Mar 19, 2024     Wing rack - (8.5 hours)       Category: Tools

Had to rework the old wing rack. Previous version had a pair of padded arms that I hung the wings on, hanging by their respective upper or lower spars on the padded arms. Once I cover the wings in fabric, that option won't be available.

Moved the old center structure over to one side and added padded arms to accept four panels horizontally placed on them. Also added a pair of short arms to the bottom of the back side to hold the center section in a pair of carpet straps similar to the originally designed wing rack.

This thing started out as the old classic Tony Bingelis' wing rack utilizing a pair of straps to hold a wing on either side.

  Dec 22, 2023     Bobka's Bungee Stretcher - (6.0 hours)       Category: Tools

My source for interesting tools and advice, Chris Bobka, has been fixing up an early '40's Taylorcraft. Pretty good paint and fabric, considering, but the engine was real tired so he rebuilt it. Much of the rest of the mechanicals needed addressing as well. This included the landing gear bungees.

Accordingly, he needed a tool to stretch the bungee loops into place in the structure. He knew what it should look like in his head, but I never saw a drawing. Instead, he just showed up one afternoon with a collection of cut up, loose parts and asked me to stick them together for him. When I finished what he asked, he disappeared out the door with the welded bits. A few days later he would reappear with some more welding to do on this thing. I think it was three or four welding sessions until we got to the point you see below. He needed the time between welding sessions to take it to his machinist friend to work it on the mill or lathe or something.

Anyway, the thing is purpose built for the T-craft structure. The pin at the end of the threaded rod fits into a dedicated welded hole in the landing gear truss and when cranked, draws the looped bungees up into position on the rounded "feet" of the tool. Once in position, the bungees are then simply slid onto the attach arms in the structure. This tool makes a simple job out of a what could otherwise be a potentially difficult and dangerous task.

  Nov 12, 2023     Welding table - (5.0 hours)       Category: Tools

Sadly, this is the top of my 2ft X 2ft welding table. It looks like it should belong in an episode of "Hoarders"

Random bits of steel and aluminum detritus and an assortment of clamps have accumulated on this thing, but I find them oddly useful time and again.

Depending on the next weirdo thing that needs welding here, it generally needs to be clamped down. That's where all this "stuff" comes in handy. Sometimes it needs to be blocked up, sometimes the far end needs blocking or some combination of clamps and cutoff bits from the table to hold things in place. It just depends and I don't know from one time to the next which piece(s) or clamps will work in the next application.

So... crap just seems to accumulate, use some of it to clamp the next piece, sweep the rest aside, stick the part together. Repeat as necessary.

I'd take the time to clean this up, but then I'd have to take the time. I've got other stuff to do. Besides, which stuff goes and which stuff stays?
I think the answer is going to have to be: When I finish this project, sweep the whole mess into the trash can. But until then...

  Dec 10, 2022     Flanging tool       Category: Tools

Construction of the windscreen frames requires bending the lower edges (flanging) of same to match the contours of the fuselage topskins. The shape of these flanged edges is roughly a helix, so there is no bending brake solution and no straight lines. I suppose a proper tinsmith with a hammer and shot bag could pull that off, but that ain't me. I have seen (on the internet) others use a wheeled flanging tool to accomplish these bends. Shopping about, they're kinda spendy, IF they were still in production (not). I contemplated fabricating one using a pair of bolts through a steel bar with cheap roller blade bearings for the bending/flanging action. I was not confident I could fab one accurately enough in the shop. While bemoaning my quest for such a tool to my buddy who has built his F1 Rocket, he said he had one... !!? So he shipped it up to me from sunny Florida around Halloween-time. It's on loan while I muddle through this phase of the process. He had used it to flange the slider canopy on his F1 Rocket. It has four rollers, the ones I have observed/planned only two. I'll need to ops-check this on some scraps to see if I can make it work on my application.
Update: This roller tool was just the ticket to form smooth curved flanges on my windscreen frames. The flanges were formed on a curve with varying bend angles as it progresses along the curve. I think the 4-roller setup with these delrin rollers produced a smoother bend than a simpler 2-roller setup may have.

