Hi folks,
Has anyone made their dash from a nice thick plate of ali? I'm thinking of doing mine from 5mm plate (as I have some!), mounting the gauges so
that the bezels sit 'flush' and perhaps turning up some sexy raised and radiused bezels on the lathe. Then I guess something attached around
the bottom, front. edge to create the required radius.
I suppose the real issue is - can we use raw metal for the dash as long as radii etc. are adhered to.
Anyone done something along these lines?
mine is 1mm ally curved at the bottom edge,i imagine it would be difficult/imposible to bend 5mm
Ours was made of ally about 1.5 - 2.0mm thick and a couple of foam/vinyl pads fastened to obtain the radii. This was difficult enough to bend by hand. Won't 5mm be a bit errrr..... tougher.
I wasn't thinking of bending it, rather finishing the edge with a radius (may need thickening behind the bottom edge to make enough for the req radius) and possibly putting a 'swirl' texture or similar on the raw ali - no covering etc.
only issue I can see is the unecessary weight (if that's a concern to you). Do you have access to a mill as well as a lathe? If so I'd
imagine you could make a quality looking bit of kit!
Nick
Hi.
I think it would look great. 
There is the issue of reflections from the sun. Remember the sun?
That thing that comes out on a Monday morning when your back at work. 
"Swirl" looks cool. Careful when you clean it though.
Just a thought;
start off with an oversize sheet and form a rad on the bottom edge
with a series of close folds, say, 10 deg every 8 mm. From the outside it
would be a smooth rad. Cut to size and shape after. (Local sheet metal shop?)
Good luck Paul G
Doc,
When you say "may need thickening", bear in mind that it you are having the bottom edge with a hard finish (ie ally rather than foam) it
will need a RADIUS of 19mm.
Thickening to 3/4 of an inch
Think you may be better off starting with 1.5mm ish and rolling lower edge!
Mines plastic, but have a look in archive - should show you what I'm talking about!
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=2005_0207Image0039.JPG
ATB
Simon
[Edited on 15/2/05 by Simon]
doesn't the dash have to be "soft" for SVA?
KT
not if its got a 19mm radius at the lower edges.
If no radius on the lower edges then it needs to be padded so much so that the tester can not feel the lower edge of the dash material through the
padding using 'average' pressure with a thumb.
I make my dashes out of 1.2mm AL and then have them anodised black. That prevents any glare and also allows you to have any annotation for switches
etc engraved into the black surface which neatly shows up as AL again.
You could either roll the bottom edge, or fold it at 90 degrees and rivet some AL D-section moulding onto the return.
To Echo Rorty's point, I've had an Aluminium dash too.... I ended up spraying it black as the sun used to blind me every now and
then...
I DID sand-blast it in a half-arsed attempt to dull it down, but then mud stuck to it like shite to a blanket. 
Machining switch-labelling into an anodised Dash???? *droooool*
Put your tongue bak in, it's not pretty. 
Rescued attachment Steering wheel 2sml.jpg
Ahhh, but the concept still give me the.... what does that center button say again??
I've been considering laying up a Carbon one for mine (when I get round to it) 
quote:
Originally posted by nick baker
.... what does that center button say again??
so how about putting some padding just around the bottom edge (over 19mm radius). like that pipe insulation stuff with covering (vinyl) stretched over and fixed in place. make mr sva man happy?
Mines 1mm thick ally, with a generous fold on the bottom edge. once screwed to the scuttle it is fine. Anybody needs some foam for cladding I'm probably your man!
How about finishing the edge of a thick (or thin) Ally Dashbord, say by, taking a bit of Tubular ally, cutting a slot along its length, and welding
(ally weld) it to the bottom of your 5mm dash?. A bit of 38mm tube give the right radius.