Author: shearbond@... Time: Thu Aug 23, 2001 8:33 am PDT Link
RV8'rs:
The horizontal stabilizer is complete! Haven't had so much fun since ????
Some thoughts:
1. Pay the $35/ea. or whatever and get Orendorff's video(s). They will save
you the money many times over and lots of time.....and also keep one from
pulling out ones hair. My blood pressure has already gone up 20 pts (naw),
what would have happened without them!! The combo of visual and written is
great at eliminating mistakes......although some are still possible as I can
attest. Lesson: Watch and Read ahead before taking action such as bending
the tips on the front spar, etc.....
When the EAA/FAA says that this is a "learning experience", wow do they have
that
right. All that said, the VS doesn't scare me at all and I am having too
much fun to stop!
2. Have your wife buy you a pneumatic rivet squeezer NOW! Even if your
birthday is 11 months away. Although heavy, it is worth it from a quality
and speed standpoint alone, not counting the epicondylitis one might get from
that hand squeezer and rivet gun.
3. The Orendorff tip of using the hole deburring tool just before riveting
makes the rivets perfectly flush with the skin. I primed the outside of the
HS just before storing and for fun flat sanded with 600 grit and it is better
than I had ever hoped. The last surface is still better than the first
surface, mind you, but still more than adequate. In looking at the surface,
I believe that if the counter sind is not fully deep and a perfect fit with
the rivet that the rivet gun pounds the depression into the skin which one
can often see surrounding the rivet. Try it, you'll like it!
4. Those wash prime fumes are NOT GOOD. Even with the mask, they are still
enough to know the devil lurks there. Be safe, not sorry, get a good
mask...and use it, even for small jobs.
5. I built an 8x8x8 pressurized (old furnace blower) spray booth with
filtered air in and filtered air out to keep from painting my cars, shop,
etc.. 2" PVC and 4 mil visqueen make it just right for light and easy to
make yet still substantial to stand up by itself. I suppose it is worth it,
but it takes a lot of room and is a maintenance item to keep up with.
Perhaps God will appreciate it that I trap some of the bad stuff in the
filters??
6. It is real smart to take the nuts off the inside of the HS jig
holder/stabilizers....before.....one rivets it closed! I can vouch that a
1/4 nut and washer will fall out through the space available at the nose end
of the HS. Duh, candidate for the Darwin Award. See what I mean about
reading ahead a bit before taking action!
7. IMHO, getting the jig flat, level and with a plumb bob hanging along a
wire above the jig is worth the effort. It came in especially handy while
dealing with some of the brain fade issues. For you "don't make mistakes"
group, you can probably get along without it?
On to the VS. Keeping the shiny side up,
Doug Dempsey
Ft. Collins, CO