Templates or Plans question.....

[dndcollect]

I have trouble with detailed plans with lots of lines and measurements, etc.

Are there any plans out there for newbee dolts like myself?

Also, if I were to make my own templates on cardboard, is there plans that I can follow somewhere for that? Also what tools would I need, is it T sqaure time, etc?

I am looking for plans for a bartop and a 70-75% scale of pacman.

There are several posts about this that I have found on here, but most do not have detailed plans i dont think.

Sadly the best one i found, had plans listed but they are no longer there. It was the Namco Bartops, those looked great.

[javeryh]

I would not use cardboard for anything.  Make templates using 1/4" plywood/MDF or something similar and only make templates if you are going to build more than one cabinet. 

As for tools, the only thing I needed to build mine was a t-square, pencil, jigsaw and router (and assorted screws and wood glue).  For the 70% Pac-man, go to www.jakobud.com and print out the fullsized versions and scale the dimensions by hand to 70%.  I did this for my 80% Ms. Pac-man replica and it worked like a charm.

[chrisindfw]

I had mine all drawn out and ready to cut. What I did was to go to home depot and purchase three 4x8 sheets of 3/4 inch insulation paneling. They are about 2-4 bucks a sheet. You can cut them with a box cutter and they are light.

This gave me the ability to draw out my plans, cut them, push nails in to hold them together and see the results. This allowed me to realize that I had some angles off and that the height of the CP was not right for me.

Just a thought and hope it helps.

[rovingmind]

luan underlay works and is cheap when you want to make templates.  I agree with javeryh though on using templates if your doing more than one cab, unless your going to do something with complex sides (like a cockpit) that need to match exactly.

[javeryh]

luan underlay works and is cheap when you want to make templates.  I agree with javeryh though on using templates if your doing more than one cab, unless your going to do something with complex sides (like a cockpit) that need to match exactly.

yeah, even then I'd just cut out one side and then use the router and a pattern bit to make the match - no need for a template.

[rovingmind]

I guess that depends on how worried you are about screwing up the first panel.

 I would have to use a jig saw for some of the cuts and don't want blade flex.  For me i would rather cut the template carefully with the jig saw at 1/4" thickness and sand it to the line.  Then use that with a router to do the 3/4" parts.

Maybe it depends on how complex the side panels your doing are?  I'm working on reproducing a Star Wars cockpit.

Since he's doing a bartop laying out on the 3/4 and using it to match would work great. 

For that all you need is a straight edge and a square and a tape. 

have you looked at these?

[javeryh]

That's a great point.  It also helps if you want symmetry.  I'm building a bookcase for my daughter's room and the top and bottom panel are quite ornate (to match her dresser).  Even though this was a one off project I still made a 1/2 template out of 1/4" MDF, got it to look how I wanted and then used it to make a full-sized template out of another sheet of 1/4" MDF (flipping the 1/2 template over to do each side so it would be perfectly symmetrical).  I'm not done with the project yet but it is coming out very nice.

[dndcollect]

I had mine all drawn out and ready to cut. What I did was to go to home depot and purchase three 4x8 sheets of 3/4 inch insulation paneling. They are about 2-4 bucks a sheet. You can cut them with a box cutter and they are light.

This gave me the ability to draw out my plans, cut them, push nails in to hold them together and see the results. This allowed me to realize that I had some angles off and that the height of the CP was not right for me.

Just a thought and hope it helps.

thanks for this idea, it is working great.