Attaching the Circuit Plate Standoffs to the Upright
The Arduino, LCD panel, and breadboard are mounted on an acrylic sheet called the circuit plate. The circuit plate is attached to the fish tank platform via two small wooden standoffs, which allow wires to be routed beneath the circuit plate.
This web page describes how to attach the standoffs to the upright. The entire assembly of the platform is divided into the following steps.
Goal
The objective of this step is to attach the two small wooden standoffs to the upright as shown in the following photograph.
Locate, mark, and drill through-holes in stand-offs
Because the standoffs are so narrow it is easy to split them. Therefore, care must be taken while drilling the through-holes and when tightening the screws that attach the standoffs to the upright.
Mark the location of the screw holes in the first standoff.
Drill through the first standoff
Transfer the through-hole locations to the second standoff. Then drill put the second standoff in the vise and finish drilling the through-holes.
Attach the upper standoff to the upright with screws.
Transfer the location of the through-holes from the stand-off to the upright. Drill a shallow mark on the upright. Don't drill through the upright!
Make sure that the transfer marks are very shallow
Drill pilot holes in the upright. The shallow transfer marks are the location of he pilot holes.
Attach the first standoff with screws.
Be careful not to make the screws too tight or you may split the standoff
Attach the upper standoff to the upright with screws.
Use the acrylic circuit plat to locate the lower standoff
Transfer the location of the through-holes from the stand-off to the upright. Drill a shallow mark on the upright. Don't drill through the upright!
Make sure that the transfer marks are very shallow
Drill pilot holes for the second standoff and attach the standoff with screws.
Attach round-head screws to the standoffs.
The acrylic circuit plate hangs on the standoff. The round-head screws are not fully tightened so that he acrylic circuit plate can be attached and removed by hand.
Use the acrylic circuit plate to mark the location of the support screws
Drill pilot holes for the round-head support screws
Use a screw driver or hand drill to partially tighten the round-head screws
Next Step
The next step is to attach the pump bracket to the upright.