Appreciation post: That jig I built saved me 4 hours today

Working on a Cessna 172 panel upgrade at KAPA last week. Had to drill all new holes for a Garmin G5. First time I used my custom drill jig instead of measuring each time. Lined up perfect on the first try. Anybody else build their own jigs for repetitive panel jobs?

2 comments

2 Comments

betht321mo ago

Oh man, that is just the best feeling when a homemade jig saves you that kind of time. Nothing worse than measuring and remeasuring and still being off by a hair on a panel hole. Way to go on getting it spot on the first try, that really makes the whole project worth it.

jennifer_murphy531mo ago

That jig you made for the Garmin G5 sounds like a game changer. I did something similar last year when I had to install three identical avionics trays in a King Air panel. I made a simple plywood template with all the hole locations pre-drilled and clamped it down. First tray took me an hour, the other two took 15 minutes each. @betht32 is right about that feeling when it lines up perfect the first time. I swear, making that template saved my back from hunching over and double checking every measurement. The time you save on the repeat jobs is what makes the one-time setup worth it.