Posts Tagged deburring
Center Fuselage Final Prep Started (5/27/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Center Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on May 27, 2012
1.0 Hours -
The temperature in the garage, even with a fan blowing directly on me, has definitely reached the ‘too hot for airplane work’ level! However, I took some time off from work and figured I better work on the plane at least a little bit. So, I spent an hour deburring and dimpling a few of the center fuselage parts. I only made it through the center section bulkheads and two of the seat ribs before deciding to quit since I was spending more time wiping sweat off the parts than actually working on them. There’s still a lot of work to be done on the center fuselage before riveting can begin.
Center Fuselage Prep Started (4/14/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Center Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on April 14, 2012
2.7 Hours -
Generally, I follow the plans fairly close, but the next step gave me some pause. The instructions said to run an 8-32 tap through nutplates on seat ribs so that the screws holding on the floor panels would be easier to install. Normally, running a tap through a nutplate would be a bad idea. The whole point of a nutplate is to be tight, in order to lock in the screw. However, I guess it isn’t a big deal if the floor screws come a little loose on occasion. Not wanting to doubt Van’s wisdom, I went to Home Depot to get an 8-32 tap, and then ran it through all the nutplates in the tops of the seat ribs.
Per the plans, I ran an 8-32 tap through the nutplates in the seat ribs. Normally, I wouldn't do this, but it isn't a big deal if the screws holding the seat floor in place come a little loose.
Next, I decided to tackle the remainder of the center fuselage rib deburring that needed to be done. All I had left were the two F-715 seat ribs, as well as all six of the baggage area ribs. Between the two Scotchbrite wheels and some emery cloth, edge deburring has become a fairly quick process for me.
With the edge deburring done on all of the ribs, I started assembling the center fuselage skeleton. First, the seat ribs were clecoed to the aft side of the aft half of the F-704 center section bulkhead. Once these ribs were clecoed, I realized that my workbench was not going to be a good place for assembling the rest of the center fuselage. Some garage re-organization would have to be next on my to-do list.
After clecoing the seat ribs to the aft half of the F-704 bulkhead, I realized I was going to need a bigger table. Time to rearrange the garage again!
I had to move the aft fuselage off of the sawhorses to the garage floor. Fortunately, the aft fuselage is much lighter than it looks, so I could move this to the floor myself. With my sawhorses freed-up, I reinstalled the table top I had made for them. Presto-chango…I now had a nice, big table for assembling the center fuselage!
With the center fuselage now in a more workable position, I added the F-705 bulkhead to the aft end of the seat ribs. Then, the baggage ribs were clecoed in place. Finally, I inserted the F-916C spacers, which I had made days ago, into the proper locations.
Next up, the center section floor has to be clecoed to the skeleton. However, I’m first going to need help flipping over the center fuselage skeleton and lowering the sawhorses to set the table at a more workable height.
The center fuselage skeleton clecoed together for the first time. This view is forward looking aft.
Center fuselage skeleton...aft looking forward.
Center fuselage skeleton side view.
Aft Fuselage Riveting Day 6 Plus Seat Rib Modification (4/8/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Center Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on April 8, 2012
3.7 Hours -
Since I had the time today, I wanted to finish up riveting the aft fuselage. However, after doing a little riveting, I quickly became bored with that and decided to move on to something else. I guess I’ll just have to finish the aft fuselage bit by bit…there’s really no rush since I won’t need it until the center fuselage is assembled.
As far as riveting, I completed the left side of the aft fuselage up to the F-710 bulkhead. On the right side, I’m only to the F-708 bulkhead. It’s not that this is difficult riveting, it’s just that it’s not the most fun thing to do.
During breaks from riveting, I started deburring and straightening the F-716L&R seat ribs. These required very little fluting to straighten them…a nice surprise after dealing with the bulkheads for so long.
In addition to deburring and straightening the ribs, four of them (2 left, 2 right) needed to be modified for the control column. As stated in a previous post, I’m modifying four ribs, not two, with F-716B access plates so the control column can be removed in one piece. Since I had already fabricated the extra F-716Bs, all I had to do was drill them to the ribs, enlarge the lightening hole in the ribs, and then cut out a two-inch section from the top of the rib. While doing this, I was careful to mark everything with numbers so that I would know which pieces when to which ribs.
To enlarge the lightening hole, I first made a 1.5" hole using the tooling hole as a centering guide. Then, I used a Dremel to "connect" the two holes.
I drilled the F-716Bs to the ribs and then measured for cutting the upper section.
An assortment of seat rib parts. One rib with the modification complete, along with the inserts for the three other ribs.
Aft Fuselage Final Prep Almost Done (3/11/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 11, 2012
3.5 Hours -
Another semi-long work session, but there’s still a bit more work to do. I finished the j-channels, including priming the mating surfaces, and finished most of the work on the right side skin. All that is left is to finish about half the dimples in the skin and then prime the rivet lines. After that is done, I’ll finally be back to doing some assembly!
Still More Aft Fuselage Prep (3/7/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 7, 2012
3.0 Hours -
The three hours I was able to work on the plane today was the longest amount of time I’ve been able to put in, during a single day, in quite some time. Even though I was only deburring, dimpling and priming, I still enjoyed it.
