Tag: Prep work

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Minor epiphany

For a while I’ve been pondering how to set up the new wings on my bench. He’s got a pair of 10′ long steel rails, made from square tubing with slotted brackets to bolt them to his bench. He had put those together to support a router sled for flattening slabs of wood. Early on I figured out that we could attach them to the bench to properly orient the wing ribs for attaching the trailing edge and spars. The trailing edge stock needs to be glued on so that the taper exactly matches the angle of the aft end of the wing ribs, and the easiest way to do that is to have a flat surface that aligns the bottom of the TE stock witht he bottom cap of the ribs.

The plans call for attaching a 2×4 on edge to the edge of the work table with a shim under one side. This tilts the top edge of the 2×4 to the correct angle, which I measured at bout 14 degrees, to establish the right pitch to align the trailing edge and ribs. I was concerned about finding a perfectly straight, flat 10′ long 2×4, as well as shimming it consistently. All in all, I was nervous about how to set up the new wings on this bench.

A few days ago, I grabbed one of the ribs I have here along with a short cut-off piece of trailing edge stock. I started exploring different ways I could jig up a wing on the bench, and came to a surprising (and happy) discovery. With the TE stock flat on the front edge of the bench and the rib inserted into the notch, a standard 2×4 on the opposite side of the bench will perfectly support the rib right under the main spar location. So, I could clamp the trailing edge down on some release tape or waxed paper (to keep the epoxy from sticking to the bench), support the other end with a 2×4 – or multiple shorter pieces of 2×4 – and assemble the wing that way. Sweet! I’ll test that configuration when I bring the lower left wing home, which is built but not varnished yet. I’ll need to apply the varnish before taking it to the hangar for storage, and I can check to make sure my jigging idea will work as well as I think it will.

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Aggravating delays

Well, it’s now been close to five months since I did any meaningful work on the actual – you know – airplane. I’ve built the new workbench, cleared out some space in my garage, and moved the new bench to said garage. I built and installed a wood storage rack. I fitted and leveled the bench extensions, which involved a little fine-tuning of the support braces. Along the way I had to remove the extensions and plane off an angle on the bench and extensions to clear the hinges that attach the extensions to the bench.

As will happen any time there is an available, clear horizontal surface, “stuff” accumulated. Tobacco jars, pipes, tools, a furniture restoration project, more tools… sigh. Then I decided to install some T-tracks for clamping and whatever else one would use T-tracks for, so I did that. Now I have a 10′ long bench with T-tracks on each end, with the extensions flattened and leveled relative to the main bench top. I have no illusions whatsoever about the bench being perfectly flat, but it’s close enough for my purposes. I’d say no more than 1/8″ variation anywhere along the 10′ by 3′ surface. I’m building a wooden biplane, not a supersonic jet or spacecraft.

All of this hasn’t been the sole cause of delays. For most of the winter it’s really been too cold out there to work with epoxy. Climate control has not been stellar. Our old small space heater died, so I bought a new, larger one – which holds the temperature at a level tolerable for humans, but not a temperature I’d trust for woodworking and epoxy. But, we’re close to being in the warmer part of the year. I’ll have a mini-split heat pump installed at some point, but that’s not a limiting factor right now.

Today I got 7-1/2′ of the bench cleared off and clean, tools put away, and various other “stuff” rearranged and cleaned up. I now have a clear path around 3 of 4 sides of the bench, with one end still a little cluttered. The drill press is repaired and back on its stand, and I got the runout down from its original .007 or so down to .003 or .004. Still not fantastic, but I think it’s mostly chuck. The spindle now shows about .001 after I removed and cleaned it with mineral spirits. I may need to tweak things just a little more.

Unfortunately, as much as I’d like to clear off the remaining extension and start the next wing, I need to build some storage for the bench or things will rapidly deteriorate. I want to put a rack for clamps on the front side, and some storage drawers or at least shelves. I want the spindle sander and small shop vac in the back, at a minimum. I need to build this stuff, and for that I need either a table saw, a trip to Stu’s to use his, or some other acceptable way to cut down plywood sheets. I’m thinking seriously about a new, relatively small circular saw and some way to hold a sheet off the table so I can clamp guide rails and cut the sheets up that way. I’m going to try to get to Home Depot tomorrow for some 1/2″ ply and circular saw. I have one, but it’s probably 60 years old and I’ve been fighting it to get straight cuts – I think there’s probably something better out there. Maybe even cordless.

