Rib lacing

[Flyboy66]

It's been a long day and my fingers are shredded.



How tight do the laces need to be over the rib? Most are so tight an amoeba couldn't crawl under if they tried. Others are snug but can be lifted slightly by the point of the needle, but the thick part of the needle will not pass under it without a some force. Is that enough?


I stuck the tip of the needle into the hole on the upper side fabric to see if I can lift the fabric off the rib and it doesnt want to come up, so I think I have it snug enough.


This is my first attempt at fabric and I don't want to proceed until I am certain I don't have any "do overs".


Steve

[jrevens]

I'll take a stab at this, Steve. In my considered opinion they don't need to be terribly tight... just taut and not loose.

[DesertFox4]

I concure with John. Sounds like you’re doing fine Steve.

[Flyboy66]

Thanks,


It took 4 attempts to get the first ribs done. The knot tightened up before the lace was tight over the rib (about 1/4" of slack over the rib) on the first try. Didnt have enough lace material for the second try and buggered up the knot again trying to do a finishing know in the middle of the job. Third attempt the knot tightened up again before I could lock it down and then I couldnt do a finishing knot, so I had to pull it and start over.



Finally, I developed a system of tying the knot and snugging it up before the whole bundle of thread came together and locked up. Also figured out how to cinch it up a little. It seems to be the direction that I pull the lace from. Anyhow, every rib is a continuous run from rear to front.



I am averaging 23 minutes per rib for the lacing with a 2 1/2" spacing on every rib. That does not count installing all the tapes and pre-punching holes before I started the lacing.

[David47]

It sounds like you're doing ok Steve. I read the manual and found the description of getting the knot right a bit confusing so I went to Dr Google and found a couple of excellent youtube vids that take you through it step by step. So when I first started, I had the youtube vid up on my iPad and just followed along.

Tightness of the knot ?. What John said. Time ?. Didn't care, just wanted good quality stitching.

Enjoy the experience. You'll be an expert by the time you're finished ...:D

[aviator79]

I concur. It sounds like yours are plenty tight. I too, required some practice to get to where I was getting consistently tight knots.

[t j]

My rib lacing glove. Works real well for pulling the lacing knots tight. Thin soft leather. From the garden section at Fred Meyer.


https://i.imgur.com/teqTsKc.jpg

[Flyboy66]

I entered the YouTube time machine as well, and watched them many times before I finally figured out how to snug my knots. I have a smart TV up in my garage so I can watch videos of whatever I need help with. Found two videos from Poly Fiber. The rabbit jumped under the log, over the log and made a U-turn.......

I am done lacing the right wing. Today is upper surface rib tapes and perimeter tapes.

[efwd]

That was the video that got me through it as well.

[Flyboy66]

It’s a little challenge, but I can do it upside down almost as fast (I start from the trailing edge and work toward the front until I can’t reach the needle, then move around to the front of the wing to finish. That is one of the reasons my knots were such a pain when I was finishing the rib. I was able to do this by myself with the wing flat on its rotisserie.

[t j]

Rib lacing rack. My wife and I pass the needle back and forth through the wing.
https://i.imgur.com/9wgKj60.jpg

[Flyboy66]

I ran my needle and laced with the wing flat. All hole locations were marked ahead of time. The light from the ceiling allowed me to see where the needle was when I was pushing it through from the top to go through the lower surface fabric, and I could see the needle point pushing against the fabric when I pushed it up from below. At the end, I was doing a rib in 23 minutes, and that was with 2 1/2” spacing on every rib. I need to get the left wing ready to go as soon as I can so I don’t have to relearn my skills.