1stGrady

The cooler lid on my 2007 Hydra Sports in front of the helm was warped and difficult to lift and did not seal properly.
I contacted a company to recreate the 13” X 23” panel and was shocked at the $240 estimate with no hardware.
Being an old time woodworker prior to computerized systems, I have previously used this process to replicate multiple pieces with high accuracy.
So if you are interested, read on. As you can see, I do not have high end equipment as in my prior occupation I had access to all the traditional woodworking machinery as well as CNC routers and never had the need to purchase equipment.

Step 1: you will need a router, either hand held or table mounted, a flush trimming with bearing bit, the original panel or pattern of it and some new material from which you will be making the panel with.

Step 2: Trace the patter onto the new material.









Step 3: Cut the new panel 1/8” -1/4” proud of the traced line.( I used a carpenter pencil which exaggerated the size)






Step 4: Attach both panels together. I used small diameter screws through some of the holes in the original panel which will be transferred to the replacement or can be flipped to the underside.






Step 5: Now the rewarding part, using the router with the trimming bit installed to the correct height, start tracing the pattern. Using slow light pressure against the pattern with the bearing. After the initial cut, you can cut again slightly faster but try to move at a constant speed. If you must stop, feed the bit away from the pattern before repositioning.






Step 6: Separate the pattern from the new panel and admire your accomplishment. Any irregularities can be smoothed with a smooth file or sand paper. You may also want to use a Round Over bit to smooth the corners if the panel will be exposed to hands. Any hardware will need to be installed as well.

Out-2-Sea

Nicely done!

Towermaster

So after buying the materials and doing that are you still shocked ? As you know these days in any shop time is money . Your backyard time doesn't count .

1stGrady

Really just “setting the stage” for demonstrating how these things can be completed at home in the back yard. Didn’t really want to belittle the shops that do this for a living. Not all of us have endless amounts of cash at our disposal.

sclancy

Nicely done.

So what was your material cost?

router bit cost?

even ignoring your time (3-4hrs all in?), betting you are in $150+ plus you need a router table. Honestly $240 seems like a pretty fair price.

KBH

The only thing out of his pocket is the cost of material and that's not much. It you've got a router and table you've most likely got a bunch of router bits. Seems to me he saved over $200. Time? Probably less than an hour.

aquaholic23

You all forgot one thing, satisfaction every time you open that lid !!!!!!!!

nfairbank

I think that you have just found a great part time gig. With two offices, Allentown, PA and Sea Bright, NJ, to drop off requirements and pick-up the finished product, business is sure to boom.

8gv

Nice work!

When confronted with a decision of take it to the shop or do it myself, I factor in what tools will be needed.

If it requires new tools It's a go for do it myself!

Over time the accumulation of tools helps me with future projects.

Bigger Hammer

Very nice. I've used a router to make similar things several times over the years, but have never replaced an existing part that gave me a pattern to duplicate. I've done mostly dash panels when adding gauges and VHF radios, from both starboard and plexiglas. With plexiglas I've sanded the back side and painted it black to get a shiny black surface on the front side.
I just this week bought a small router table table to use for the project I'm working on, so kind of a learning curve going on, but it appears the table makes this much easier. Much easier to control the work, cut straight lines, etc. My current task will have me rounding some exterior corners, haven't quite figured how to create 4 identical corners. Planned to check YouTube this morning to see if there's any help there.
A recent lesson learned is to very careful about checking the height of the round-over bit carefully before using it on the final product. In the future I plan to test the height adjustment using some scrap material first.

1stGrady

I typically set it slightly lower and see how it looks. If needed, you can always cut a little deeper.
For a new panel with no original, make a pattern out of particle board.

1stGrady

fortunately I “Found” a free router and table in dad’s garage.
Material was $50, router bits were about $25 (cheap works fine on HPDE) so my actual savings was $165., which I promptly spent on friction hinges (huge upgrade instead of the stupid spring lift) and a second Southco slam latch.

Hops143

Nice work...FYI double sided tape to hold the pattern to the blank is the way to go - no holes in the piece.

54bullwinkle

Bought a cheap bench top router table 15 years ago for under 150 bucks
have cut, trimmed and fabricated hundreds of parts from it.
Great tool

Flot

I'm surprised at the price comments, we've got a pretty good local plastics shop and my GUESS after using them for a dozen various projects is that they would have been closer to the $150 range, but I could be wrong. At $240 I agree that it's worth the effort to DIY if you've got the time! (hey, it's winter) Starboard at least is forgiving to work with compared to acrylic.

Appreciate the writeup, I'm a router novice (and now I understand why I might want a router table) so that's useful to me.

AQUA 1

Double sided tape will not hold on Starboard.

1stGrady

What I thought but didn’t try.