I made a knee board

This is a great example of the kind of “just good enough to do the job” work that I do when I am in a big hurry; this whole thing took me one hour to make.

First, how big to make it? A couple of minutes with a tape measure and (in this order) my Osprey Talon 33 backpack, the X6100, and my new Rite in the Rain notebook gave me approximate dimensions of 9″ x 12″. In the basement, leftover from an attic window replacement a few years ago, were some scraps of 1/8″ Lexan polycarbonate sheet, and the bandsaw made short work of cutting a 9″ strip off the end of a fortuitous 12″ wide piece, then cutting radii off the 4 corners (used a quarter from my pocket as a template for that). Over to the belt sander to smooth the sides and corners, and break the sharp edges. Back upstairs to lay out the position of holes, or actually, slots; two for the strap, two to engage the little legs on the sides of the 6100, this was done directly using a Sharpie with the plastic held up against my leg and the radio respectively, then a ruler check for similarity and symmetry. Start drilling holes in the indicated locations, first 1/16″, then 3/16″; cut away the web between holes with flush cutters, start filing away excess material until a reasonably clear and flat-sided slot is attained. I took the elastic-and-velcro strap off my oldest and most beat-up pair of cheap knee pads.

Not finished yet, just to show the technique, such as it is.

With this knee board, combined with the Robens Geographic High folding stool, I now have everything needed to operate anywhere at all ! Woohoo!

Robens Geographic High folding stool, about 12 ounces! Gotta love that!

Thank you for visiting driftlessqrp.com!


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