Wise choice with the pneumatic rivet puller. After I finished this job I needed to hold several cold beer to ice my hand. Nice progress Carl.
Wise choice with the pneumatic rivet puller. After I finished this job I needed to hold several cold beer to ice my hand. Nice progress Carl.
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Josh Esser
Flying SS7
Rotax 914iS
AirMaster Prop
Edmonton, AB, CWL3
Absolutely agree about the pneumatic puller. I finally got one after doing the first wing wrecked my hand for weeks. The first rivet I pulled with it on the second wing was so amazing that I actually called my wife at work to have her on the phone as I pulled the next couple. Pure bliss.
I didn't think the Drill Doctor was supposed to work on bits as small as #30. If they do, I need one of those too.
- Gary
S7 SuperSport Tri-gear
w/Rotax 912, Oratex, Dynon
The Drill Doctor is fairly new to me, being purchased for the Kitfox build. I have the 750X but don't remember any particular reason for choosing this model. This video shows how the sharpener works.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...E75D&FORM=VIRE
The tricky part with the small bits is getting the "alignment jaws" to catch the correct part of the bit. Good lighting, a pair of small needle nose pliers, and a second bit to act as a pusher for these short bits has let me reliably position them. The video will help this make better sense. And practicing on a 1/4" or 3/8" bit is probably a good first step.
Sharpening takes away very little metal and a quick look with a magnifying glass (my $10 Wal-Mart readers won't do) will tell if you need to try again.
Carl Strange
Flying
SS7, 912iS, Oratex, G3X
Butt ribs and brackets drilled and ribs are ready for varnishing. On each side of the fuselage, one of the neatly drilled holes in two of the butt rib brackets "missed" the fuselage tube. A third hole was drilled and now the plane is a little lighter.
The jury struts were easy to align with tight strings running along the lift struts and vertical strings with nuts acting as plumb bobs. "Dear, come check my work please!" Cleaning Hysol from clecos is old hat now.
Odd how some of the stages of the project become milestones. The butt ribs won't truly be installed until after they are varnished, but verifying the rigging, fixing the #1 and butt ribs in place, and having everything line up nicely feels like a real accomplishment. Celebrated the occasion by smoking three racks of baby backs on the Weber Smokey Mountain.
The logbook says 333 hours into the build - not counting hours of browsing the forum, head scratching, and repeatedly watching Trent's gorgeous flying videos.
Carl Strange
Flying
SS7, 912iS, Oratex, G3X
Yeah I also missed the tube on a couple of butt rib brackets and had to drill a third hole. I put "non-functional rivets in the bogus holes so they looked functional to the general public. I know they wouldn't fool anyone on this forum. It was easier than using filler and touch-up paint.
Jim Ott
Portland, OR
Kitfox SS7 flying
Rotax 912ULS
Ohhhh. Ok I will rivet my extra holes also.
Eddie
Might as well do the same.
Carl Strange
Flying
SS7, 912iS, Oratex, G3X
Took a couple of readings of the bubble door instructions and a call to John McBean before I was ready to tackle fitting the door glass. The first cut, fitting the top of the glass to the hinge area, went well enough but it was very slow. The thin, brittle cutoff wheels, purchased with my ancient Dremel, took several passes and snapped if they weren't held true to the cut. After the top cut, I peeled back the plastic from the outside of the bubble and marked a dashed cutting line.
The material to be cutaway was wide along one side so I decided to use a Jigsaw to remove excess material before doing the final, closer cut with the Dremel. The crack in the bubble door just appeared. Didn't even have the courtesy to make a sound! That stopped work for the day.
The crack was a couple of inches long in the corner of the window near the passenger's elbow. Seemed like the perfect spot for an EAA decal so I used an acrylic bit to drill a stop hole and the cutting job continued with just the Dremel wheels. Found the second crack while polishing the rim with a sanding block. This one ran across a triangle of the bubble and meant the end of the road for this piece of acrylic. My tinted bubble was now a nice practice piece of acrylic. For the record, the close toothed side of a Japanese Ryoba hand saw is an interesting cutting tool for acrylic.
Frustrated with the bubbles, I switched to sloshing and leak testing the fuel tanks. Then busied myself checking a few items of the Fall ToDo list: clean gutters, mulch leaves, put up Christmas lights, move plants into the greenhouse - anything to put off fitting the second bubble.
In an email exchange, Eddie (EFWD) said he had good results with the Dremel EZ Lock Plastic cutoff wheels. This evening I started work on the second bubble and the cuts are much easier with the right tool. I'll fit the door to the pilot side frame and, not really expecting Santa to be that generous, get in touch with Debra and order a replacement for the passenger side.
The picture is of a cut in progress. The plastic is peeled back from both sides of the bubble and taped out of the way. Then a piece of 3M green tape is laid along the cut line and a strip of aluminum clamped to act as a guide. You'll see a strip of green tape under a clamp on the left. This secures the end of an already cut section so it doesn't flop around loosely stressing the glass still being cut. I think a wobbly cutoff piece caused one of my cracks.
Carl Strange
Flying
SS7, 912iS, Oratex, G3X
I used a 4" angle grinder with cutoff wheel to cut mine. Worked very well.
A reciprocating jig saw is probably the most dangerous tool on these.
Probably the same concept as the 4" angle grinder, but I had good luck cutting acrylic with the cheap 3" high speed air cutoff tool from Harbor Freight.