  Nov 11, 2022     Acrylic Bending jig - (6.5 hours)       Category: Tools

Windscreens require two bends each to form a three-sided, single-piece acrylic screen that nests inside a similarly bent single piece aluminum frame. The nested pair is then screwed in place to the fuselage top skins.
The acrylic bender will form those required bends in the acrylic. First pic below shows the bender and two triangles representing the two different required angles of bend (60 degrees for the aft, 58 degrees for the forward). The right half of the jig hinges up to form these angles. A 0.020" stainless safety wire is stretched in the gap between the hinged halves and about 1/4" below the top surface. Spring tension is maintained on the wire as it expands and tends to sag once heated. The channel formed between the two jig halves is lined with foil tape to help reflect heat to where its needed. A trusty 1960's vintage toy train transformer provides the electrical power, data plate says it puts out 90 watts at 16VDC.
Some experimenting with wire length to get the right heating rate is in order. I'm at 18" between contacts and the wire gets a nice orange color, but may be heating the acrylic too quickly, as I bubbled some .090" acrylic scrap practicing. Further tests are in order, I can increase the heated wire length another 8 or 9" which will dial down the heating rate. There is also a rheostat on the transformer I may use.

  Feb 04, 2021     Bobka's Tool Mine       Category: Tools

Chris has loaned or allowed me access to several of his tools on multiple occasions for which I owe him beer-for-life. So It was again. I needed to either build a larger bending brake, or cajole him into allowing me to again use his. Ancient though it is, (Turns out they date to before the Great War, big brass data plates note they were built in 1913 and Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated the summer of 1914) the things are as accurate as you care to set them up. Repeatable results all day long if one wished, and no batteries! In fact, no concerns whatsoever of offending touchy microprocessors, power surges, static electricity or any grid-related mayhem. I used them before in fabricating the fuel tank tub and later the aileron spars, but didn't take any pictures. This time was a 5-minute bend-up job, and so took the time for a complete hangar tour and pictures.
Chris has been collecting for years parts to a WWII vintage, RCAF Bristol Blenheim bomber. It looks to be enough parts and his intent to make one good one from the better part of two stacked in half the hangar. That's an outer wing panel pictured behind the shear. If or when he gets around to it, the project represents an enormous sheet metal job just in resurrecting the airframe. Engines, props, systems and the rest makes me happy I only have a simple biplane project!

  Oct 08, 2020     TIG welder       Category: Tools

This is my TIG welder. I have an oxy-acetylene setup but after years of fumbling with nozzles, regulator settings, pressures, hoses, torches, etc, etc my skills are suitable for repairing broken garden gate hardware or the undersides of disabled farm equipment. Dunno, just haven't figured it out.
As TIG welders go (GTAW in current welding parlance) this box is pretty simple, dated and outclassed by the newer stuff out there (kinda like me). I discovered the TIG welding seems much like O/A but simpler and easier to control. The non-consumable tungsten electrode creates the arc much like the O/A torch would and you add filler metal to the subsequent puddle created. The inert gas (argon) flows through the handpiece, out the nozzle where the tungsten electrode is exposed and envelops the weld area keeping the air (O2 and nitrogen) from contaminating/oxidizing the weld puddle. There are basically two adjustments on this machine when I'm set up for steel welding; one, set the argon flow rate (its a ballpark value initially), two, Amperage. That's it.
When performing the weld, the foot pedal is like the accelerator pedal on your car, but all the way to the floor is limited to the amperage set on the front control panel. Ground the workpiece, Start the arc by pressing on the pedal. If you need more heat press harder. The neat part is when you need less heat, let up on the pedal. This is very helpful to avoid burning through thin materials or working along an edge you wish not to burn off. This can be tougher on an O/A setup trying to adjust the torch on the fly.
Lots of helpful books and videos out there. Youtube of course, but the EAA website also has good videos and an entire section devoted to TIG welding.

  Oct 08, 2020     Warco bender       Category: Tools

Another cool tool I didn't even know existed until Chris brought it into the shop one afternoon. I'm pretty sure it's English and it's largly constructed of welded plate steel. It's a bending brake with about an 8 or 9" width capacity. Two large bolts clamp the brake bar down on the workpiece so it's held in place rigidly. The really cool part is the brake bar (actually a multiple set of bars each with a different bending radius) has a specific radius edge which can be critical when bending thicker or stiffer materials. The thumbscrews on the back of the bender adjust to allow more or less setback on the brake bar and keep it from sliding back when the bending brake is lifted. The whole unit bolts to a stout tabletop as it takes some force to lift the brake bar when bending these thicker materials. Bending the heavy gauge weldments with this tool made the process a non-event.

