1.3 Hours -
Tonight, I started working on drilling the aileron pushrods. On both sets of pushrods, the ends have to be drilled to fit threaded caps. Rod-end bearing will attach to these caps.
To drill the longer, W-716, pushrods, I made a paper template for marking hole locations. To mark the tube, I placed the end over the template and transferred the location of the lines to the tube. The caps will attach with 6 blind rivets, so they need to be spaced 60 degrees from each other if I want the spacing to be even. With the help of my drill press jig, I only had to drill three times since the jig ensured that I was always drilling two holes, 180 degrees from each other. The spacing turned out pretty good.
I used this template to mark the pushrods for drilling. Each line is 60 degrees apart.
An end view of the pushrod after drilling. The alignment of the holes doesn't really matter, but these are perfect!
Another view of the end of the pushrod after drilling.
Next, I cleaned the inside of all four pushrods with acetone followed by compressed air. Then, I shot primer down the inside of the tube while rotating it. It isn’t the best way to apply primer, but at least the inside is coated. I’ll prime the outside of the longer tubes once the caps are installed.
Finally, I cleaned and primed the end caps for the W-716 pushrods.
I primed the insides of the tubes and the caps. The outside of the tubes will get primed later.
