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Printed templates

wirejock

wirejock

Well Known Member
Some of you may have seen my article "It's a Wrap". It details drawing and printing a vinyl wrap instrument panel skin.
I needed the switch keyway strips to keep the switches from rotating. Since everything is located using the cad and Adobe Illustrator drawings, I just printed sheets of the switch holes. Basically tape them to a piece of .032 and use an optical punch to precisely punch the switch holes and keyway lock holes. It worked like a charm. Switches slide right in and won't rotate. Love it when a plan comes together.
20230211_150204.jpg
 
A word of caution about printing templates...After you print, be sure and check a number of the vertical and horizontal measurements, as paper will move about and printers don't always print at the correct scale. It's not going to matter for most things, but when you get down into two decimal places for locations, it could be.

When I did drawings for templates, I always added a set of vertical and horizontal scales close by, that could be used for checking the print. Most of the time, they were correct, but I did find that certain brands and weights of paper moved much more than others. Where dimensions were very critical, we printed on Mylar instead.
 
Printing templates

cvairwerks said:
A word of caution about printing templates...After you print, be sure and check a number of the vertical and horizontal measurements, as paper will move about and printers don't always print at the correct scale. It's not going to matter for most things, but when you get down into two decimal places for locations, it could be.

When I did drawings for templates, I always added a set of vertical and horizontal scales close by, that could be used for checking the print. Most of the time, they were correct, but I did find that certain brands and weights of paper moved much more than others. Where dimensions were very critical, we printed on Mylar instead.
Click to expand...

Guess I got lucky. Every switch dropped right into place. :D
 
Nah, Larry, you're not lucky, just that good!:) My main point, is if the template has critical dimension, just make sure they are correct before you cut or drill. Metal is getting to be quite expensive and no one wants to scrap an expensive part if it can be avoided.
 
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