Roy wrote:

......I
guess using an already produced form or shape is not always the
easiest route to go. It took far less and lots less waste overall
doing it this way than it did my old way and getting nowhere...

Oh, that's familiar. There's an approach that looks very promising, but
after adjusting and/or fixing one complication after another, you
realize that a whole-other approach is really called for. The new way
usually turns out to be as good or better. Bob