Project; Mark1

Update for today, and as usual, I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. But in my defense I had an excuse today. car drama, and some kid drama too.
Anyway, Been working on a special place for my ipod. A door, behind the vent, that will open and presto, docking station.
Here is the rough cut hole.

And ipod for perspective.

Filed smoooooth;

This is the backside of the door. I am using 5/8" U channel for the ipod to slide in. Eventually I'll mount the connector in the bottom, too.

(I realize I should have set it on the table, not on top of another panel, to avoid confusion. Oops)

Now, the putting a hinge on here is way trickier than I thought it would be. Hopefully you can get an idea why. Here it is closed;

Here it is open;

It lifts just a little in the back, so a straight hinge won't work. This kicked my butt all day trying to get something worked out. I tried making a hinge with a bar and lines cut in sheet metal, but it wasn't stable. So, I decided to try making an assemblage that would allow the door to slide straight out.

The concept;

mocked up in place;

and trashed;

Sigh. Came up with a different solution. It won't be hidden, like I wanted, but if it works, then it's what I have to do. It's a simple as just flippng the hinge around, and making a notch for the barrel. Here it's done on a scrap piece for testing;

Here it is mocked up, to give you an idea of what it will end up looking like...

Oh, and for anyone interested, I have still been working on that pesky front piece. I don't make it focal point for now though. I work on it when I feel like taking a break.

I like your iPod dock idea, should look great when finished.

/\ ditto.. looks good

Nice one :) good drill press, really is fantastic how accurate and clean you can drill now with one of these, even going through multiple layers is so easy, and yeah the ipod docking idea is nice :).

Quick update today, not much work done.
I decided to make a groove where the barrel of the hinge will rest, instead of cutting a notch. This will make it more discrete, cleaner, smoother.

Here is the hinge resting in it's new home,

And getting glued.

That's it. Tomorrow when the glue is dry we'll see how it fits/works.

keep up the good work mark.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the comments.
Not much progress today, just little work on the ipod door. Good news is, the hinge will work just fine!
Now, one thing I've noticed while parruzing through hundreds of photos in countless worklogs, is the exurberant number of pictures of peoples cats. My wife asked me about it, and I have to admit, I just don't know why there are so many cat pictures.
Now, I don't own a cat. However, I don't want my worklog to be viewed as sub par due to feline deficiency. So, I, ahem, borrowed the neighbours cat for a quick photo shoot.

Can't wait to see that iPod dock together.

rofl u borrowed a cat!

im a dog person and i would like a cat if that counts?

I think most people have pictures with their cats because cats just love to get in the way. Anybody who was a cat probably has a picture with their cat. Cute borrowed kitty, by the way.