Accent Grille Block Material Suggestions?

[Jay2TheRescue]

The trashcan plastic can be cut down to any smaller size. It has held up well, and shows absolutely no signs of deterioration yet. Not even any color fading.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

aalb1,

I made a template out of paper, cut the main shape, fit it into place, outlined the emblem with a sharpie, used a dremel to cut out the opening. it did take a while as I wanted a tight fit. put it on, take it off, cut a little, put it on, take it off, cut a.....you get the idea.

if you are coming towards her and the sun is behind you, the glare sometimes gets you. other than that, it's close to invisible.

the zip ties is because she told me that if she didn't like it, it was coming off. if you look at the other pic in her garage (lol, her garage) you can see that there isn't even any radiator behind it. just for looks. is it helping? she drives it not me so the jury is still out on that one.

[aalb1]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

How about a cheap, black plastic trashcan?

I used this to make my tire deflectors... I was amazed at how thick it was. It seems very flexible and durable too.

Originally Posted by BEEF

...[I] used a dremel to cut out the opening. it did take a while as I wanted a tight fit.

to having to cut plexiglass (or anything plastic) with a Dremel. I just wish there was another way to get great precision with another tool without melting the plastic

Once again that grill block is great beef!

[theholycow]

If you use the right bit and go slow it won't melt, but what's so bad about melting it? Just shave off the melted edges with a knife after.

Otherwise, there's always the good old coping saw.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

I used a piece of sand paper to get rid of the melted areas. usually I would have to make two passes. one would melt it significantly and the second would clean out most of the melted material.

I used the potato chip cut off wheel I did pretty good. only broke one of them. man those things are fragile

[theholycow]

I hate those potato chip cutoff wheels. The diamond ones are cheaper in the long run and work a lot better, though I guess I'd be afraid of clogging it on plastic.

With the dremel, I'd use a drill saw. There's two kinds:


Otherwise, I might use a jigsaw for details.

For the one I cut for my truck, I just used my little cordless circular saw. I tried it with the blade forward and backward, and I can't remember which way worked better. An abrasive blade probably would have worked well, too; abrasive blades are great for cutting vinyl siding, so I imagine they'd be good for other/thicker plastics.

Also, it helps to screw the material to a piece of sacrificial plywood.

A router with a blade for cutting laminate countertops would probably be PERFECT.

[GasSavers_maximilian]

I'd probably use my little bandsaw for the rough cuts, then grind it for an exact match. Usually for such work I glue the paper template to the part. Never done anything this big, though.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by maximilian

Was just at my hardware store and that garden edging stuff actually looks pretty good. They only had green in stock and it came in 20' rolls, but it's still in the running. Not that I don't love painting and all...

Look around. I've seen that stuff in black...

[GasSavers_BEEF]

the drill saws that you speak of tend to get away from me pretty easily, especially in my cordless dremel because it is so light. try cutting a straignt line with one, it can be fun.

the larger cut off wheels do work better but the potato chip cut off wheels were on hand and came in the accessory kit with the dremel. christmas presant from the parents. they give the best stuff

[GasSavers_maximilian]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

Look around. I've seen that stuff in black...

My dinky local place would just have to order it. Since the local place also tends to be pricey, I'm going to check Home Depot out next time I'm near it (it's 1.5 hrs away, so I'm not making a special trip!).