Building tips and hints

[Dorsal]

A building tip I picked up somewhere that makes dealing with Adel clamps less annoying. Using pliers (or vice grips if you don't have a helping hand) to hold the clamp together put a small piece of safety wire around the base of the clamp. This tend to make the clamp loose enough to move yet easy to assemble. I recently swapped out the autopilot servos and they are mounted with Adel clamps which where a huge PITA. I put safety wire on the clamps before disassembling them and putting the new servos in was a snap.

[colospace]

John,
Your right about the 680 setting fast!!
I like the bolt/nut or rod idea, but think I would be too slow with that, like I am with the C-clamp.
I am debating installing the bearing half-way dry and then applying the 680 to the two surfaces that remain exposed. Seems I could get it pressed on fully quickly enough although I would in effect have only applied 680 to one surface of each end. For what it is worth, Loctite specifies applying to only one surface for a shrink fit application (where the other surface will be heated prior to installation).

[jtpitkin06]

Fiberglass Work: Alll Models


If you do fiberglass work on cowlings or other fiberglass parts the appearance on the inside often looks like a chicken with gastro-intestinal problems was in the area.


To make things look professional use a layer of “peel ply” over the repair area.


What the heck is peel ply?


Peel ply is a Dacron fabric covering pressed over the fiberglass cloth and resin to smooth out the laminate and squeegee out the excess resin. The theory is that polyester resin does not stick very well to to Dacron. The Dacron is removed or peeled off after the resin sets. The result is a high fiberglass to resin ratio and a pro look to the finish.


You can get peel ply from Aircraft Spruce and several other sources but chances are with a Kitfox you have some left over Polyfiber from covering. It will work nearly the same as peel ply.



The procedure is to lay down your fiberglass cloth and resin as usual. Then place Dacron cloth over the fiberglass and resin area extending beyond the area of repair.. Squeegee the area with a tongue depressor or plastic spreader to squeeze out excess resin. The resin under the Polyfiber will feather to a clean edge. Mop up the excess if it comes out from the edge of the Dacron. You do not need to wet out the Dacron all the way to the edge. It is OK to have some dry edges of the Dacron as long as your fiberglass is fully wetted. Leave the Dacron cloth in place until the resin sets.



After the resin has hardened you can grab a corner of the Dacron cloth and peel it off the repair area. It will be firm but not difficult to remove. The result will be a smooth finish with a bit of fabric texture visible. The resin will taper nicely to a feathered edge. Any “stringy” areas you would normally have will be smoothly tapered.


The fabric texture imprinted in the resin makes a great surface for adhesion of subsequent layers if needed. Otherwise leave it as is.



Another benefit is the Dacron cloth acts as an air shield while the resin sets. This allows for a complete cure all the way to the surface. Laminating resin will not be tacky or slightly soft as it is when exposed to the air during cure. This make construction easy. There is no need to buy separate containers of laminating resin and surfacing resin.
With this method you get a better looking and stronger repair.


John

[ken nougaret]

I attached an airbrush to the end of a piece of pvc. it was just small enough to fit in the end of the wing spars for priming the inside. I taped the button/trigger and then connected and disconnected the air feed to turn on and off. my wife held the jar of primer at the end while I moved the airbrush in and out. I went in from each end of the spar and used a tennis ball to seal the opposite end. it worked well. ken

[Dave S]

I discovered that I had a unique and useful deburring tool for things like fittings, bolt holes, etc, when a simple hand held tool will do; and, it does both inside and outside deburring.

Apparently the reason I didn't figure this out earlier is that the tool was in my rifle reloading cabinet and is intended for deburring rifle cases.....however....works on a lot of other stuff including airplane parts.

The outside diameter is approximately 5/8" and will do inside holes up to that size while the other end will do up to 1/2" outside diameter deburring.

Don't recall what the price was when I got it but this tool can be procured from Sporting goods places like Cabelas, etc, and other stores that sell firearm reloading tools.

Sincerely,

Dave S

[Pushboy]

I’m looking for som tips on cable swaging.

I’ve watched some videos online and have also read the relevant sections in AC 43.13 — most of what I’ve read and seen involves a teardrop shaped thimble not the bobbin like grommet used in the SS7 kit.
I do have the correct swager borrowed from my local EAA, and I have a decent cable cutter, so I’m set on the tool front.

But—

I basically have 2 questions…

1. When I create the “eye” (or bight) and slide the sleeve up tight, the strands of the cable begin to open up… is this an issue? Is there a way to prevent this?



2. How tight should the sleeve be to the grommet prior to the first crimp?




Any help or advice would be great. Sorry if my terminology is not exactly correct…. First time swaging for me.

Thanks,

Dave


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Geek]

I’m looking for som tips on cable swaging.

I’ve watched some videos online and have also read the relevant sections in AC 43.13 — most of what I’ve read and seen involves a teardrop shaped thimble not the bobbin like grommet used in the SS7 kit.
I do have the correct swager borrowed from my local EAA, and I have a decent cable cutter, so I’m set on the tool front.

But—

I basically have 2 questions…

1. When I create the “eye” (or bight) and slide the sleeve up tight, the strands of the cable begin to open up… is this an issue? Is there a way to prevent this?


Any help or advice would be great. Sorry if my terminology is not exactly correct…. First time swaging for me.

Thanks,

Dave

Here's the tip I used to get my cables crimped. Can't take credit for this. I know I found it on one of Delta Whiskey's posts but dang if I can find it to reference. But I did copy it once upon a time so that I would have it to reference.

"I found that by making the first (middle) crimp in the nicopress sleeve when the bushing is held a #13 drill bit in distance from the fitting the crimp comes out just fine (see picture) assuming the 2nd crimp is the one away from the bushing and the last crimp closest to the bushing. A little experimenting showed that inserting a #25 drill bit in the "V" formed by the cable as it went into the fitting and then pulling the cable tight to press the three (nico, drill bit and bushing) tightly together before crimping worked just as well."

I would post the pics he put with this but seems pics don't upload right now. I did use the version of this where I inserted the #25 drill bit in between the nico press and the bushing and pulled it tight. Yes the strands open a little going around the bushing but that's a function of the cable and the radius of the bushing. I will admit that this was one of those places where I was really careful and checked everything three times and was still nervous cause I wanted my rudder cables to be right.

Gary

[Geek]

Dave - Looks like they got the picture thing fixed.

Picture 1 is setting it up with the #13 drill bit. Picture 2 (your pic) - your arrow is where a #25 bit is slid in between (vertically in this pic) the ferrel and the nico fitting. Picture 3 is how mine turned out using the #25 bit method. With your set up in picture 2 where you''re using the cleco pliers to hold it all together (a great way to do it) should make the #25 drill bit method pretty easy. Squeeze it till the drill bit doesn't fall out between the nico fitting and the ferrel and then crimp it. Once you've done the first crimp (the center one) you can pull the drill out. Remember to put some shrink tubing over the cable before you do all this so you can cover it all and take care of any pesky cable wires that might want to pop out at the back of the nico fitting.

Gary


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