Robots push against or tug on the lip as the robots enter and exit the nest (scoring area). Therefore, the strip needs to be securely fastened. It may be enough to glue the strip on top of the nest floorboard. But, glue removal may be difficult if the floorboard needs to be replaced, and the lip was such a pain to make that I don’t want to discard it.
Masking tape is a better choice than glue. Duct tape would also be acceptable.
However, being overly fancy, I decided to carve out space at the bottom of the side panels in order to screw the ends of the lip to the nest itself.
After marking the dimensions of the lip on the bottom of the side panels, score the interior line by tapping down a chisel with a hammer. In the next step, this scored line causes the wood to break off cleanly.
Score with chisel.
Then, chisel parallel to direction of the wood grain, towards the center of the workpiece. This leaves a nice flat surface that terminates squarely where it was scored.
Correct direction to chisel.
Don’t chisel perpendicular to (against) the wood grain because the wood will split, leaving an irregularly shaped surface.
Incorrect chisel direction breaks wood in a grain pattern.
Don’t chisel out or away from the workpiece, as the end of the wood won’t have any support and can crack off.
Incorrect chisel direction breaks off large end chunk.
After space has been chiseled out on the bottom of the side panels, place the plastic strip onto the nest and mark the appropriate location for holes.
Because the plastic strip is not secured to the nest, it will be difficult to accurately pre-drill screw holes through both the plastic strip and the wooden side panels at the same time. Instead, remove the plastic strip and first drill holes in it while it is held in a vise.
Because my plastic strip is secured underneath the nest’s side panels, the screw heads can’t stick out beneath the bottom of the panels, or else the nest will sit unevenly on the ground. So, I decided to use flat head screws and countersink them.
Countersinking lip on a milling machine.
After drilling the holes in the plastic strip, place the strip back on the nest. Using the hole in the plastic strip as a guide, mark the center of the hole in the side board of the nest. Then, press a center punch onto the mark to create an indentation that will guide the drill for pre-drilling the screw hole into the wood of the side panel.
Mark hole and center punch it.
While you’re at it, mark the plastic strip where its length goes beyond the sides of the nest.
Remove the plastic strip. Drill the holes in the wood and cut off the excess length of the plastic strip.
Lip screwed in place with countersunk flathead screw.
Put the strip back in place and screw it on. I used 18-8 stainless steel, flat head, No. 8 diameter, 1/2″ length, wood screws. McMaster-Carr #90294A194.
Wow! That lip was really a pain. Now let’s attach white posterboard as a base for the scoring nest.