  Oct 08, 2020     Shrinker/Stretcher       Category: Tools

Fuselage requires a section of formed angle in several locations. This angle is shrunk along one edge causing it to curve and so act as formers of one sort or another. Initially bought the Harbor Freight set (still in the box) on reports they do a decent enough job for the one-off type thing as this. Friend Chris was in the shop and spotted the box, claimed I wouldn't even unpack them when I used what he had for me. Showed up the next day with the air-driven floor stand model. He was right. Shop air attaches to the foot pedal on the floor next to it. Both hands are free to hold and maneuver the workpiece. One side is the stretcher, the other the shrinker jaws.

  Oct 02, 2020     Fuselage Rotisserie - (11.5 hours)       Category: Tools

Built a rotisserie stand (actually two stands) to improve access when welding/installing all the bits and internals on the fuselage. Had seen others use one and can appreciate the ease of rotating it vs flopping around on the benchtop hoping it doesn't get loose and bending or denting something. Especially now that many tabs and formers will soon be stuck on the outside of the frameworks and vulnerable to bending or damage.
Stands are scrap from Gary Rene's Fischer Biplane kit crate and pallets. Being a hopeless scrounger the forward pivot hardware began life as heavy duty television wall mount, although I've seen similar hardware on satellite TV dish mounts. Was going to mount the forward pivot to the engine mount since the four dynafocal rings are in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and when rotated wouldn't put any wracking on the structure. Something like a threaded steel pipe and pipe flange bolted to plywood clamped to the mount. When I saw the TV mount in the scrap bin, figured I could bolt it to the angled firewall instead and it would swing parallel to the longitudinal axis as I rotated and keep the clamping plate and tube properly oriented on the forward mount. No need to involve the engine mount. The clamping plate is welded to the TV tube and prevents rotation once I have the fuse in position... Just a pair of C-clamps holds everything in place. The tail piece is a 1" steel tube welded to an angle drilled for a pair of U-bolts. The tube then just stabs thru a 1" hole drilled in the aft stand. I split a length of 1" steel tube and used the halves on the forward side of the 7/8" tailpost to prevent the U-bolts from denting it when tightened. Used this clamp for moat of the fuselage weld up process. Later tailpost clamp bolted to the tailspring mount, getting it out of the way for stringer install.
Of note, this thing does take up a lot of real estate in the shop. Depending how successful it works out to be, may have to offload/shorten my trusty 16" fuselage bench. Will need it's flat surfaces putting together the aluminum ailerons before long.

  Sep 29, 2019     The Ol' Joint Jigger       Category: Tools

This thing has done the heavy lifting fitting all the joints and clusters fabricating the fuselage primarily. One clamps the tube end to be fish-mouthed into the black angle-adjustment fixture and a hole saw chucked into the upper bearing of the 'Jigger which is driven by the drill press. Cutting is then accomplished by turning on the drill press and lowering the arbor as the hole saw cuts the fish mouth in the end of the tube. The majority of the required fish-mouthing is 3/4" tube fitting, so mostly a 3/4" hole saw is the only size required. This thing worked like a champ, making dozens of cuts a day producing perfect fits on other 3/4" tubes.
There's lots of techniques out there for fishmouthing tube ends each with mixed results. Large round files and rasps are needed for custom joint fitting around clusters and other fittings, but they're pretty slow to use forming the full joint fittings. For speed, an angle grinder with a flap-sanding disc grinds away tube end material like butter, but it takes a deft hand to make an accurate cut and avoid taking off too much in places. A tin snips are rumored to be effective trimming these ends. Bottom line, accurately fitting tubes takes some time and the better the fit, the better your odds of making a decent weld.
I tried to find a better hole saw than I have, but it turns out it was good enough. Thought maybe a carbide toothed or diamond crusted saw would work better, but chasing one down was taking more time than I wanted to spend (I have a 3-stop limit). So, I settled on a Milwaukee bimetal 3/4" hole saw from the big box store. It has nine teeth! What? Not kidding, couldn't find one with more teeth either. So I bought three, they're about $7 each. I'm about done now (11/22/2020) and the other two are still in their wrappers. I also mis-figured I'd go through these things like after-dinner mints, but slowed the drill press as slow as it would go, used a very slow feed rate on the arbor and copious amounts of cutting oil. So, it turns out the one saw has lasted from start to finish.

