| 163 | Clamps on Stabilizer (Overkill) | 5/25/2008 |
| | In the interest of building the cleanest looking parts I can, I continued to work on the jig, bolting my clamps to the jig. By the time I called it quits for the day I had come to realize, while these clamps make sense for the wing ribs, they are more work than they are worth for parts that you don't make large quantities of. Very well may go with nails for the elevators, rudder and vertical stabilizer.
Man hours: 5 |
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| 162 | 31 Clamps Ready to Go | 5/23/2008 |
| | I made enough clamps for the whole h-stab. When that is done they can be moved for the elevators, v-stab, and rudder. This design has worked well for the ribs. It lets you dial in the right pressure, keeps everything in place (no sliding around) until T-88 sets, and is CHEAP! ...and no nails. Making all 31 clamps tonight took about an hour (about the same time it takes to pound in, and later remove, nails). I added some pix of the clamp making process. I cut a slot, with a stop on my bandsaw to control the depth of the cut. The slot only needs to be about 1mm deep. Then I move the fence back to make a second cut to widen the slot to the width of the aluminum angle bracket for a snug fit. Last, I add the set screw and mount the clamp on the jig in the precise position it needs to provide pressure. Below is a sample.
Man hours: 1 |
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| 161 | Stabilizer Jig Prep Continues | 5/20/2008 |
| | Spent an hour dressing the edges of the small clamp angle brackets with a file so that they sit flush with the jig. Yes, it is overkill. ...but, these clamps worked well in the rib jig so continuing the same thought process into other applications of my clamp seems worth the measley hour spent. If I build another Pietenpol I will have ONE set of killer jigs.
Man hours: 1 |
| 160 | Another Inch of Stabilizer Progress | 5/18/2008 |
| | I'm going to clamp everything with the clamp I developed on my wing ribs. So I went to Home Depot and got a bunch of paint sticks, cleaned out every hardware store in town for #90 springs, got a bunch of carriage bolts, wing nuts and washers and started making the aluminum angle bracket supports that the clamp pivots on. I spent about a total of 1.5 hours cutting the aluminum angle bracket into approx. 1" pieces and filing off the rough edges. When this is all done I'll start gluing up the first side of the stabilizer. There will be a total of 31 clamps. They're easy to make so I imagine this weekend I'll have them all mounted on the jig.
Man hours: 1.5 |
| 159 | Pietenpol Documentary | 5/5/2008 |
| | If you were at Brodhead last year and noticed some people filming the event, it wasn't the local news, it was a short film production company doing a documentary on the Pietenpol. I spoke with them recently and they asked if I would post a link to their site where you can read about and purchase the DVD at a pretty reasonable price. While they address a problem their link to the trailer you can view the trailer here. Also, check out www.pietenpolmovie.com for more info and their ordering instructions. |
| 158 | Stab Ready for Glue | 5/4/2008 |
| | Woke up today with a goal to get all the pieces of the horizontal stabilizer squared away with all joints leveled and ready for glue. Just started cutting, sanding and moving forward. After fitting all the pieces, I leveled all the joints with 80 grit. The leading edge corners are going to be rounded so I added some small reinforcing blocks. The main spar of the stabilizer was trimmed down by sliding it into the jointer about 2 inches, both sides, both ends. (One of the pictures shows this) That got the dimensions close, then sandpaper made it perfect. All gussets are cut and everything's ready for final scoring and T-88.
Man hours: 4 |
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| 157 | Rabbet Edge Removal | 3/30/2008 |
| | Time was short this weekend but still found a little to remove rabbet edges at all the gusset locations. Just used the laminate flush trim bit and worked my way down to flush in several passes. Attempting to take off too much in one pass can have a tendency for the bit to grab the wood by the grain and split it. Finished off the points where the gusset meets the cut rabbet edge with a razor saw and a file. Looks good. Still have to taper the ends of the center spar and prepar the truss members which seat under the rear gussets.
Man hours: 1.5 |
| 156 | Stabilizer Progress Stable | 3/23/2008 |
| | I started out fitting the 1" x 1" side piece between the leading edge and trailing edge. The next step was to taper the piece appropriately to
address the change in thickness between the hinge spar and the leading edge spar. I marked off what needed to be removed and ripped on the
tablesaw. I used the belt sander to remove the circular cut marks and ensured the dimensions were correct with digital calipers. The last step
was to add the tapered rabbet from 3/16" to 1/8". The technique I used worked very well and the first rabbet came out to exactly the way I had hoped.
Then in my haste (after 2 hours on one side piece) I made the second rabbet with the taper going the opposite way. I stood in disbelief for about a
minute and then headed right in to make the part again. This time it was perfect and I repeated the process to make the other one. This piece
is a little harder than it looks on the plans. It does have a graceful taper that I have noted some don't bother with (probably because of all the
attention this little piece needs). After a whole day working on the horizontal stabilizer, I have only inched forward a small amount. It was fun
all the same.
Man hours: 8 |
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