1.0 Hours -
We finally had a small break in the heat, and I was able to spend a little time in the garage. I decided to spend this session working on my nav light project since I now have all the parts and tools on-hand.
The first thing I did was use my band saw to cut the plexiglass pieces from the 12″ x 12″ sheets of mirrored plexi. The band saw cut through this stuff easily and didn’t do any damage to the edges. Once the pieces were rough cut, I finished them on the belt sander to remove any rough edges and smooth the curves. Prior to final assembly, I’ll smooth the edges more, but for now I want to leave the protective paper on the top side of the plexi.
The mirrored plexi pieces for the wingtips. The markings on the two pieces on the right side are approximately where the LEDs will be placed.
Next, I checked the fit of my aluminum cut-out insert in the left wingtip. It still needed some finishing, so I gave it a few passes on the belt sander under the shape matched the wingtip. Once the shape was right, I decided to drill it to the wingtip. I only drilled it to #40 for now. This way, I’ll be able to slightly modify the positioning, if needed, during final drilling. My plan is to use six #6 screws and platenuts to attach the aluminum insert to the wingtip.
After fine-tuning the aluminum cut-out insert, I carefully drilled it to the wingtip. The blue-plastic will stay on as long as possible to protect the shiny surface, but it makes the edge of the piece look messy...it's not!
I sat one of the plexi pieces in the cut-out to get an idea how it will look. This setup should work well.
Back to the plexi pieces. I bought some plas-drill bits for use on this, and other, projects, but I wanted to see how hard this stuff is to drill with standard bits. Turns out, it’s pretty easy to drill with normal or plas-drill bit when using the drill press. With light, constant pressure, I found it easy to drill the plexiglass without causing any cracks. However, the plas-drill bits did leave a slightly smoother surface after drilling. Since I have them, I might as well use them.
Knowing the drilling the glass wasn’t going to be a problem, I grabbed a scrap piece and drilled a#12 and a 1/4″ hole in it. I then manually countersunk both holes and took the piece inside to see which hole would be a better fit for the LEDs. The 1/4″ hole was slightly bigger than the LED’s lens, but it is probably the best size for this application. when I turned on the single, red LED, the entire room lit up and the plexiglass looked great with the edges glowing red (sorry, I couldn’t get a good picture of this…maybe next time).
Once I figure out the best way to arrange all 6 LEDs on each side, finishing the project should be a breeze.
