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While I waited for some
fiberglass to come in from Wicks for some steps on the MLG strut and
elevators, I worked ahead a bit and made some of these jigs I would need.
I started with some plywood and prints of the M drawing parts I needed to
make. I decided to try to make all 4 templates L in one shot.
We'll see how it works out. |
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The band saw makes quick work
of most of these templates. I scan them, print them (checking size to
match, of course) then spray glue the pieces I need onto the plywood I'll
use. I then rough cut them to shape, leaving 1/16" or so and then use
a sanding belt in the band saw to sand them to exact shape. |
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For the 4 templates L I needed
to make, I glued the drawing to the top piece of plywood then clamped the 4
pieces together. Using the drill press, I drilled a bunch of 1/4"
holes and then inserted dowels into them to hold the 4 pieces aligned while
they were cut and sanded. |
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I did basically the same thing
with the 2 templates J I needed to make but in this case because the pieces
were odd sized I drilled a hole, inserted a dowel, drilled the next hole,
then repeated that a third time. |
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Once the L templates had been
drilled and doweled, I then cut the pieces out, slowly and carefully 'cause
it was by then a big stack and pretty thick. |
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After sanding with a sanding
belt to shape, I had 4 identical L templates. Awesome! Knock the
dowels out, label them and they're ready for use. |
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Here's the whole set of
templates, after cutting and sanding. I did use aircraft quality ply
for the airfoil templates H and I since they need to be quite accurate.
I used CDX 3/8" plywood for the rest. |
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Try making your flox corners like this. Run the edge
of the bit, just below where it has "teeth" along the edge of the cured
fiberglass along the edge. Set the angle against the edge to determine
how deep to cut, then run the bit along the edge to get a nice, even,
straight, cutout for the flox corner. |
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I did my elevators via vacuum bagging, so I still needed to
do the trailing edge micro treatment following the curing of the top skin.
I figured if I put some blocks under the elevators, and did the ends
carefully, I could do both ends, then apply the trailing edge treatment all
at the same time. Here's my setup. I mixed up some flox first,
so it would thicken up/cure just a bit while I did the 1 BID layup (seen
between waxed paper at the other end of the jig table) to help prevent the
end layup from falling off when I did the other end of the same elevator. |
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Some people have suggested syringes for flox and micro,
but, plastic bags work better. This is a Ziplock® bag, but, given that
I usually just twist the flox or micro into a corner, you can use any sort
of bag. Here I am using one to "pipe" flox into the flox corned on the
end of one elevator before adding the 1 ply of BID. |
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Here's the 1 BD ply going on. I added a bit more flox
than I needed, and, the flox oozed out into the center of the torque tube
and around the edges of the top and bottom skin. I figure most of this
will sanded off anyway, so, no worries here. |
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Here's both elevators, with both ends microed (just the
center where there's no flox), the flox corner and the 1 ply of BID. I
also then did the micro/peel ply trailing edge treatment and left them to
cure. I usually don't try to do too many steps at once like this,
since I usually screw up somehow when I do. This combination seems to
have worked fine, however. |
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Ha! I ALMOST messed this up! But I didn't!
Ha! I was laying in bed, thinking about how I would have to dig out
some foam to install the bolts that bolt the inserts into the elevators -
but how would one do that with fiberglass over the end! Oh no! Run
downstairs and removed the single layer of BID (it had only been curing for
an hour or two, so it came right off. Cleaned out the flox and heaved
a big sigh of relief. Hey - look on the bright side - I already have
the flox corner cutouts ready! |
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Once that fiasco was over, and the ends had cured, I
started on the NC-6 installs. I marked and drilled for the #10 hole
before I installed the NC-6. This would prevent any risk of damage to
the NC-6. |
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Here's the insert, after installation, with the hinge pin
in to line it up and the Cherry rivet before pulling. I think that a
shorter rivet would be easier. However, if you go slow and push the
head in further each time you squeeze to pull the rivet, it ends up flush
and all's well. |
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Time to make the spool piece. I'm not sure why, but,
I have two pieces of tubing with which to make this. I ended up using
part of only one, here I am measuring the right spacing on the hinge slots
in the CZNC-12A pieces. I noticed that my CZNC-12A pieces didn't look
right when I got to this step. Checked with Nat, yep, one of them is
cut wrong, all is right except for the hinge slot, it's about 140 degrees
off. I'll have to get that replaced, wish me luck. |
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I used my belt sander to fine tune the length of the spool
piece. Mine ended up needing to be just a hair over 30 inches, say
30.04. With the square and the deck on the belt sander, adjusted
square, I get a nice, square, even end on tubing. Test fit, too long.
