Re: Building tips and hints
I use the stuff at work and it makes short work of all paints and gasket gunk so I thought I would give it a try. It is some pretty wicked stuff. I'm not sure if it would work on the baked on crud or the hazards but you might find somehtign you want to test it on.
Re: Building tips and hints
You guys probably already know this but I was real pleased with my first use of solder sleeves in my wiring project. Someone suggested I try using solder sleeves to terminate the shields on my shielded wire (for radios, intercoms, ignition, etc.) I got some to try and Wow! Makes the job much easier and quicker than hand soldering or crimping to the shield. You can just slip a pigtail for grounding the shield into the solder sleeve and when you apply just enough heat to melt the internal solder ring it flows all around the connection and seals up the shrink sleeve ends with adhesive to make a neat and compact quality joint. Even I had a perfect result on the first try!
Solder sleeves are kind of spendy but worth every penny. The original brand is RayChem, but ACS and other avionics shops also sell a Japanese copy, Sumitomo solder sleeves, for about half the price.
Jim
Re: Building tips and hints
I previously posted how great the Sumitomo solder sleeves were for work with shielded wire. I have to back off on that post and say that they were the reason I had to scap out my first intercom wiring harness. I found that there is not enough solder in the little ring to saturate the shield and some pigtails you insert into the sleeve, so the solder joint becomes kind of questionable. By pulling on the pigtail I found that some of them came loose rather easily. So I redid the whole thing. The second time around I made sure my pigtail and any bare wire was pretinned and then added solder to the joint before I put on the solder sleeve. This gave very strong joints but kind of defeats the purpose and convenience of the solder sleeve. Being a beginner at this I probably wasn't doing something right the first time around. Just be aware that there isn't much solder in the ring in the solder sleeve. I think hand soldering the joints the old way and then covering with shrink tubing is still a good way to go.
Jim
Re: Building tips and hints
How I removed dry, brittle protective plastic from my aluminum flaperons.
I'm on my 2nd Kitfox project and found an easy way to remove the protective plastic covering from the aluminum flaperons that have been on for over 20 years. Some might have gone through this process and have their own way of handling this. I used Jasco paint stripper purchased from my local Lowes hardware store. Just a warning though, I used several pair of rubber gloves to protect my fingers, but the stripper is very nasty and will go right through the gloves and do a number on your fingers. Tape your fingers with masking tape first before putting on the gloves.
Enjoy the 3 minute demonstration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvTJyIaatCQ
Re: Building tips and hints
Paul,
Very informative video. However, the absolute best part (for entertainment purposes) was the beginning: 20th Century Kitfox. What a hoot! Loved it.
Re: Building tips and hints
1 Attachment(s)
Re: Building tips and hints
Please don't critique the weld but this fitting on a tall bottle jack works well to lift a main. I Plan to put a broader base on the jack some day for stability.
1 Attachment(s)
Re: Building tips and hints
Vertically alligning wing spar inserts
The wing build fixture end blocks as shown in the manual prevent you from looking into the root end of the wing spar and using a square to vertically align the spar inserts. I used my table saw to cut a vertical slot in the stop block. Now I can sight through the slot and line up the web of the spar insert with the edge of the slot.
Attachment 4819
Re: Building tips and hints
When you are adjusting washout when you are rigging your wings, it can be hard to move the rear spar attach point with out going to far or messing up your front attach bracket. To aid in this I simply put a ratchet strap between the door frame and the bracket. One little adjustment moved it in place and held it there until i could verify the washout and tighten the spar attach.
http://i1042.photobucket.com/albums/...psb7936705.jpg