Per Bill, my box is 3/8" plexiglass & 8-32 flat screws counter sunk. I use screws so it can be dis-assembled for trips from Michigan to Florida for Winters (small vehicle is packed). The smooth plexi finish is nice as it does not scratch finish on boats. Edges are sharp & probably should be sanded a little. I use a small extra unattached wood piece (“L” shape) as a guage block for rudder length check. A “U” shaped wood fixture is set on top of box to check storm rig height.
Most time consuming part is drilling & tapping all the holes to maintain allignment as there is no room for error. Drill press I think is a must & a lot of care is needed for tapping. Leave protective film on until all machining is complete to reduce scratching surfaces…
I could probably supply 5 plexy glass pieces for basic box cut to size w/o holes for about $25 + shipping and USA only if there were enough interest. I have no interest in doing the drill & tapping as it is a manual process for me (no NC machine or mill for me) and does consume time. Regarding dimensions, all I can say is close to 12 & 6 inches.
Bill and all - My first plexi box was drilled and tapped like Franks, but the laser did the hole drilling for me so there was no misalignment of the tap and clearance holes. This box can be seen if you log onto the Official Footy Website and look at my article about different ways to place a Footy in the measurement box.
I have another design that uses tabs and slots to fit the panels together. All the panels come apart and lay flat for transport, assembly or disassembly takes only a minute or two. This is a big improvement over the first box which is a hassle to unbolt and some of the panels have flanges so they won’t lay flat. I’ve been in talks with Graham at Scalesailing about a production version of this box design since he uses a laser service to cut the parts for his Footy designs. If there is interest in this kind of quick assembly measurement box then let Graham know. We might just get this project off the ground.
I think the idea of an accurately produced, commercially available box is a great idea, if it can be done at a cost that is not prohibitive. I would certainly be interested in one myself. Having such a box would go a long way toward eliminating problems that may arise due to slight constructional tolerance variations that may be found in boxes built by different people. Fast Frank and I had discussed the tolerance issue some time ago, but hadn’t come up with a good solution. Please keep working on the idea.