It's always a good thing when you have an excuse to buy new tools.
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My son and I built a new hot box for my epoxy. That is to say, I built the box and he, being 11, decided it was a great day to shoot his pellet rifle in the back yard.
I don't have the door hardware or thermostat, so just put a piece of foam over the front for now. Should have everything needed to finish it tomorrow.
I don't have the door hardware or thermostat, so just put a piece of foam over the front for now. Should have everything needed to finish it tomorrow.
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What's the wattage on the lamp and how hot does it stay in there? Lotta stuff to lose if there's a power outage.
I'm not worried about the light going out, I'm an a bit concerned about the bulb being a little too hot and damaging the bottles leading to a pool of epoxy on the floor. I have a terrarium thermostat coming that should work very well to control the temp.
I replaced the tailwheel leaf spring on my Hatz. It was a Champ spring which is 1½" wide, after a while it would relax and the tailwheel would start shimmying and gradually get worse. I replaced it with a Citabria spring which is 1¾" wide but otherwise identical, so it should be 17% stiffer/stronger. Went flying afterwards, much better. I can still make it shimmy if I pull the stick all the way back so "don't do that". Hopefully it will hold up better.
Did a little improvisational drilling...
gtae07
Well-Known Member
First time working on it in almost five weeks, between work and traveling every weekend. Got the (removable) right hand stick wired, assembled, and terminated with a connector.
Next up is the left hand stick, gluing the canopy, finishing the remaining wiring in the cabin area, and wiring the panel/switches.
Next up is the left hand stick, gluing the canopy, finishing the remaining wiring in the cabin area, and wiring the panel/switches.
Attended day 1 of the Jabiru engine class today. Now I know just enough about the Bing carburetor to be extremely dangerous. 
I started fitting the lenses for the first set of RV racing wingtips to have enclosures for lights.
Well, within the last 24 hours I've learned about the importance of the placement of the hull step in an amphibious hull. Different kinds of control horns. The potential to use chines to reduce water suction at takeoff. And I've pretty much worked out the framework for the main wing on my Pondhopper.
Hephaestus
Well-Known Member
After much testing / tweaking... I'm pondering trying to roll my first carbon tube on the xwinder today.
Got 2 fiberglass tubes I wasn't ashamed to say I made this week. Hoping to break them next week; see if they come even close to what the computer says they'll carry.
If anyone's wondering - it's way worse than tuning/calibrating a 3d printer.
Got 2 fiberglass tubes I wasn't ashamed to say I made this week. Hoping to break them next week; see if they come even close to what the computer says they'll carry.
If anyone's wondering - it's way worse than tuning/calibrating a 3d printer.
Did you mold the clear plastic? I am wanting to do a similar sort of thing with the Dragonfly wingtips and was planning to form plexiglass over a form and have been trying to get my head around maybe vacuum forming them.
The past few days I have been coming to grips with the harsh reality...
It is time to pull the plane off its gear, roll it on its side, fabricate the speedbrake and prep and paint it. All I am doing mucking about inside it adding things that will need to be removed and making it harder for myself. Even my 11 year old son knows I am only prolonging the inevitable.
To that end, my plan is to remove the nosegear and engine mount, bolt a steel angle iron mount across the firewall and use an engine stand to be able to lock the fuselage in position. The rear of the plane will be supported on a sawhorse and it should be really secure.
It is time to pull the plane off its gear, roll it on its side, fabricate the speedbrake and prep and paint it. All I am doing mucking about inside it adding things that will need to be removed and making it harder for myself. Even my 11 year old son knows I am only prolonging the inevitable.
To that end, my plan is to remove the nosegear and engine mount, bolt a steel angle iron mount across the firewall and use an engine stand to be able to lock the fuselage in position. The rear of the plane will be supported on a sawhorse and it should be really secure.
Woodenwings
Well-Known Member
Ohhh....lots of awesome stuff there!
in contrast, i farted about with my small panel - what is shown will never exist in real life!
it is nonsense for now.
in contrast, i farted about with my small panel - what is shown will never exist in real life!
it is nonsense for now.
Day two of the Jabiru engine class. Now I'm twice as dangerous as I was yesterday. It was actually a very enjoyable class, and we had a great group. Should have done this a long time ago.
YES! Please make a separate thread and tell us all about itIf anyone's wondering - it's way worse than tuning/calibrating a 3d printer.
I've looked what it was when you mentioned it some times ago, I'm very interested by your results!
Hephaestus
Well-Known Member
YES! Please make a separate thread and tell us all about it
I've looked what it was when you mentioned it some times ago, I'm very interested by your results!
We'll see... Yesterday didn't go well. Switch from fiberglass to carbon apparently will involve more tweaking. Back to trying to get dry carbon to lay the way I want it to.I'm not sure how representative what I'm doing will be to anyone else, I got a used 4axis that I'm guessing wasn't maintained as well as it could have been. There's been a bunch of stuff just like 3d printers - where it's try to make it work; try to get the accuracy up, realize you've got a worn part/piece wait days for a replacement to come off amazon, replace and try again. Find another part repeat.
One of the 'I'm not sure about this" moments I'm having is the heat shrink tape... It works, but I've personally struggled with consistency - Maybe there's a trick I'm not aware of, but it's fairly easy to get inconsistent results and variation in fiber/resin ratio. There's a few guys on the rocketry forums that seem to have some alternatives down that I'm considering trying, peel ply layer + some are running heat shrink tube not tape - so results can be a bit more consistent.
Since the scale model of my eventual amphibian build will require a chase boat, I am rehabilitating my old 1968 Mark Twain 14" runabout. Yesterday I got the original color paint I ordered and today I proceeded to paint the 70 year old fuel tanks in their original OMC gas tank red. Also took some time to follow my curiosity and learn about how aircraft canopies are heat formed over a form with Lexan. Might come in handy for the boat too as it's going to need a new windshield. Took some more pictures of my original Pondhopper model. Trying to get the nerve up to start lofting some lines on paper.
