Elevators- 2 hrs 15 mins (Elevators 66:27, Empennage 189:26, Total 210:22)
Rivet count: 66 (Total 3,570)
Well, these elevators are just dragging on for an eternity. Not only did I not get to finish them over the holiday weekend, but I'll be pushing 70 hours of labor by the time I'm done.
Quickly, we finished up the blind riveting from yesterday. Then my pregnant wife helped with cutting the lead weights. She's wearing a respirator just in case, and the garage smelled of acetone, so double whammy. It turns out that cutting the lead indoors was a bad idea. Little pieces went flying everywhere! After two pieces, I noticed and we stopped. Here, the tape breaks off for a half hour while I took the bandsaw outdoors and finished the pieces there. The removal of the backstrip from two of the weights was a royal pain in the rump. Why doesn't Van just send us the pieces already cast to size? The bandsaw heats up the lead pieces significantly. The best method for me was to trim off the strip a sliver at a time. When the weight became too hot to handle, I soaked it in a jar of water and worked the second weight. I swapped back and forth and got everything accomplished. The driveway was a mess after. I tried to vacuum as best I could, but Mother Nature is taking the hit on this one for lead poisoning. I want to keep my wife and dog as far away from the lead dust as possible. A chisel worked great for "deburring" the edges of the weight as we come back to video.
Next, we wrapped the weights with electrical tape. I've seen others do this, and Im not really sure the reasoning. The weights do look much better, and I would assume they are now better protected from bending, chipping, and contaminating other places. With the weights wrapped, it was time to break out the torque wrench and bolt the weights on. Amazingly, it took about 10 minutes per elevator to do so. 25 inch pounds seems like a really low torque setting for these bolts, but that's what the literature calls for. To finish the night, we screwed the cover plates to the bottom skins. These will eventually come off again for further assembly of trim cables, etc. But they are secure in place now. The elevators just need the piano hinge to attach the trim tabs and we are complete! -M
postscript- Ironically, a year ago on Thanksgiving weekend, I was bending the leading edge of the rudder and working with the lead counterweights. I found that interesting... We'll have to see what next Thanksgiving weekend has in store for us....
Rivet count: 66 (Total 3,570)
Well, these elevators are just dragging on for an eternity. Not only did I not get to finish them over the holiday weekend, but I'll be pushing 70 hours of labor by the time I'm done.
Quickly, we finished up the blind riveting from yesterday. Then my pregnant wife helped with cutting the lead weights. She's wearing a respirator just in case, and the garage smelled of acetone, so double whammy. It turns out that cutting the lead indoors was a bad idea. Little pieces went flying everywhere! After two pieces, I noticed and we stopped. Here, the tape breaks off for a half hour while I took the bandsaw outdoors and finished the pieces there. The removal of the backstrip from two of the weights was a royal pain in the rump. Why doesn't Van just send us the pieces already cast to size? The bandsaw heats up the lead pieces significantly. The best method for me was to trim off the strip a sliver at a time. When the weight became too hot to handle, I soaked it in a jar of water and worked the second weight. I swapped back and forth and got everything accomplished. The driveway was a mess after. I tried to vacuum as best I could, but Mother Nature is taking the hit on this one for lead poisoning. I want to keep my wife and dog as far away from the lead dust as possible. A chisel worked great for "deburring" the edges of the weight as we come back to video.
postscript- Ironically, a year ago on Thanksgiving weekend, I was bending the leading edge of the rudder and working with the lead counterweights. I found that interesting... We'll have to see what next Thanksgiving weekend has in store for us....
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