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Getting closer to resuming work

Between other projects and bitter cold weather, I haven’t gotten anything done on the plane for a while. With one project essentially finished and the workbench finally cleared of it, I took the opportunity to fit the entire bench top. It looks like I’ll need to shorten the supports on the left end to get the left side extension level… I’ll need the chop saw for that.

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A different kind of plane

For obvious reasons, I want the top of the new work table to be dead flat. As I set the top pieces of particle board on the bench, it became obvious that there are (and I know this already) some high spots on the frame. Obviously the 2×4 dimensional lumber I used was not perfectly straight, so no shock there. The bench was constructed on top of a bench that is pretty much dead flat, but is covered with a layer of indoor/outdoor carpet – so there’s some room for high spots to compress the carpeting. Anyway – it needs to be flattened.

I suppose a person could attack this with a sander and some really coarse grit paper to knock material off where it needs to be. It would work, but it’s inefficient and in my humble opinion might lead to a “wobbly table” scenario, where you progressively over-correct making legs shorter to try to stop a table from wobbling until you end up with a Japanese tea table on 6″ legs. I opted to plane the wood. I didn’t own a plane, so I went and bought a couple. Lowe’s had two planes on sale for good prices, so I took a risk that they would be usable. They may not meet the demands of a professional producer of hardwood cabinets or something, but they’re certainly good enough to take consistent paper-thin shavings off of a pine 2×4. One is a 10″ bench plane, the other a 3-1/2″ block plane. I’m not taking the top off of the bench to start flattening it just yet; I still need to stain and attach the fancy quilted maple veneer to the gossip bench while I’ve got a working bench. Once that’s done, I’ll slide the particle board back off and get a flat surface to screw them down onto.

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Getting the new bench ready

Since getting the bench pieces all home yesterday, I’ve been knocking out a couple of backed up tasks that needed done. Lisa needed a larger rectangular overlay for her ironing board – useful for ironing quilt tops and such. I cut out a 24″ x 56″ piece of half-inch plywood and, with he outline of the existing ironing board top traced onto the bottom side, attached some guide rails cut from 3/4 particleboard. I wish I’d used pine instead, of course.

With that done, I’m currently working to determine the best approach to staining the quilted maple veneer for the gossip bench. I tried the same red mahogany stain that I used of the rest of the piece — it really just obscures the beautiful grain patterns of the quilted maple. My next attempt will be with the same stain, applied after a wipe down with mineral spirits. A quick test on a scrap of particle board (which soaks up stain like the maple veneer does) looks pretty promising.

I’ve got the main top and one of the extension tops in place. I haven’t screwed the main top down, because the top frame is not flat. I’ll probably hit Lowe’s on Monday and pick up a hand plane to fix that. Now I’m wishing I’d grabbed Dad’s old planes when Mom was having the estate sale. At the time I didn’t see that I’d ever have any use for them… too soon old, too late smart, as Dad was fond of saying. I’m sure a new plane will require some work to turn into a really nice tool, but for right now I just need to knock some high spots off the edges of a few 2x4s. It’s not high precision work, but after all of the work and money I’ve put into this bench I’m not going to end up with a top that’s not flat. Once I get the central part flat and secured in place, I can work on getting the extensions properly aligned and get everything screwed down. I did screw one extension top in place, just so I could get the supports under it.

Along the way I’ve been thinking about how I was working over at Stu’s shop. I had the bench littered with tools and materials. I’d often spend several minutes looking for a pencil, knife, saw, or something else that was underneath or hidden behind a spar or something. Then I had a 24 x 40 inch rolling table covered with other stuff, and usually had a box of clamps sitting on top of the wing as I was building. I don’t have rolling tables here, nor do I have room for any. Time to work smarter. Rather than leaving the large shelf under the bench open to collect everything in a big jumble (it’s happening already), I want to figure out exactly what I use or will use for construction, and design some under-bench storage to make sure everything is close at hand, quickly and easily accessible, and can quickly and easily be put away.

