Rib Stitching

[tjentzsch]

So, I have learned about rib stitching and all I can say is DAMN! That is going to take some time! Yikes.
Old video, but informative:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y-oU1ikcAA

[avidflyer]

I didn't watch the video yet, but have ribstiched a few planes. It's really not that bad once you get into it. Probably 3 or 4 hrs per wing. Not the end of the world by any means. Just bite the bullet and go for it and when it's all over you will say. I guess it wasn't that bad after all. JImChuk

[efwd]

You can make it slightly more challenging by not considering where exactly every pair of top and bottom holes lay in relation to the spars and sometimes even the braces inside the wing. Simply having two holes placed such that you don't see straight through to the other side is enough to make this more challenging. I had to fabricate bent needles to get around one spar (every rib). That means you start and stop twice on every rib. Try to avoid that. Even with my oversight I didn't mind the job. Kinda Cathartic. I read the book on stitch spacing and blindly laid them out as suggested. It could have been much worse. My holes were only about 1/4" inside the spar. All said, My spacing is equal every time and looks great.

[avidflyer]

I think I figured it out so spacing of 2 3/4" or 3" missed the spars on both sides. Something like that. Just a little bit of forethought and planning goes a long way. The second time around is usually easier because of our learning (hopefully) from our previous mistakes. Easy to make needles with some gas welding rod as well. Flatten one end and drill and slot a hole there. JImChuk

[tjentzsch]

I watched a few more videos, seems to be not too bad once you get that hang of the seine knot. Simply repeat, a lot :)

[jiott]

About 6 knotts and it all becomes automatic.

As Eddie said, taking some time to begin with and laying out your knot spacing to avoid spars and braces will really pay off. I layed out a pattern on a 1" strip of fiberglass wingtip trimming in pencil, then layed this strip on top of each rib and looked at each marked hole to see if it would interfere with something underneath (spar, brace). It took about 3 tries of adjusting spacing patterns before I got every stitch on every rib to go thru without interference. When this was done, I used the marks on the fiberglass strip to transfer the pattern onto the fabric.

[Dorsal]

Also used a pattern stick to mark the holes, turned out to be a fairly relaxing process once I got the hang of it.

[jeffbock]

When doing the rib lacing its important to keep that long piece of thread clean. Have sheets or a clean painters drop cloth underneath so you don't drag the thread on a dirty floor. Any dirt on the thread will cause a knot to bind up before it's down and snug.
I was lucky and had an antique restorer work with me for half a day on a project of his. Sure reduced the anxiety of starting.

[Esser]

I honestly rib stitch 2 wings in about two hours. Put your favourite upbeat music on, drink a coffee, and you’ll find your groove really quick.

Put cloth bandaids on your pinky fingers where the string rests on them while you pull the knot tight. You’ll save some blood shed

[aviator79]

Practice on something else for a bit before you do your wing. I had done a Poly-Fiber practice kit where you cover a box with one "rib" in it, and I used that to practice. You could just drill a series of hole pairs in just about anything to practice. Lay out and pre-punch your holes all the way through to verify there's no structure. Practice a good 20 knots on something before you do your wing. I wasn't as fast as Josh, but I did it in a couple hours per wing.

What Josh said about Bandages in on-point. How you hold things tight may be different than what he did, so you may need the Bandages in a different location, but once you know where you're holding tension in the cord, protect that area BEFORE it gets painful (because it WILL).

[tjentzsch]

Great advice from everyone! Thank you.