  Jan 18, 2018     Flat Jigging Bench - (14.0 hours)       Category: Tools

Shamelessly copied this bench from a Legal Eagle builders Youtube video. First bench I built I had no idea how big I was going to need putting the wings together, so I made the first one 4'X8' out of dimensional lumber from the big box store. First use was to be the Top wing Center Section. FLAT is important when putting the C/S together so there is no twist, but by the time I was ready to assemble it the dimensional lumber in the table had dried, warped and twisted so much the top was no longer flat. Nor was there any putting it back that way without way more effort than I was willing to expend on it.
Legal Eagle builder (sorry I forgot his name) claimed to have built several fuselages and had given up using dimensional lumber (2X4, 2X6, etc.) for the very reasons I mentioned above. Finally, he had hit upon the idea of using engineered lumber beams. They are dead flat and dimensionally stable.
This table is constructed of two, sixteen-foot 2X10 (9-1/2" tall) engineered joists from Menards at $21 apiece and 3 sheets of 3/4" MDF. I spaced the joists at 24" and the top MDF has a six-inch overhang on both sides making the table 3 feet wide. Wide and long enough for a fuselage and space on the sides to work/clamp as required. The Legal Eagle builder used two sawhorses to support it but I felt better with three (it's hell-for-stout and doesn't need a third, you could park a small car on this thing) because it's all about feeling good these days.
Built the center section and all the wing panels on this table and having a large enough dead flat surface goes a long way towards getting those components put together right. By the time I started the fuselage on the table it was pretty stained up from epoxy, varnish and other assorted abuses. Just sanded it back to smooth and brushed on 2 coats of white latex primer paint. Makes a fresh new top surface and layout of the fuse centerlines/longerons, etc using snapped chalk lines and pencil really made them stand out.

  Apr 10, 2017     Steam bending box - (4.5 hours)       Category: Tools

Again, shamelessly copied Ed White's design. Went to the lumberyard, bought a 4X8 sheet of 1-1/2" rigid foam insulation, ripped it into strips and glued them together with Gorilla glue to form a waterproof, insulated, long skinny box. I bought the steam bending hardware from Rockler, but this looks like the same setup as the wallpaper steamers available elsewhere for less probably. I'm guessing that's why it comes with at least 15ft of steam tube (one would need that steaming wallpaper).
Ripped up strips of wood for steaming and stickered them out so steam could get to all sides. Slip the stack into the box, taped the ends shut to try to keep most of the heat in. Angle the box slightly to allow the steam to rise through the box venting out the high side and condensate draining to the low end (this will make a mess without a bucket, uses more than a gallon in about a half-hour of use). Stabbed a meat thermometer in the high end to watch how it was working... just a few minutes and it was up to 200 degrees in there. Had forming blocks ready to go screwed to the tabletop so when it was cooked I could quickly move things to the table and clamp them in place. Lots o guidance on YouTube ref steaming times vs thickness. I used this on the Hatz to form the top wing center section trailing edge and all four wingtip bows. Contemplated bending leading edge skins but found another way.