Sand a little more. You get the idea. |
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Once the micro on the trailing edge was cured good and hard
(it was a little rubbery earlier in the day) I clamped the elevators to the
end of the jig table with scraps of foam left from hot wiring the cores.
I then used my spline sander to fair in the trailing edge to the right
shape. Turned out great. I'll need to final sand them before
finishing, but, they're ready for further construction. |
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When I started to assemble the spool piece and the CZNC-12A
pieces from Brock, I quickly realized one of my CZNC-12A parts was made
wrong. I know lots of people give the folks at Brock a hard time, but,
even after ordering this part several years ago, I sent it back and they
replaced it - no charge. Now that's what I call service! |
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Once the new CZNC-12A came in, it was time to get building
again. Here's a shot of drilling the #12 holes for the AN13A bolts
that hold the spool piece to the CZNC-12A. I have a piece of wood
weighted down holding the two pieces in place and I've already drilled the
pilot hole with a #30. |
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Once the spool piece was made, I jigged the elevators per
plans with 6" pieces of wood hanging 1" off the edge of the table. I
leveled these to 0 with my Smart Tool, for most of them I used 2, 3 or 4
pieces of printer paper. I then weighted the elevators down to keep
them from moving. I also hot melt glued (I don't use any bondo, per
plans, it takes too long to mix, is too hard to get off and takes twice as
long as hot melt) some wood blocks to the edge of the table. These I
used a square against to make sure the elevators were in line since the
edges of my table are straight. I did wish I had save the leftover
foam from hot wiring the cores, those pieces would have been handy here with
weights instead of having to use towels. |
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I made a wood jig to set the CZNC-12A pieces at the right
angle as compared to the bottom of the elevators. |
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Once the piece was made, I placed it on the table, weighted
down, then pushed it towards the CZNC-12A and rotated same until the jig fit
snugly. Now my spool piece and CZNC-12As should be at the right angle
as compared to the elevators. Don't worry - the wood piece here was at
0 before any leveling - so there's no difference between the table and the
elevator bottom.... |
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Once the horizontal holes were drilled through the CZNC-12A
parts on either side, and some foam was removed to be able to get the nut
and wrench on the other side of the bolt, my daughter Emily decided she
wanted to help. I gave her the wrenches and she installed the bolts
for me. She also helped in the next step, where you insert the NC-3
hinges and AN960-10L washers with the hinge pins. Her little fingers
made quick work of installing the washers on either side of the NC-3 pieces
as the hinge pins were installed. Thanks, Emily! By the way - if
you haven't heard this trick - use a cordless drill on the end of the hinge
pins to twist it as you insert them. You can turn the drill slowly
forwards and reverse as well as push on the drill without bending or
scratching the rod, and, the rotation helps the pin go through without
binding. |
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Here's a shot of the elevators jigged onto the canard with
the L jigs. I ended up with a bit of a gap, between the L jig and the
aft portion of the canard. I guess my trailing edge is a little
long/too low or my canard are a bit fat. I sanded the trailing edge
with my spline quite a bit, and, that did the trick. No gaps between
the L jigs and the bottom of the canard. I also made sure the
elevators were pushed forward into the groove as far as they would go, and,
the L jig was pushed forward as well. This seemed to help things fit
better. |
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The trailing edge is indeed flush with the elevators at the
full trailing edge up condition. |
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Marking the canard for the 1/4" slots for the NC-3 hinge
pieces. Once I had marked their centerlines, I used a square against
the edge of the table to mark where the slots would go. |
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I drilled both ends of the slots with a 1/4" drill. I
found that the routing step was easier, as described in the plans, if I
drilled the foam straight down in several places before trying to use the
drill bit as a router. |
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I also used my Fein Sander
for these slots. I have an attachment for it that lets it mount very
skinny saw blades, like this one, with teeth on the end. Perfect for
cutting slots like this one through a few layers of fiberglass. |
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Here's one of the slots after cutting the edges with the
Fein, drilling the foam in a few places, routing with the drill bit then
vacuuming out the leftovers. I used the plans drawing to located the
bottom edge of the slot, measuring 1 1/2" up from the trailing edge to make
sure I had enough room but not too much which would let the flox spill out
in later steps. The top limit of the slot is parallel with a line than
runs along the aft edge of the spar cap. |
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After the slots were cut, the elevators were jigged on
again in the right place and fixed in place (I use hot melt - bondo smells
bad, you have to wait for it to cure and it's a pain to get off when it's
cured) I floxed in the NC-3s. You can see part of a credit card here,
wedged in place between the canard and elevator, preventing the NC-3 from
falling down into the slot too far as the flox cures. This is one of
these steps that you check and check and check and check - then walk away
and let things cure - and hope all is well when you come back later.... |
| That's as far as I have gotten on the
elevators. |
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