John's Build

[Dave S]

John,

I really like your modification with the lip on the attach strip....very neat.

Dave S

[chefwarthog]

Those pictures inspire me..... I am still finishing my garage.... but it will be finish by spring..... so seeing thoses photos help me to stay focus!!!!

continue the good work!!!

[rosslr]

Thanks for the posts John - and it is great to see more examples of how to approach the tasks - I also like the fact that you and Josh are a month or so in front of me so the pics and posts become doubly useful!

cheers

ross

[jrevens]

This was probably really dumb... I built a digitally controlled iron out of a $15 1000W dry iron (Amazon). Took the whole top off the iron, stripped everything out except the heating element & fusible temperature link, & added an RTD sensor ($13, eBay). Used a cheap S.S. temperature controller ($30, eBay) & a S.S. relay I already had. I also had the switch & aluminum, so I went crazy. A fun little project, but this is definitely one of those "no wonder my Kitfox is taking so long to build" ideas. It is kinda nice... +/- 1 deg. Set it & forget it - it's looking you in the face displaying the actual temperature & set point all the time. Looks a little unwieldy, but it's actually pretty nice in the hand.

[HighWing]

John,
I've got to say that is quite the iron. I wonder if there is a market for such a thing. I remember using my iron and watching the temps cycle over the thermometer and trying to calibrate it with the ebb and flow of the primitive thermostat. That should give pretty tight control of the temps.

[rosslr]

I think that is fantastic John! I reckon you just went into the rental market! I'm sure builders up to covering would love to hire that for their project! If you get bored and want to export one to OZ let me know.

cheers
ross

[Dorsal]

Very cool iron John, I would have one less hole in my covering job if I had that

[jrevens]

I thought I might start posting some pictures of the project again. I got sidetracked with other things in my life for awhile, so the covering with Oratex got put on hold. However, I'm back on it again. I posted some pictures on the "Oratex Revisited" thread of my rudder. Here are a few of the elevator...

[Paul Z]

John, what happened to the Homebuilt digital iron? I see you have a fancy new square iron. I did a search and found the Tognar Iron. Heck it was only $129, looks pretty good, especially for the $ and a lot less time then building the digital iron.

http://www.tognar.com/toko-t14-digital-wax-iron-120v/

[jrevens]

Paul,
I originally looked at the Toko & saw that it went to a maximum of 320 deg. F. (160 C.) I thought I wanted the capability to go to a full 350 deg., so I got a wild hair & made my own. It turns out that the T-14 is recommended by Oratex, & 320 is plenty. The only thing I wish either one of them had is a Teflon coated base.
I gave the iron to a friend before I bought the Toko, knowing I could always build another if I wanted to. And people wonder why it's taking so long to build my Kitfox!