--- On Wed, 3 Jul 96 11:30:18 -0600 STUART_BRENNAN@HP-Andover-om3.om.hp.com
wrote:
> A friend made a dashboard for his Tiger out of two sheets of plywood,
> laminated together. This was to take care of the stepped holes. The
> holes in the backside piece were cut larger to produce the required
> steps when the two parts were joined. He had both parts programmed on
> a laser cutter at his work, so production was easy.
>
I did the same thing, except for having access to a laser cutter. When I bought
my
Alpine, the dash had a large hole in it where some DPO had tried to install
something. The hole was too close to the cigar lighter and the dash had
cracked. I
decided to deviate from original in this one area. There's nothing better
looking
in a British car that a wood dashboard! Anyway, I obtained 1/4" and 1/8" sheets
of
plywood from my local hobby shop. Us R/Cers use this stuff all the time, and it
can
be purchased in fairly large sheets. I used burled walnut purchased from
Constantines woodworking supply. I was told that because burl veneer does not
have
any directional strength, it is important to laminate it down to another less
expensive veneer. I think they called it "scrim"; help me out here Rob. I think
it
was a poplar veneer. I veneer glued everything together and rolled it flat with
a
veneer roller. I seem to remember cutting the holes out after the veneers were
in
place, although, because the 1'8" was on the back, I must have cut a few of
them
before-hand. Also since I was recreating an Alpine dash, which had the
"brackets"
for the heater controls molded in, I had to fabricate new ones out of aluminum.
This was a very satisfying project, and yielded a very nice dashboard. I
received
lots of compliments on it especially when people learned that I had built it
myself.
Joe Parlanti
'66 Tiger Mk1A B382002731
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