R2’s Logic Display Surrounds are supposed to be made of metal. What are you supposed to do if yours are made of wood? The answer is simple. Take aluminum paint and fine grit sandpaper or a dremel, then paint, sand, and repeat this process until you see no grain in the wood. Since wood shows grain, the goal is to paint and sand once the paint is dry. The sanding is a light coat to attempt and sand off high spots in the grain of the wood. This process is constantly repeated over and over until the grain can no longer be seen or until you like the look of the “metal”.
Testor’s paint is the first thing I used and wet/dry sandpaper. Keep the sandpaper wet.
The Rear Logic Display Surround hosts the Rear Logic Display on the back of R2. This one was made similar to the way I made the Front Logic Display Surrounds. The difference is that this piece is rounded and needs to be cut and measured very carefully so everything comes out correctly. The materials used is a piece of poplar hobby wood and some double sided tape. I used a plunge router to cut the curve and a miter saw to cut the bevel and miter. To do all the measurements, I used my ruler and rafter square.
Plunge Router
Miter Saw w/ Angle Capablities
Double Sided Tape
Template for cutting logic displays
Ruler with 1/32 marks
Rafter square for marking wood
Rear Logic Display Surround Plans
The first step I took was cutting the circular portion of the surround. I made a plastic circle cutting guide for my plunge router to cut the 9.125″ radius circle. I then made a hole in a piece of poplar down the center of the board 9.5″ from the top and secured the board to a table and cut the circle.
Template for cutting logic displays
Plunge Router
Cutting the round section of the Rear Logic Display Surround
Final Cut of the Rear Logic Display Surround
I then marked my board, from the top center of the circle going down, the total height of the piece. Another line was marked perpendicular to that line so I can cut that piece off the board. Once cut off the board, this piece will be used to make two halves of the surround.
Cutting round portion off of board.
Round Cut piece
The next post in this series will go over cutting this round section into two halves with proper dimensions.
Once all parts are cut, we need to glue them together. I used the panel from the outer dome as a guide to test the fit of the wood pieces. After verifying the fit, I took some wood glue and put it on each side of the wood pieces and assembled them in the panel. After one hour, they were dry and awaiting a bit more cutting.
Elmer’s Wood Glue
Gluing each piece of the surrounds.
Using the panel as a guide and frame.
After the glue is dry, we take the piece out of the panel carefully so we don’t bend the panel. The panel is made of Aluminum so it can bend easy. The outside area is then cut to fit the inside of the panel per the plan.
Logic Display Surrounds inside Surround panel
This is a quick video of the whole process for cutting and constructing the wooden logic display surrounds.
