| 123 | Side A of First Special Rib | 4/9/2007 |
| | I retooled the first jig for the vertical members of the 6 "special" ribs. These are the ribs at the wing tip and root of the 3-piece wing as well as each side of the center section. With all the pieces cut, leveled and ready to go I glued up the first side. Measured out 7 grams of T-88 epoxy and the equivalent volume in hardener. That was a little too close. Next time will go with 7.5 grams.
Man hours: 2 |
| 122 | Main Jig Retooling Complete | 4/2/2007 |
| | Made up all the clamps and angle brackets for both jigs and then modified the main jig an hour here and a half hour there until it was done. Ready to roll with the first jig. Pieces are already cut waiting to be glued.
Man hours: 3 |
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| 121 | Christmas in April | 4/2/2007 |
| | The metal bandsaw came. Awaiting assembly it is sitting in my shed. Seems like the best deal. A lot heavier than I thought, has a 1HP motor, and less than $200. |
| 120 | Metal Cutting Bandsaw | 3/27/2007 |
| | Came home and saw a Northern Tool catalog in the kitchen. Metal bandsaws are on sale for 169.00. So, I immediately pulled up my 3 tool sites (Northern Tool, Grizzly, and Harbor Freight). The Northern Tool site lists the saw as 1/3 HP @ 169.00 plus $86 shipping. Grizzly lists the saw as HP (no number means 1?) @ $225.00 and the total is $298 with shipping. Harbor Freight lists the saw as 1 HP at $179.00 plus $11.99 shipping. Hence, the currently awaited shipment from Harbor Freight. Yippee! I guess this is how my wife feels when she gets another purse. |
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| | | Harbor Freight Metal Bandsaw | Non-Material Project | $191.98 |
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| 119 | Last of Wing Rib Gussets Done | 3/23/2007 |
| | Finished cutting and sanding smooth the edges of the last 60 or so gussets I will need to finish the wing ribs. Also cut out the aluminum plates I use for my clamping system to distribute the clamp pressure.
Man hours: 2 |
| 118 | Gussets | 3/19/2007 |
| | Made about 100 gussets tonight with about 60 to go. Cut'em out and sanded'em down and filed them away rubber banded together. At least something got done today.
Man hours: 25 |
| 117 | More Gussets | 3/18/2007 |
| | Now that all the pieces are in place on the "side A" jig, I can't proceed without the new gussets. I measured out strips for each type of gusset and cut a bunch. Then I traced out all the gussets to be cut from each strip using the cardboard templates I have for each gusset. This time I made enough for me to be able to toss 2 more ribs. I'd rather have extra than do this yet again. With about 200 gussets drawn on the wood. Still need to cut them all out and sand off the feathers the saw makes on each edge. Next will be the 7 clamps I have to make for each of the 2 jigs.
Man hours: 2.5 |
| 116 | Retooling Jigs | 3/17/2007 |
| | I'm now ready to begin the final 6 ribs that have vertical pieces in the truss. I made some channels in the jig to hold the pieces in their positions. I cut and fit all the pieces and made cardboard templates for the additional gussets. Also, I only have enough gussets to make 2 more ribs because I pulled a couple out of the stack that didn't match up with the others and made some new ones. I figure all together I need to make about 180 more gussets. I got the hardware ready for the clamps that need to be added. I should be able to set up all the clamps in a couple of hours.
Man hours: 1.5 |