motegi
Tyme Machine
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- Jul 13, 2014
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This tutorial will walk you through the modification of a standard "3-slot" sized Invicta Dive Box into a 6 slot storage case. It will also work for the old "OceanQuest" Dive Boxes as well.
Before:
After:
Now for the DIY instructions!!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TIME: Roughly 1 hour
TOOLS: A ball point pen, a scrap piece of cardboard, a box cutter with fresh blades, serrated bread knife, cutting board, superglue, and a metal yardstick.
COST: $15 in materials (It'll be enough to do 5+ boxes!)
MATERIALS:
1) Black foam rubber anti-fatigue floor mats that lock together like puzzle pieces that are used in exercise rooms and workshops.
I found this 4 pack for $9 at my local Harbor Freight Tools. Use one of their 20% off coupons from their e-mails or newspaper fliers for an even better price! (Just one of these mats is more than enough material for 1 box. So with this 4 pack you could probably do 5-6 boxes!!!)
The mat has a weave like pattern on top that reminds me of carbon fiber.
Amazon has something that looks the same... but it costs $15... plus $12 shipping!!!!
You can find similar (smaller, more expensive) locking floor pads at Sports Authority in the gym section.
2) Two black foam pipe covers from Lowes. Get 1 roll each of two different sized pipe covers. The larger one had an open slit and the other was perforated but not actually open. The Lowes item #'s were #21416 and #24433. They cost $1.94 and $1.18 each and there is plenty of material for three or more box mods. You could also use one of those fluorescent swimming pool "noodles" but I wanted something black to match the tray and they don't make black pool noodles...
------------------------------------------------------
TUTORIAL:
First we will be building the "watch tray". I used the existing foam insert from the Dive Box to trace out an outline onto a sheet of scrap cardboard to use as a template:
(The overall dimensions are 7.25 x 9.25 inches)
Then I cut out the template and drew the planned watch slots onto it. My slot dimensions are 2 x 3 in. They are spaced 3/4 in apart side to side and 1/2 in top to bottom. The side to side spacing leaves plenty of room to keep even the largest cases/crowns from knocking together. There's probably even room to space the slots a full 1 inch apart side to side if needed.
Once I had the template I simply traced it out onto the back of the rubber mat using a ball point pen.
I drew out a bunch of them, but all you really need are TWO WITH THE SLOT OUTLINES to make the top plate of the watch tray and TWO WITHOUT the slot outlines to use as padding for the bottom of the box.
Next, I cut out the slots on ONE sections using a box cutter with a BRAND NEW sharp blade and my metal yardstick as a guide. These mats cut REALLY easily! I was expecting it to take longer. It's like butter!
The one with the cutouts will become the top plate of the tray and one with just the outlines will be the bottom of the tray.
Next I cut a 2 inch strip of foam mat to use as the vertical "slats" for the tray. I marked this strip in 3 inch increments for 6 sections and cut them apart.
I used the "cut out" pieces (total of 12, 6 from the "holes" we made in the top plate and 6 from the strip we just cut into sections) to make the vertical internal dividers for the tray. Superglue works like magic on this stuff!!! And you really only need 1 or two small dots of glue on each piece!!
So I doubled up the dividers in between each of the slots side to side and then put a single piece on each end. I glued all of the dividers to the "bottom" plate first.
Going across the very top and bottom and a single piece down the middle I cut longer 2 inch wide strips of the mat material and trimmed it to length so that it would go across all three slots. I then glued these to the "bottom" plate as well.
Finally I carefully applied glue to the tops of all of the dividers and aligned the "top" plate onto the bottom watch tray assembly.
If you "miss" any of the slats or the glue doesn't hold you can always lightly press the slat over so that the top edge is exposed through the top plate, apply glue, and resecure.
For the watch rolls I took the foam pipe covers and put the smaller one inside the larger one to bulk them up a bit. Imagine a hot dog in a bun:
Then I sliced off two inch sections using my wife's serrated bread knife and cutting board so that they would fit the slots in the tray. Its actually easier than cutting through french bread! The key is the serrated bread knife!
Now you are almost done. You must place the two mat sections that you made without the slots into the bottom of the box to use as "padding" so that the top of the tray is level with the top edge of the box.
Now drop the tray in on top and you are DONE!!!
THE FINISHED PRODUCT:
---------------------------------------------------
ADDED 5/9 ****NEW ADDITIONAL OPTION!!!****
Instead of just "padding" the bottom of the box with the blank foam mat pieces you can cut narrower slots into one of them and then glue them together to make another tray for storage for things like bracelet links, extra watch straps, and watch tools.
Just lay out your items onto one of the blank mat sections flipped upside down:
Draw out the outlines of the areas you want to cut out based on your desired layout:
(keep in mind that the layout will be the mirror image once you put everything together since you are cutting from the "backside".
Now cut out the areas and glue it down to the other blank mat.
Place this into the bottom of your dive box and... PRESTO! Additional accessory storage!!!!
To access them all you need to do is "lift out" the tray on top!!!