I’ll likely want a drawer for the large number of spring clamps, though I wish there were a better solution for them. I want a carpenter’s square and a speed square hung onto the edge of the bench. I want one place for the epoxy syringes, mixing cups and stir sticks, and disposable brushes. I want both the coarse and fine razor saws close at hand, and marked so I know which is which just by glancing at the handles. I want masking tape and marking pencils within easy reach. The list goes on, but you get the picture. I figure if I do this right, I may be able to trim a month or so off the build time just by eliminating the cumulative time I spend trying to find that blasted tool I just had in my hand.

I’d write this all down or draw up a plan, but I seem to have mislaid the mechanical pencil I just bought. Sigh.

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Episode V: A New Workbench

I guess I missed a chance to make this Episode IV for a catchier title. Ah, well.

Today I bought some 2x4s, did some measuring and cutting, gluing, screwing, clamping, and ended up with a new work table mostly built. I’ll try and finish it up tomorrow. The main section is 60″ long by 36″ wide (that’s roughly 152 x 91 cm for you metric folks). Each end has a 30″ folding extension, so you can have a 5′, 7.5′, or 10′ total length depending on your needs. For most of the airplane build I’ll likely have it fully extended, but it will be nice to be able to shorten it when needed.

I used the basic EAA 1000 work table plan, with a few changes. The width is increased, of course, from 24 to 36 inches. The folding extensions are another departure. I also lowered the shelf to about 4.5″ from the bottom of the legs rather than the original 8.5″. In hindsight, I kind of wish I’d made it even lower, but it’s fine. Tomorrow I’ll be adding some corner blocking to keep it perfectly square and solid. I still need to install the top (two layers of particle board) and the supports for the extensions. Those will be simple lengths of 2×4, with one end notched and the other cut to fit into the extension, Stu has a similar setup on the work table I have been using at his shop, and it’s absolutely rock steady and completely flat.

I thought long and hard about how to put retractable casters on this bench. I’ve seen a lot of different ways to do it. I had another work table, 3′ x 8′ with a setup on it that worked, but was a little more involved than I wanted. I’ve seen a few more designs on Youtube, several of which look kind of fidgety – making custom steel latches, etc. Anyway, in the process of working that out I managed to forget to re-add 1.5″ to the legs that I’d subtracted for one of the designs. Then I came up with what I think is an absolutely brilliant method, and I think it would work really well… on any workbench that does NOT have folding extensions that will block access to the end of the bench. In the immortal words of Homer Simpson…

So, I have ordered some retracting casters from Amazon that will be here tomorrow, and will cut some blocks of 2×4 for the bottom of the legs. No biggie. Perfection is the enemy of completion.

I think it’s very likely that I’ll build some sort of cabinet, shelving, and/or drawers under the top. I can only imagine how handy it would be to have all of the woodworking tools, clamps, glue, and so on right there at hand, and storage to keep it well organized and clean. That will wait until I have the bench at home and set up in the garage; that way I can cut the wood and do the assembly there. I can think of a long list of items that I will want to always have within easy reach, and more importantly have a place to put it within easy reach so I don’t end up with tools and supplies scattered everywhere.

Of course the very first thing the new bench will be used for is finishing the rebuild of the “gossip bench”. The veneer for that should arrive later this week.

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A little varnish

Picked up a gallon can of Varathane Ultimate Spar Urethane this afternoon. A gallon can is about the same price as two one-quart cans, and I figure between the wings, fuselage, and tail I’ll probably use most of it. I gave the holes for the bushings and the wood where they will go a coat this afternoon before heading home — it was a busy day cleaning out the garage and ferrying grandkids around. Tomorrow I’ll pick up some primer and hopefully get a start on varnishing the rest of the wing. I’d like to have it assembled and ready to rack by the weekend, if I can. Then I’ll need to pull down the left wing and finish it up – bushings, varnish, brackets.