  Mar 09, 2017     Powder Coating setup       Category: Tools

This is too much fun. First picture shows most of the setup. Cheesy, mostly plastic, gun runs on about 10-15psi shop air. Small filter at the base of the handle traps any moisture or oil. Screw-on tub at the top of the gun holds the powder (buy it by the pound online). The heart of the operation sits under the table on the left side. It's the buzz-box, provides a charge so the powder sticks to the workpiece. The gun is wired to the buzz-box to establish one polarity and a second wire with the opposite polarity and an alligator clip at the end is used to connect to the workpiece. When you want to start coating there is a small foot pedal switch. Step on it and the charge is activated through the gun and the workpiece. Don't get between the business end of the gun and the workpiece when the pedal is depressed... You will immediately know why and furthermore endeavor to actively avoid this in the future. Don't ask. Think electric fence. Once the workpiece is connected and the pedal depressed, squeeze the trigger on the "gun" and powder sort of fluffs out the end... Imagine shaking powdered sugar on donuts, which is about what you are doing. The less than dynamic activity is contained within a cardboard box which I've turned on its side, becoming a "paint booth".. Poked a wire through the top to hang small parts and conveniently connect the charge wire also making it possible to rotate them to get full coverage. Since everything is charged, the powder does "wrap around" to the back sides, but better coverage is achieved if you can shoot directly on a surface. I leave the charge pedal activated a few seconds after I've finished squirting while the dust settles in the box to minimize any of the minimal "overspray". The stuff clings to the workpiece, but if you bump into it you will leave a mark just like wet paint and it won't necessarily flow out when you heat it. Just like any painting, the surface needs to be clean. Saw a neat trick on YouTube, a guy powdercoating old motorcycle parts cleaned and sandblasted his old parts, then put them in the oven to bake for a while. After he took them out to cool, before coating, he cleaned them again to get any oils that may have leached out in the heat from nooks and crannies. Some of these welded bits were machined using cutting oil, so I did the same for them. The particular powder I'm using requires baking at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then remove to cool. I got a sweet toaster oven from the thrift store for $5.99 which is ideal for small parts. Used metal molly wall anchors as "feet" for many of the small bits with bolt holes in them (third picture shows some of them). If you wish to mask off something or plug a hole to keep the powdercoat out/off, there is some kind of trick tape available, but I used aluminum foil... cheaper and seems ok.
Another plug for Ed White, Hatz builder in PA with a great website by the way. He found a body-shop tool on the interwebs that is an quartz infrared electric heater. Pulls 1500 watts like a hair dryer, and is used for curing body panels or something. I managed to find one on Amazon for about $150. How do they do that? Eastwood carries them too, somewhat higher, check it out. It's the long yellow thing on the roll-around chrome-like stand. This thing works like a charm for some of the longer bits like the wing compression tubes. Of course, the longer bits require a longer box (paint booth) and two aluminum lasagna pans connected together with aluminum foil form the oven. After dusting, placed the tubes in the pans, rolled the heater over the top and switched it on. Only takes a few minutes to get up to temp, then the temperature can be regulated by raising the height (its adjustable) or I suppose one could stand around and switch it off and on to do the same. Used an IR thermometer to establish temps, and about eight to ten inches off the table kept the temp where it should be. The pans sat right on a piece of plywood I use a temporary workbench, but no scorching or anything like it. The IR gets the workpiece hot enough and since its steel it gets hot throughout without turning, but the pans I think must reflect much of the IR and there isn't enough heat transferring through the pans to cook the bench.
Thinking about some bigger parts will need more sizeable oven, will explore using large halogen work lamps which put out gobs of heat (a la easy-bake oven style). May have to get on it soon before everything goes LED and can't find them.

  Sep 09, 2016     Drill Press       Category: Tools

Yeah, you need one of these. Not necessarily a floor model, but a benchtop version takes up space perpetually on the bench... and, available horizontal space comes at a premium when you're in the middle of things and just need some bench space to get something done.
This press drills straight, accurate and repeatable holes in thicker materials that the hand drills just can't do. It will also do more. Hole saws, sanding drums, fly cutters, rotary rasps and more.
A note of caution: Probably among the most benign-looking power tool in the shop. Don't kid yourself. When it's slowed to it's lowest speed (say,250 rpm) it produces it's highest torque... like enough to tow a truck. If something gets caught up in the works you can't stop it fast enough (Hopefully not one of your appendages) - remain well clear.
Similarly, at it's higher speeds other issues can develop. ALWAYS clamp the workpiece to the drill press table. Lots of options, C-clamps, vise grips, sliding cross vises, etc. Attempting to hold it by hand not recommended.. Don't. If you lose your grip it either becomes a club or a ragged, spinning saw blade. Alternatively, if it gets free it can be flung at breathtaking speeds in any of 360 anxiety-filled directions.
Outside of that, it's a very useful, versatile tool. Just give it respect.