reason you are willing to pay someone $250 or so to do it for you, just buy the punch, do it yourself, and pocket the change. I cut the Val's panel on my drill press with a fly cutter, and that certainly works - but I always feel that when I am doing that, I am one slip away from a ruined panel or a lost finger. A bit nerve wracking. With the punch, all you have to be able to do is accurately drill the pilot hole.
2) In order to get a really accurate panel, practice putting holes exactly where you want them on a scrap of aluminum. I never use a new tool or technique on a part I intend to use - I always use scrap to get a feel first. To do a panel, you need to be able to draw your layout accurately (use a fine tipped sharpie and good straight edge), use a center punch on the holes you are going to drill, pilot the holes with a #40 drill (carefully started by "teasing" the trigger in the center-punched dimple), enlarge the hole with a step drill (either to final size for a switch or breaker, or to the size needed for the punch's bolt (usually 5/8"). There is an art to being precise, but mostly, it comes down to being slow, and then practice, practice, practice. Get a scrap, lay out a grid, and drill a hole in every intersection. Don't be afraid to adjust the drill angle as you cut the hole to make sure it is going where you want it. Have plenty of good light.
3) With the advent of glass cockpit displays, there are a lot less round holes, and many more square ones these days. Cutting straight lines is easy with a cut-off wheel and a steady hand. I try and cut about 1/64" inside the final line, to give myself room for error. Another trick is to keep your hands firmly anchored on the work piece, as well as the tool - just like flying with you arm on the rest will make you smoother, you don't want the tool "floating" over the work. I also find that if I make a shallow pass down the entire line before I try to cut all the way through gives me much better control as I make the final cut. Plunging the wheel all the way through and then bulling your way down the line is a good way to end up off line.
4) To bring rectangular holes to final size, I like to clamp a piece of steel bar stock on the face of the panel, with the edge laying tightly and exactly on the line I am working to. I then use a file on the aluminum edge (or a sanding disk on an angle grinder, which works fast and slick!) until the edge of the aluminum is flush with the steel. Voila' - a perfect straight edge, right where I want it! Work carefully in the corners - you probably want to drill the corners first anyway, to give you a little radius - trying to do it with a file is tedious.
5) The step drill (Unibit) is your friend! I use it anywhere I am going to make a hole larger than 1/8" if I can. The holes are nice and round, and even de-burred automatically! They can also be steered if your pilot hole gets you started just a little bit off. When I am drilling holes for switches and breakers, I not only draw a center point, but I draw a hole (using a circle template) the size and location of the finished hole. That way, I can adjust as the Unibit goes in if I am not exactly on target - I can see it reaching the finished hole size.
6) In laying out a panel, you can use all the CAD programs you want, and even do a full-sized drawing on paper (both of which are good ways to start), but in the end, nothing beats laying the entire design out on the panel itself to make sure everything fits! Acetone makes a perfect "eraser" for sharpie ink, so don?t be afraid of making mistakes and/or changes. For Louise's panel, I ended up changing almost everything by a little bit over several versions to get everything to line up and not interfere with the panel ribs and connection points. This is where those drafting tools, triangles, and straight edges are going to com in handy. Don't cut a thing until you are happy with the design. And don't forget to leave sufficient space between instruments and radios - they are bigger behind the panel than in front! A chunk of an old panel is invaluable as a template for holes - especially the funny cut-outs around the knobs on an altimeter.
7) Don't get into "production" mode and drill four attachment holes around every instrument cut-out. Many have a knob in a corner, or simply use two diagonal holes, with an empty corner. Custom drill each hole for it's instrument, or risk having someone ask you "What is that hole for?" at the next fly-in you attend?.
Cutting your own panel can be fun, rewarding, cost-effective, and quite satisfying. I probably have a total of four hours labor into cutting Louise's -6 panel - it really doesn?t take long with the right tools. And "the right tools" will cost you far les than paying someone to have it done. But it is, of course, up to each individual to decide where to put their money. Personally, I'd hand cut ten panels if someone else would fill fiberglass pinholes for me?..
Paul