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Miscellaneous work

Today came and went without mixing up any glue. I sorted out the nose plywood, then went through all of the aileron pieces and got them cleaned up, marked, and re-taped for the three remaining ailerons. I got the aileron spar web and marked it for the notches to clear the ribs, then brought it home and started cutting those notches on the bandsaw. I pulled a wingtip bow down and checked its fit; it looks like minimal trimming will be needed.

I also collected all of the aluminum pieces I had at Stu’s shop and brought them home, and cut the ends on the bandsaw. They’re all CAW2 pieces, I think — I need to dig out the rest of the pieces and get them all drilled and finished off. I’ll finish them on the belt sander and Scotchbrite wheel before priming them. My little 3D printed guide button worked great for this. I don’t recall if I described it or not, but it’s just a 1″ diameter by 1/8 thick disk, with a 1/4″ diameter by 1/8 thick nub in the center. Put the little piece in a 1/4 bolt hole, and the larger piece gives you a perfect guide for shaping the end of the bracket with a 1/2″ radius. They’re disposable if you nick or break one, and only take a little while to print up. I’ll probably print a few more in case I destroy any while using the belt sander.

I spent some time trying to determine whether the wing walk pieces will be of any use to me or not. The plan sheet and plywood supports all seem to be made for some earlier version of the wing. The notches on the supports don’t work (or even come close to working) with the root blocks on the main spar or rear spar. The forward plywood bits are too long, and even if cut off don’t match the curve of the wing ribs. There are supposed to be three installed forward of the spar — but that would only work if I removed one of the false ribs. I still don’t know what I’ll do for the wing walk. I do know that 1/4 plywood for the rear portion would need some curve in it, and I’m not sure about that. The plan notes say to nail it in place until the glue dries… ::shrug:: This is why I’m considering a laminated layup with some wood and maybe a layer or two of carbon fiber.

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More aileron work

With a week or so off in there due to both my wife and I having COVID, things have been progressing. I got one of the torque tubes measured and cut for the wing. The plywood bits for the nose of the aileron ribs all got drilled out. Looking at how to do the aileron build brought up some issues, though. The plans say to glue and clamp those in place — the challenge is in how to do that, exactly. The clamping anyway.

In order to make the job a bit less complicated, I glued up the plywood sandwiches for the two ends and the middle, where the locking pins will install. I spread some epoxy and threaded the pieces onto the cutoff piece of torque tube to get them all perfectly aligned – and they were tight. With everything aligned perfectly, I shot a few 1/2″ 23 ga. micro pins to keep everything stable, then added spring clamps and took them off the tube so they wouldn’t end up glued to it.

Next day I ran those and the 1/8″ ply pieces on a spindle sander with a 3/4″ drum on it to enlarge the holes a bit. I wanted a slip fit on the tube for the thicker pieces, and a more “roomy” fit for the 1/8″ pieces. Those were supposed to get 1-1/8″ holes in the first place, but I missed that part in the instructions and we drilled them to 1″.

Realizing that the wing now can’t sit flat on the steel rail due to the trailing edge of the wingtip bow not being tapered to match the wing, I took care of that as well. Only the last couple inches of the bow need to be tapered. I started with a little razor plane that Dad used for model airplane work to shave the bow lamination and corner block down very close to the contour I wanted. I then finished it up with a sanding block, and I’m quite happy with the result.

Everything is ready now to get the plywood pieces glued into place. I’d have done it today, but as I was about to mix up the glue I was reminded that it was time to go pick up the grandkids, which turned into dinner and a late arrival home.

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Still hacking away at it

Rear spars built, and tip supports added. Now building the tip supports for the main spars. At some point I need to get some AL stock and see if I can find my box of 4130 tubing to see if I’ve already got bushing material. Then I will need to drill the holes for the attachment and strut/wire fittings before starting wing assembly.

The spars don’t look terribly complex on the plans, but there really is a lot of detail work involved. It’s dragging on longer than I had hoped since it’s a trip over to Stu’s every time I want to get a little work done. I think I may need to take a little more structured approach to this — study the plans, then make a punch list for each trip so I don’t waste time while I’m there trying to figure out the next step.