05 SEP 07 - Began
Construction of Horizontal Stabilizer - 2.0 HRS
My wife wasn't around tonight to work on the practice project, so I went ahead
and jumped right into construction on the empennage.
Per the plans, I broke the edges of HS-609PP. HS-609PP are stiffners that get riveted
to the rear horizontal stab spar. I tried a few different methods to get nice smooth
edges. I have a single cut mill file from Home Depot and it works reasonably well,
but what I really need to buy is the double cut mill file to take off more material
in a hurry.
I used the regular bench grinder wheel to round the ends of the HS-609PP. Then I
used the Scotch-Brite wheel set at a reasonably high speed to "break" the edges.
I ended up having to take the guard off the Scotch-Brite wheel to make it work.
Everything turned out nice and smooth. Should suffice.
The standard "I have begun construction" photo!
I have a feeling that I'm going to go through more than one Scotch-Brite wheel.
It really does the trick and I see myself using it more than the file for smoothing
things out.
It took me two hours to accomplish what you see in the above photo. But I figure
if I really take my time in the beginning and try different techniques, I will save
myself time in the future.
Primer Wars!!! I ordered a two-gallon kit of AKZO #463.12-8 two-part epoxy primer
from
Graco Supply for $92.60 plus shipping
and hazmat fee. I don't know what the shipping cost is yet but I will update this
page when I receive the kit. Aircraft Spruce charges $133.95 for the same kit so
I think I'll definately come out ahead.
My gameplan is to use
Prekote
as a substitute for Alodine and then apply the two-part epoxy to all internal components(I
have not decided on priming the insides of the skins). I believe that priming has
been hyped to epic proportions by airplane builders (both for and against). I think
it all boils down to personal preference. So do what you want! It's your airplane
after all.
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