As stated, I spent most of my time deburring and dimpling, with a little priming mixed in as well. My main focus for the day was the aft fuselage bottom skin. Once the bottom skin was finished, I moved on to the J-channels. I was able to complete three J-channels before deciding to finally call it a night. The good news is that, with only one J-channel and a side skin left, I think I will be able to finish the aft fuselage final prep with one more long work session.
It's been awhile since I've taken a picture of me working on the plane. So, here's the latest deburring "action" shot.
More Aft Fuselage Prep (3/4/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 4, 2012
1.5 Hours -
There’s a limit to the number of deburring/dimpling pictures I can take, so no pictures today!
Most of my time was spent finishing the final prep on the left aft fuselage side skin. I used my c-frame to finish the dimpling tasks, then scuffed, cleaned and primed, the rivet lines on the inside of the skin only. Since I was spraying primer, I also primed the WD-409 tailspring weldment.
I also spent some time disassembling the remainder of the aft fuselage and deburring/dimpling the bulkhead flanges. This still leaves the final prep for the bottom skin, right side skin, and j-channels.
Aft Fuselage Final Prep Continued (3/3/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on March 3, 2012
2.2 Hours -
Two hours of deburring and dimpling and I’m still not finished with the first aft fuselage side skin. Getting the aft fuselage ready for final assembly is definitely going to take some time. For today, I removed the left skin and deburred all of the edge and holes. I also started dimpling, but I only made it through all the holes that could be reached with my squeezer. The c-frame will have to wait for tomorrow.
Prepping the aft fuselage's left side skin.
Prepping the aft fuselage's left side skin.
Aft Fuselage Final Prep Started (2/26/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Aft Fuselage, Construction, Fuselage on February 26, 2012
2.0 Hours -
I’m back to deburr, dimple, scuff, clean, prime. This will be the theme of the next several entries as I work on getting the aft fuselage ready for riveting.
I decided to fix some of the aft-most holes in the F-779 assembly by enlarging them slightly to #30. This is an easy fix for my oval holes, and it will also allow for installation of slightly stronger rivets in the tail where a lot of stresses will probably occur.
Upon inspection, I found a few holes that were a bit oval. For a fix, I enlarged the holes to #30 (copper clecoes).
Once the holes were enlarged, I started disassembling the aft fuse so that the individual parts could be deburred, primed, etc., for final assembly. For today, I removed the F-779/F-711/F-712 assembly and deburred the edges on any parts that hadn’t previously been deburred. I also deburred and dimpled all the holes.
Finally, I decided to give a little extra protection to the F-779 skin. Since I’m building a taildragger, and plan on landing on many grass runways, this skin could see more moisture than the same skin in a nose gear model. With this in mind, I decided to give the inside of the skin a coat of primer followed by a coat of sealer.
After deburring and dimpling the F-779 skin, I decided to prime it and give it a coat of primer sealer. Being a taildragger, this area could see more moisture than the rest of the plane.
F-711 and F-712 Bulkheads Started (1/21/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Bulkheads, Construction, Fuselage on January 21, 2012
2.4 Hours -
Back to work on the bulkheads…
The F-710 bulkhead and F-710B angle received a coat of primer the other day, so, today, I riveted them together. Fortunately, all of these rivets could be reached with the squeezer, so it was an easy task.
The F-710 bulkhead and angle are riveted together.
Next, I finished up the F-711 bulkhead by trimming away a section of the bulkheads and making the F-711D angle. The bulkheads are trimmed to make room for the elevator pushrod, and it was an easy task to remove this material with the bandsaw. The F-711D angle was another easy piece to make because it just had to be cut to length, clamped to the bulkhead and match-drilled. With the angle made, I then prepped all the F-711 parts for priming.
A big chunk of the F-711 bulkheads gets trimmed away to make room for the elevator pushrod.
The F-711 bulkhead prep work is finished. After priming, this will be ready for assembly.
The F-712 bulkhead is the last bulkhead that I have to make. This one is like the F-711 bulkhead in that it is two halves that get riveted together, back to back. There are no angles or other parts to be made for this bulkhead, so it was as simple as final-drilling, deburring, dimpling and prepping for primer.
The F-713 bulkhead is made from two halves riveted back to back just like the F-711 bulkhead.
Finally, I put a coat of primer on all the F-711 and F-712 parts. Tomorrow, I’ll rivet these bulkheads together, and then it’s on to the dreaded task of bending the longerons!
The F-711 and F-712 bulkhead parts are ready for a coat of primer.
F-706 Again And Still Not Done (1/18/12)
Posted by Ethan Jacoby in Bulkheads, Construction, Fuselage on January 18, 2012
1.5 Hours -
If I had time for one long work session, I could easily wrap up the F-706 bulkhead. Unfortunately, working an hour or two every other day is really dragging out this section. Today, I managed to get the F-730 plate and the F-729 rib riveted to the F-706 base. Once this was riveted, I final-drilled the F-706 sides to the base. Once drilled, I deburred the holes and prepped the sides for priming. With the primer sprayed tonight, I should be able to rivet the sides to the base tomorrow.
The F-706 bulkhead base with the F-730 plate and F-729 rib riveted.
A close-up of the F-706 base structure so far. The scuffing around the upper holes is from my dimple dies...the camera flash really makes any marks pop-out from the shiny aluminum.
The F-706 sides are also being primed. I can't wait to be done with this bulkhead.
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