Note: Since the watch tray may be a tight fit for the slightly tapering case you can trim the lower edges of the watch tray so that it is easier to remove.
Before:
After:
Now for the DIY instructions!!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TIME: Roughly 1 hour
TOOLS: A ball point pen, a scrap piece of cardboard, a box cutter with fresh blades, serrated bread knife, cutting board, superglue, and a metal yardstick.
COST: $15 in materials (It'll be enough to do 5+ boxes!)
MATERIALS:
1) Black foam rubber anti-fatigue floor mats that lock together like puzzle pieces that are used in exercise rooms and workshops.
I found this 4 pack for $9 at my local Harbor Freight Tools. Use one of their 20% off coupons from their e-mails or newspaper fliers for an even better price! (Just one of these mats is more than enough material for 1 box. So with this 4 pack you could probably do 5-6 boxes!!!)
The mat has a weave like pattern on top that reminds me of carbon fiber.
Amazon has something that looks the same... but it costs $15... plus $12 shipping!!!!
You can find similar (smaller, more expensive) locking floor pads at Sports Authority in the gym section.
2) Two black foam pipe covers from Lowes. Get 1 roll each of two different sized pipe covers. The larger one had an open slit and the other was perforated but not actually open. The Lowes item #'s were #21416 and #24433. They cost $1.94 and $1.18 each and there is plenty of material for three or more box mods. You could also use one of those fluorescent swimming pool "noodles" but I wanted something black to match the tray and they don't make black pool noodles...
------------------------------------------------------
TUTORIAL:
First we will be building the "watch tray". I used the existing foam insert from the Dive Box to trace out an outline onto a sheet of scrap cardboard to use as a template:
(The overall dimensions are 7.25 x 9.25 inches)
Then I cut out the template and drew the planned watch slots onto it. My slot dimensions are 2 x 3 in. They are spaced 3/4 in apart side to side and 1/2 in top to bottom. The side to side spacing leaves plenty of room to keep even the largest cases/crowns from knocking together. There's probably even room to space the slots a full 1 inch apart side to side if needed.
Once I had the template I simply traced it out onto the back of the rubber mat using a ball point pen.
I drew out a bunch of them, but all you really need are TWO WITH THE SLOT OUTLINES to make the top plate of the watch tray and TWO WITHOUT the slot outlines to use as padding for the bottom of the box.
Next, I cut out the slots on ONE sections using a box cutter with a BRAND NEW sharp blade and my metal yardstick as a guide. These mats cut REALLY easily! I was expecting it to take longer. It's like butter!
The one with the cutouts will become the top plate of the tray and one with just the outlines will be the bottom of the tray.
Next I cut a 2 inch strip of foam mat to use as the vertical "slats" for the tray. I marked this strip in 3 inch increments for 6 sections and cut them apart.
I used the "cut out" pieces (total of 12, 6 from the "holes" we made in the top plate and 6 from the strip we just cut into sections) to make the vertical internal dividers for the tray. Superglue works like magic on this stuff!!! And you really only need 1 or two small dots of glue on each piece!!
So I doubled up the dividers in between each of the slots side to side and then put a single piece on each end. I glued all of the dividers to the "bottom" plate first.
Going across the very top and bottom and a single piece down the middle I cut longer 2 inch wide strips of the mat material and trimmed it to length so that it would go across all three slots. I then glued these to the "bottom" plate as well.
Finally I carefully applied glue to the tops of all of the dividers and aligned the "top" plate onto the bottom watch tray assembly.
If you "miss" any of the slats or the glue doesn't hold you can always lightly press the slat over so that the top edge is exposed through the top plate, apply glue, and resecure.
For the watch rolls I took the foam pipe covers and put the smaller one inside the larger one to bulk them up a bit. Imagine a hot dog in a bun:
Then I sliced off two inch sections using my wife's serrated bread knife and cutting board so that they would fit the slots in the tray. Its actually easier than cutting through french bread! The key is the serrated bread knife!
Now you are almost done. You must place the two mat sections that you made without the slots into the bottom of the box to use as "padding" so that the top of the tray is level with the top edge of the box.
Now drop the tray in on top and you are DONE!!!
THE FINISHED PRODUCT:
---------------------------------------------------
ADDED 5/9 ****NEW ADDITIONAL OPTION!!!****
Instead of just "padding" the bottom of the box with the blank foam mat pieces you can cut narrower slots into one of them and then glue them together to make another tray for storage for things like bracelet links, extra watch straps, and watch tools.
Just lay out your items onto one of the blank mat sections flipped upside down:
Draw out the outlines of the areas you want to cut out based on your desired layout:
(keep in mind that the layout will be the mirror image once you put everything together since you are cutting from the "backside".
Now cut out the areas and glue it down to the other blank mat.
Place this into the bottom of your dive box and... PRESTO! Additional accessory storage!!!!
To access them all you need to do is "lift out" the tray on top!!!
Note: Since the watch tray may be a tight fit for the slightly tapering case you can trim the lower edges of the watch tray so that it is easier to remove.
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