Tag Archives: mistake

Vertical Stabilizer Skin

I have attached the vertical stabilizer skin with clecos and drilled most of the holes to the final size.  I also attached the piano hinge for the rudder.  I need to disassemble and deburr, but should be ready to rivet it soon.

I noticed a laser cut part on the rear spar with edges that looked like they weren’t totally deburred.  It seemed like it would probably be fine–I couldn’t really catch my fingernail in any of the bumps, but I knew it would bother me.  I ended up drilling out the stainless steel rivets.  This was a huge chore with my HSS (high speed steel) bits.  Apparently I need to get some cobalt bits as they are good on stainless steel.  I don’t have enough rivets to finish the job and will need to order more of that type from Sonex.  Notice the empty holes.

Aluminum Angle Bundle 15

I cut the parts I previously drew in SolveSpace.  I noticed one of the parts had been rough cut too small–I cut the dimension for one side of the angle and didn’t notice the other side was longer.  Instead of fixing it, I decided to cut out the rest of the parts out of that sized angle to make sure I will have enough–looks like I will.

Some of the longer pieces have measurements to within 1/32″.  My 3 foot ruler only does 1/8″, but it also has a mm scale, hence the graphing calculator in the image.  I’m pretty sure I could have fudged it, but this is half the fun.

Edit: I later noticed the plans also show millimeter measurements, so no need for the calculator.

Almost forgot to mention I bought a 3lb hammer and used it to open the two small parts to 95 degrees.

Aluminum Angle Kit 7

These are now my longest band saw cuts.  The cut started scaring me with banging sounds.  After I was done cutting I re-tensioned the blade and adjusted the blade tracking.  The second cut had no scary sounds.  I cut just on the outside edge of my sharpie line and was within a blade width the whole cut.

These parts had a nice diagonal band saw cut.  The first part I cut the wrong angle but fortunately I left too much material behind and was able to fix it.  I was able to try out the vixen file on the cuts.  The secret seems to be to be very gentle with it to keep the teeth from catching on the edge.  Its amazing how much material is removed with as delicate pressure as I can apply.

Aluminum Angle Kit 3

Cut out more parts and started actually using the miter feature of the miter saw.

Aluminum pieces cut to size

I assume the dashed lines in the plans indicate a hidden corner, so this drawing is showing what I would consider to be the bottom of the part. Update: I was reading this guy’s build log who made this part first and cut it the wrong way around, so I am reasonably convinced that I did it correctly.

Comparing part to plans

I also made my first mistake (that I know about anyway).  I’ve been measuring from the 1 inch mark on the steel ruler to get a precise measurement and finally cut an inch too short on my last cut of the evening.  Maybe had I not made the mistake I would have continued working?

Cut the part exactly one inch too short and quit for the evening.