Hand cutting a piece of 0.063" sheet aluminum to fabricate the faceplate by hands for the air conditioner was not something I look forward to do. I have done similar fabrication many times before but each successive iteration I grew less enthusiastic due to the grunt work it entails. Drilling round holes are easy, but not so with square or rectangle ones. And not having a proper sheer squaring all four sides is tedious and laborious iterative hand filing.
we have a bumper crop of these beautiful lizards at the ranch this year; they are very shy; this one is soaking up the heat from the concrete walkway
this is how one drill a rectangle hole
iterative tedious hand filing
While I entertained re-using the big rocket switch from the Kerstner control panel as the On/Off switch I didn't want to subject myself through drilling another big rectangle hole on the faceplate. Instead I took the easy way of installing a SPST toggle switch which only requires drilling a 5/8" diameter hole.
a test fit with all the pieces; I have not drill the 4 corner mounting holes as that would requires using the Kerstner control panel as the template so the holes will line up with the ones on the cabinet
the back side; the Ink Bird used in this test fit is the failed one turned dummy mockup
The faceplate turned out quite nice given the amount of time I invested in making it. I elected to reuse the potentiometer that came with the AC motor speed control module. I like the understated black plastic knob with the blue pointer which is easier to see than the aluminum knob I am using right now.
When I have more time, I may try to DIY home anodize these faceplates that I made. But it is like hacking and recoding these MCUs, I am just not willing to invest the time to do them as there are other higher priority things to take care of.
You need a nibbler.
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