M1Fanatic
Digital whaaa?
Finally broke down and bought the aluminum and a few pieces of hardware to build these ears for my machine.
If anyone is interested, the dimensions used were:
81.5mm from the top of the rack ear to the first hole.
149mm to the next hole, and 149mm more to the third hole.
The ear is 17.5" long, 1-7/16"" width on the front leg and 2" on the side.
Holes are 40mm from the front edge of the leg, and 6mm diameter.
Rack holes weren't measured. I just held the aluminum ear behind the rack
rail and marked the holes where I wanted them.
(If you were to use 2-1/4" angle, you could move the machine mounting holes out to 45mm. The ears are not quite flush with the front of the machine because the metal was not wide enough. I could have drilled them, but there was little margin for error.)
The front edge was cut down to 1-7/16" with a jig saw and several blades. Finer blades clog and foul the teeth faster, and a coarser blade will tend to want to jump a bit. A firm hold on the saw is required.
After sanding with 80 grit, 120, 220, and 320, an aluminum etching primer was used, and then shot with acrylic lacquer. The paint doesn't match so good, but it's out of a rattle can. I could have had a custom match done but I wasn't going to spend that kind of money otherwise I could have just bought a pair.
Total cost: $32 and change and three hours of my day off.
I think it took almost as long to wire the machine back into the console as it did to make the rack ears!
If anyone is interested, the dimensions used were:
81.5mm from the top of the rack ear to the first hole.
149mm to the next hole, and 149mm more to the third hole.
The ear is 17.5" long, 1-7/16"" width on the front leg and 2" on the side.
Holes are 40mm from the front edge of the leg, and 6mm diameter.
Rack holes weren't measured. I just held the aluminum ear behind the rack
rail and marked the holes where I wanted them.
(If you were to use 2-1/4" angle, you could move the machine mounting holes out to 45mm. The ears are not quite flush with the front of the machine because the metal was not wide enough. I could have drilled them, but there was little margin for error.)
The front edge was cut down to 1-7/16" with a jig saw and several blades. Finer blades clog and foul the teeth faster, and a coarser blade will tend to want to jump a bit. A firm hold on the saw is required.
After sanding with 80 grit, 120, 220, and 320, an aluminum etching primer was used, and then shot with acrylic lacquer. The paint doesn't match so good, but it's out of a rattle can. I could have had a custom match done but I wasn't going to spend that kind of money otherwise I could have just bought a pair.
Total cost: $32 and change and three hours of my day off.
I think it took almost as long to wire the machine back into the console as it did to make the rack ears!
