Countdown to My First R2LA!

Hello patient readers!

R2LA VIII is next Saturday, and, wanting to bring along a droid a bit further along I've started stepping up my work. ("Finally!" you say)

Today I did the long-avoided drilling on the inner dome. Some of the panels must be removed (for the electronics etc.) and drilling holes around each panel perimeter is the first step.

I'll be honest: this is the part I've been dreading the most in this build. I'm pretty confident around power tools, but I've never used them on metal. Especially metal with a curved surface. Did I say "curved?" -- I meant convex! Aye-yay-yay!

So, I kept hubby home, to have a buddy to hold the dome still, and paced a bit working up my courage. Finally ready, I used a nail to put a little depression to set the tip of the bit into, and squeezed the trigger! And here we have it -- lovely error #1:



Yep, the drill bit went skidding around! Okay -- turns out this is something that only vanishes with practice, and luckily, for all but one of the panels, the outer dome will hide most egregious mistakes! I'll need this practice for the final hole -- the one that IS visible from the outside. I'm going to do that one LAST! As in: later this week.

So, here's how it was done: we started with a 1/8" bit and then widened each hole with a 3/8" bit. There was a break partway through the process as we decided to run out and buy some rubberized shelf liner to sit the dome on so it would resist skidding around while under the pressure of the drill from the side.

My favorite part was using the step drill to completely bore out the holes for the dome "bumps" -- thanks for the tip on that, Victor! Here's where I am today (you can see the area I filed down too):



Tomorrow I finish the cuts and sand them down with the Dremel! Woooo! I looove my Dremel!