Grid cut-out templates.Your ideas and methods.

[DACOTA]

I wanted to know what you guys use to make a template for doing sink tube cut-outs?I would like to see how you guys do it.Post away.Please.

Here are the cut-outs I wanna do.Its the black curved cut on the middle lower saber area and the dark silver shroud around the emitter.

[Hasid Lafre]

Measure and draw it out on a piece of paper. then take a marker of some kind and mark it out, then take a dremel with some various bits like the side cutting ones and a drum sander to get the cut outs the way you want in your template.

Remember not to cut to much out cause sink tubes will flatten when to much is cut out.

[Steeljack]

I wanted to know what to use to make a template for doing sink tube cut-outs?

For making emitter shrouds and similar accents, I've used some PostScript programs I wrote myself. Print, cut out the shape, tape to sink tube, trace with Sharpie, and Dremel away.

I have programs for elliptical shrouds (think AOTC Anakin/Vader) and Graflex-style recurves (think ROTS Anakin/ANH+ESB Luke).

Doing others wouldn't be very hard at all. I may at some point get off my lazy butt and throw some kind of web wrapper around them so that folks can generate their own.

If you want to draw things freehand on a sheet of paper instead, start with the fact that a 1.5" sink tube has a circumference of 4.7123889804", so you'd want a rectangle that wide to wrap a sink tube with exactly one turn.

[DACOTA]

Yeah well I knew all that but when I did it,it was really hard to cut,the paper that is, and when I got it all cut out,part of it ripped, so I need somthing different to cut with.Suggestions?

[Jedi-Loreen]

Cutting board and really sharp X-acto knife or utility knife.

[Hasid Lafre]

Use construction paper and a hoby knife should be abel to cut it without ruining it.

[darthdan]

Just take regular paper, wrap it around the tube, tape it so that it stays in shape.

Slide it off the tube.

Fold it so it lays flat.

Using scissors, cut a shallow semicircle from one side.

Slide it back over the tube to see how it looks and trim to your liking.

Then trace outline onto tube with sharpie.

[Hasid Lafre]

To darth dan you listen save you it can(sorry nova had to steal it from ya).

Yes darth dan does know a good bit about sinktube work, and some good work he does.

[DACOTA]

Ok I'll just have to try it.Thanks all.

[Jedi Ranger]

I wrap and secure paper around the sink tube. Then, with the paper still on, draw out a rough outline of my planned cutout, with pencil. Then, I slide the paper off, and clean up the lines. Once the lines are lookin' good, I cut everything out, and slide the new template back on the sink tube. If anything is off, it will show up now. Or, if I don't like how something turned out, I can modify the current template, or start over again.

Once I finalize my template, I trace the lines on the sink tube with a sharpie, remove the template, and begin drilling and dremeling.