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#homebuilt

1 post1 participant1 post today
Public
TomKrajci 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

This is part of a fairing that goes over the glider's tail wheel. I'm using this part to develop my skill at scraping paint with a straight edge razor.

This part fits on the underside of the glider, so nobody really looks at it. It is at the end of 21 ft of fuselage, so the air flow by then is plenty turbulent...so I do not need a pristine surface like I do for the first foot or two of the fuselage.

Let's not talk about all the pinnoles, shall we?

Anyway, if the part is convex, or saddle-shaped and I can get the razor across the positive curvature axis to do its work... I can quickly and fairly smoothly scrape down runs and drips to get them almost flush with the rest of the surface. Then I smooth it with 600 and 1200 Grit paper before buffing.

(After I develop my skills on such small belly parts, then I'll be comfortable working on the fuselage, and finally the wings.)

#avgeek #aviation #ElectricAircraft #ExperimentalAviation #homebuilt
#Glider #DIY #Paint #Sand #Buff #Polish

Closeup view of a painted glider part...a tailwheel fairing. The low angle of the light helps highlight runs in the not-very-good paint job. A straight edge razor can be used to scrape away the high parts of runs and drips, and if you're careful, you don't mar the rest of the painted surface.
Public
Aut

Yesterday was the Tuesday build night at my EAA chapter and one team managed to rivet the leading edge slat brackets to their wing while my team noticed that some of our custom made brackets violated the minimum edge distance for a rivet and so we had to remake them.

Progress is happening though and we're learning from our mistakes.

Aircraft wing spar sitting across some saw horses with the ribs sticking up in the air.
Curved metal bracket custom make from aluminum angle with relief cuts that is riveted to the nose rib.
Holding a custom metal bracket where one of the flanges has a hole circled with red marker. The hole is too close to the edge and thus is a high risk for failure from cracking.
#eaa#kitplane#experimentalAviation
Public
Aut

Our Tuesday build night made good progress on the Zenith kit. I worked on making the leading edge slat brackets while others worked on getting ribs attached to the wings. It's nice working with clear instructions.

Nose rib for an aircraft that has a trapezoidal shaped bracket coming off the front.
Wing spar of aircraft sitting on sawhorses with ribs attached. The ribs are sticking up and down vertically making the whole thing shaped kind of like fish bones
#eaa#zenith#kitplane
Public
TomKrajci 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

Polishing the glider's paint - a brief experiment with an electric dual-action polisher on a test piece.

I used a coarse foam disk and cutting/buffing (not polishing) compound. The machine was at the lowest speed and light pressure was used for a minute or two.

This is a promising follow up to: universeodon.com/@KrajciTom/11

The difference in surface prep was obvious. Where the paint had been sanded with 1200, the surface gained a gloss almost instantly. If the surface was sanded with 600, it remained hazy. Those sections only sanded with 400 were very hazy, even with more polishing time and a bit more pressure.

It looks like I'll hand sand to 1200, then use the electric polisher.

I just had an idea. If I build a bracket/clamp to hold the polisher upside down, I can hold small parts and better control the process.

#avgeek #aviation #ElectricAircraft #ExperimentalAviation #homebuilt
#Glider #DIY #Paint #Sand #Buff #Polish

Brief experiments with machine polishing on surfaces sanded with different grits. Even with only a minute of polishing, those sections that were sanded with 1200 grit became glossy quickly. The reflection of the light is not at a glancing angle. I'm figuring out how to manage the sanding and polishing process.
I will build a bracket/clamp to hold the electric polisher upside down...to allow me to hold small parts and better control the polishing process.
Public
TomKrajci 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

I need to remove the orange peel texture from my painted parts. I will sand the flaws to remove them.

But then I need to use finer and finer sandpaper to prepare to buff and polish the paint to a mirror finish.

This evening I'm learning how much work it takes to sand away the flaws, and what grit to use. (400? 600?)

And I'm learning how much work is needed at finer grits to prepare for buffing.

If you have ever ground and polished glass, this will be a familiar process.

#avgeek #aviation #ElectricAircraft #ExperimentalAviation #homebuilt
#Glider #DIY #Paint #Sand #Buff #Polish

A small glider part (battery box cover) has been sanded to remove orange peel. The finish is now matte. I have made some test pads of foam rubber, double sided tape, and various grades of sandpaper. Working with bright light helps me evaluate my progress and surface quality.
Even with a slightly coarse paper (600 grit)...at a very glancing angle the sanded surface of the paint presents a specular reflection. This can help evaluate the quality of the sanded surface because with finer grits the surface should be specular at a less glancing angle.
Besides 600 grit, I also have 1200 and 2500 grit. I hope that is fine enough to provide a surface that buffs and polishes quickly.
Public
Aut

Tuesday build at the EAA hangar. We started by making some slat support backets for the nose ribs while another team identified the ribs for the wing. An encouraging start to our build as we have nice instructions, a nice kit, and nice videos to help us.

Several members in a hangar at a very large work bench, each working on sorting and categorizing some aircraft parts.
thin aluminum angle that has been marked out with various points and had relief holes drilled on the bend. These will become nose rib reinforce brackets for the slats.
Some people figuring out the placement of ribs on a wing spar using a tape measure. The placements are given in millimeter offsets from the end of the spar (so-called stations)
Two people carrying a wing spar with ribs clecoed in place where they will live. The wings have been marked with marker for their position.
#eaa#experimentalAviation#avgeek
Public
TomKrajci 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

How to remove/demold a part from a fragile part. (Hint: You can create shear in more than one way, and it may be better than creating a peeling action with hammer and chisel.)

