| 147 | Making the DeWalt 735 Planer Less Portable | 1/8/2008 |
| | Actually the goal wasn't to make the planer less portable. In order to manage planing the 16' long boards I plan to be using on the fuselage I needed a more stable platform to feed the wood through the planer. I designed the frame so that it would be able to support the planer, provide the ability to attach infeed and outfeed tables that can be removed easily, and to have a collection box that all the chips and shavings can be blown into. The dust collection fitting is almost the same O.D. as 2" PVC pipe so I coupled it to a few elbows and 2" pipe directing the chips to the collecting bin. The tables can be adjusted on the planer connection as well as the end support (metal sawhorses). The ping-pong table is finally getting used making good solid infeed/outfeed tables. The chip bin is also a good place to store other tools when not in use as storage space is limited. The metal stand was easy to make 1" square tubing throughout and only weighs about 15 pounds. When the planer is removed it doubles as a great little stand for other tools (like the oscillating spindle sander). My welds are hideous but the structure is solid. ...On to making more sawdust as I head into the empennage with it's mysterious dimensions that I should now be able to easily produce!
Man hours: 8 |
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| 146 | Wisconsin Wood Shapers | 12/9/2007 |
| | Last summer Bleriot projects where underway at Brodhead and OshKosh. I found the tool they used to make the vertical wooden members of
the fuselage of the Bleriot would also be the ideal tool for easily shaping the landing gear legs for a Piet. Below are the some video
links for the tool at Brodhead. The still shots below are of the tool at OshKosh. Both represent the same idea.
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| 145 | Wood Surfacing | 11/10/2007 |
| | Today I spent about 2 hours with a friend at his woodshop. He has everything you could imagine in the area or woodworking tools as he is a cabinet maker and does incredibly precise and beautiful work. I needed to learn the proper use of woodworking tools to take warps bows out of reasonably straight Sitka Spruce boards that are about 15' long. Is the planer the best tool or is the jointer the best? I wanted to know "Do I need one of them, both of them or is one a more important investment than the other?"
The jointer is hands down the most useful tool for making a piece of wood with a warp or twist. Using his jointer we did the following...
- Identify a "smile" and position the board in the "smile" position.
- Starting with the end of the board a few feet past the cutter in the jointer we began establishing a flat base on the bottom of the smile.
- Using the flat base we continued to shave off wood in small increments until the bottom side was true and flat.
- The first pass was important in that once the cutting started all the pressure to feed the board through was applied on the outfeed part of the jointer.
- Having completed the first step in creating a the flat spot in the bottom of the smile, he made a few more passes, but now using pressure on the infeed part of the table working the flat bottom of the smile from end to end until there was no unfinished surface left on that plane of the board.
- Then the board was passed through his planer using the newly established flat side on the bottom, going for a parallel top of uniform thickness.
- After a few passes through the planer amazingly the board looked like an entirely different piece of wood.
- Start with the bottom of the bow, making sure any grain slope is coming down toward you as you push the board through. Make the opposite surface parallel with the planer.
- Put your money into the jointer and get a good inexpensive thicknessing planer.
His recommendation was the Grizzly 8" jointer which as served him very well at about $650.00 and an inexpensive Delta planer (about $300.00).
He surfaced 4 boards for me and they are absolutely straight and butt cleanly against each other. I guess I get to get 2 new tools instead of 1!
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| 144 | Educational Welding | 9/1/2007 |
| | No, I didn't quit my project. After I got back from Brodhead and OshKosh I decided to take some time to do some practice welding.
Welding is an art. You will learn this if you try and teach yourself how to weld using books. The encouraging things about welding is that your 3rd weld looks incredibly better than your first weld. I have about 18 hours of torch time now and still finding it hard to figure out how to get the right amount of heat. Welds are brittle and I can't get it right in one pass. I find that after I make the first pass, I make another one to smooth things out, this adds carbon and is probably why the metal becomes brittle. I'll do some more reading and try again tomorrow.
Man hours: 18 |
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| 143 | Rib Gusset Overhang Trimmed and Sanded | 6/19/2007 |
| | All the special ribs were done but still needed a good filing and sanding. Now they're all smooth and ready to become a wing. Unfortunately I have no spruce to start the empennage. I'll pick up another sheet of 3/4" MDF and rip it into sections so I can at least get the Elevator, H Stab and V Stab jigs going while waiting for the wood.
Man hours: 0.75 |
| 142 | Ribs All Done! | 6/10/2007 |
| | Just applied the gussets to the back side of the last special rib. Once the T-88 hardens on this one all I have left is the trimming of the gusset overhang with the router and final sanding. I ended up with 36 ribs counting the wall hanging grade ones that didn't make the grade. For something that seems to have taken such a long time and has such a large number of total pieces glued together, I get the impression from other builders that the building of the ribs is a minor step in the total project. It feels good all the same. I have a strategy for the empennage and getting the space in the garage ready for that today as well.
Man hours: 1.25 |
| 141 | Special Rib #5 Done, #6 Half Done | 6/9/2007 |
| | Today I headed to the shed and beat the sun. I gussetted the rib I had prepared the night before (level sanding and scoring the rib pieces and gussets for special rib #6). I shifted my attention to replacing some damaged tiles in the house and didn't get back out to work on the last rib until 9:00PM. I applied the gussets to the second side of special rib #5. I am now 1 side of gussets away from a finished collection of Pietenpol wing ribs! ...and down to my last drop of T-88.
Man hours: 2.5 |
| 140 | Last Rib Started | 6/7/2007 |
| | Cut and fit all the pieces for the final rib into the jig. Steamed another capstrip out of habit and didn't realize what I did until it was ready for the bending jig. Guess it could be another one for the wall. No gussets on special rib #6 at this time but that will happen tonight as will the final gussets on special rib #5. I'm ready to move on. Already have drawings for my approach to the empennage for which the dimensions on the plans seem difficult to go by.
Man hours: 1.25 |