The blue Styrofoam that served as the form will be destroyed as it's removed from the fiberglass wingtip weel, but it's a one-off form/mold that lacked any taper.

(This is a follow up to universeodon.com/@KrajciTom/11 )

#avgeek #aviation #ElectricAircraft #ExperimentalAviation #homebuilt
#Glider #DIY #Wing #Epoxy #Fiberglass #Composite #Shear #Peel

No! You risk damaging the wing's surface this way. (OK, you could use a plastic/rubber wedge, but let's try a finesse method first...)
The long clamp squeezes on both ends of the fiberglass part...never touching the wing. This squeeze causes the base of the fiberglass part to bow outwards...shearing along the surface of the wing.
Only light force was applied to tighten the clamp...and the part easily popped off.
Public
TomKrajci 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

Making a custom wingtip wheel for my glider's right wing.

The bottom of the wingtip was covered with clear packing tape, then lightly waxed.

Hot glue temporarily attached the blue Styrofoam mold/form, which also contains the 60mm diameter roller blade wheel.

The part is made from seven plies of 7725 weave fiberglass that will be cut into a triangular shape after wetting with epoxy.

No vacuum bag, so this is a hand lay up. I had to use some small pieces of metal to coax the fiberglass to stay in the correct place.

The garage will be heated overnight so that the part cures, then some tugging and a rubber mallet should separate the part.

#avgeek #aviation #ElectricAircraft #ExperimentalAviation #homebuilt
#Glider #DIY #Wing #Epoxy #Fiberglass #Composite

The underside of the wing tip has been covered in clear packing tape, then waxed.
This is one ply of dry fiberglass, colored white, laying over a piece of green plastic sheet. Faintly visible through the fiberglass is a triangular pattern. After wetting seven plies, I will cut the fabric to that triangular shape. That shape will drape over the form and make the part in one step. The two edges of the open triangle will join and overlap along the trailing edge of the part, aft of the wheel.
Wetted fiberglass has a green tint. Scrap metal helps hold the fabric in the correct location. Strips of light brown fabric are Teflon coated fiberglass, which serves as peel ply. I'm using it to also help coax the fiberglass into the desired shape.
Public
Aut

EAA Build Night at the Chapter. While some of us focused on creating an inventory of parts for the Murphy Rebel we are looking to sell the rest of us focused on cleaning the Zenith CH-750 kit from its 10 years of grime and dust. We were careful not to intermingle the parts and moved things around to store them while we processed things. The weather here is being generous and it is getting warmer.

A man standing on a chair and placing aircraft control surfaces on shelves while another walks by in the distance taking inventory of parts. On the workbench is various parts being cleaned and processed.
Two people cleaning the cabin of a Zenith CH-750 which had considerable grime in it. After they were done it looked nearly new!
Two people standing in front of a nearly empty workbench where part processing and cleaning was happening while another person is standing on a table and stacking parts on shelves.
A workbench consumed by Murphy Rebel parts as inventory stacked them off. A real "some assembly required" view of an airplane.
#eaa#kitplane#aviation
Public
Rachel Brindle

Over the weekend, I laid up the new landing brake panel. Yesterday, I cut off the excess epoxy. It’ll need some additional work - overall sanding to rough it up and create a decent bonding surface - but I’m really happy with how it turned out.
Also yesterday, I marked where the LB-23 slugs will be placed, and created slots in the fuselage cutout for LB-23 for those slugs.

The new landing brake panel, post cure, with an excess fiberglass still in place. The top of the brake panel is deliberately not glassed, and will be glassed in the future.
The landing brake panel, after trimming off excess fiberglass. There is roughly a 1-inch skirt of cured fiberglass surrounding the foam panel.
The LB-23 wood piece, with 5 squares spaced every 3 13/16 inches across. Below LB-23 are the 5 aluminum slugs which will be epoxied to LB-23 once the slugs are cleaned and treated.
A close-up of the outer skin of the fuselage bottom, showing the slot cut out for LB-23. There are 5 thicker parts removed from the foam, to make room for the aluminum slugs.
#avgeek#aviation#ElectricAircraft
Public
Rachel Brindle

Yesterday I made the decision to build a new landing brake panel. There’s just too much masking tape debris that’s epoxied to the panel. I’ve already spent some 10 hours trying to sand it off. While I could spend more time sanding it and getting it available, it’ll be much less time to build a new one.
Another part marked “not for flight”.
I already have excess material on hand for this, so I’m not really even losing time on this decision. In fact, I’m gaining time.

Anyway, masking tape bonds really well with epoxy, don’t use it as a kind of mold release. Plastic packing tape, however, works well as a mold release.

Part of the inside of my first landing brake panel. “Not for flight” is written in all capital letters on it. There is also a lot of masking tape remains on the skirt of fiberglass surrounding the foam panel.
Close up of another side of the landing brake panel, showing more masking tape detritus that’s proving time consuming to sand off.
#avgeek#aviation#ElectricAircraft
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