Mar 22, 2022     Tools Category: Workshop & Tools

Wasn't happy with my $14 sprayer last session. Time to throw away and buy another one. Also picked up an angle grinder and some roloc sanding pads

Purchases: Harbor Freight: sprayer, angle grinder, accessories

  Nov 03, 2021     Waiting, buying tools… Category: Workshop & Tools

Waiting for wing kit. Van's gave an updated crating date of January 7. What do we do instead of work on the plane? We buy tools. Finally pulled the trigger on a nice 90 degree drill attachment and also bought a 12” double-offset back-rivet set that I will use on the wing top skins.

Also experimented with a new retainer spring for my rivet gun in the hope that it would work with my Boeing flush set. It fits!

Purchases: Cleaveland tool: 90 deg drill and bits, 12” back-rivet set, retainer spring.

  Jul 18, 2021     Rod end bearing wrench - (1.0 hour)       Category: Workshop & Tools

Made a wrench for installing rod end bearings out of PVC pipe and some fittings. The basic idea is borrowed from someone else. Pretty easy assembly. The hour includes the trip to Lowe's.

Tried it out and it works really well.

  Jul 07, 2021     Hardware organization - (1.5 hours)       Category: Workshop & Tools

I've made it almost through the empennage kit still working out of the various bags that the Van's hardware came in. There is some logic to the organization, but it is not always easy to find the specific nuts and bolts. At least I now understand what a AN365-1032 is and can find without too much digging.

I had bought some small parts organizing drawers from Amazon but just never bothered to sort them. I think I was afraid to commit to a system, but I need to figure out something before I move on to the wing and fuse as there will e so much more hardware coming.

Spent the evening sorting out parts and labeling drawers. Looks good.

  Apr 19, 2021     Fuselage stand       Category: Workshop & Tools

Saw a free fuselage stand posted on Facebook in the Houston area. Called my brother and he agreed to go pick it up. I won't need it for a while but the price was right.

I'll store it at dad's barn for a while.

  Feb 27, 2021     Storage shelves are ready       Category: Workshop & Tools

Bought my storage shelves today. I'd say the airplane factory is all ready to go. Got a tracking number for the empennage. It is officially on its way!

  Feb 13, 2021     Shop work       Category: Workshop & Tools

It's freezing outside. The worst cold snap Texas has had literally in my whole life. Not much to do in the shop anyways, but I did sneak out to Lowes today and get some miscellaneous tools and the items I need to finish my support tables for the DRDT-2. I repurposed some side-tables that had been in the garage for a long time. They were kinda of nice, but just didn't match any of stuff and we hadn't used them in 10 years. Cut the legs off to the perfect height and wrapped it in some old carpet. I'm very happy with how it turned out.

I was also becoming less happy with my work benches. The plywood top that I put on them was bowed, and I really thought I could take it out when I screwed it down but the overhangs still tended to curl up. I drove some shims between the top and the support frame to take most of the bow out of it. Much better now; I think it will do.

I was warming up a bit in the shop and decided to drill out the trailing edge on the practice kit to try to better align the skins and re-rivet. I had seen a tip to drill out -3's with a 3/32 bit and not a #40. That worked well, and I even tried a 15/64 bit and it was even better. The 3/32 punch fits very tight and the head pops right off. I'll be using that method going forward. It is difficult to align the trailing edge wedge on the practice kit because they do not go through the proseal or double sided tape method; just trying to hold alignment while back-riveting. I thought I was doing ok, but the final product of the re-rivetted trailing edge is terrible. There is a lot of pillowing and the shop head is not large enough to really secure it. I'm going to be very anxious of this stage on the actual plane. Good thing I have another practice kit - I may try to double sided tape method.

Van's said my empennage should ship on March 8th!

Purchases: Lowes Staple Gun, misc tools

  Jan 23, 2021     Tools, tools, tools!       Category: Workshop & Tools

I'd say today was the major commitment day. All the workbenches and items purchased to date would certainly have quite a bit of use, even if I backed out of this project. Today, though, we're all in. I purchased the RV-10 Tool Kit from Isham (planetools.com). It really seemed like the best deal, included the pneumatic squeezer and the DRDT-2. I also upgraded to the "sioux like" drill.

With that out of the way, might as well go to Lowes and pick-up the band saw, drill press, bench grinder, and belt sander. Picked up an air-compressor at Harbor Freight. Still have a little bit of piping to figure out. I think I'll mount a filter and regulator to one of the benches so it is handy right there.

Got the note from Vans that my practice kit shipped too. Probably be a couple week before the kit and all the tools arrive, so I'll just keep focusing on getting the shop set up. Almost looks like an airplane factory already. Bulk pickup comes next week and I can finally get rid of all of the extra stuff piled up in the garage that I plan to get rid of.

Purchases: RV-10 Tool Kit, Compressor, Band Saw, Drill Press, Bench Grinder

  Jan 21, 2021     Workbenches Done!       Category: Workshop & Tools

Got the workbenches done. Feels like it took about 20 trips to Lowes/Home Depot. I think they came out well. I ran the tops long on three sides on the main tables to give some clamping area. I was hoping the flush end would allow me set the tables side by side with no gap, but the legs aren't straight enough so I end up with a gap. In hindsight, I should have just left an overhang on all 4 sides. Overall, very happy with how they turned out. The casters were definitely worth it; rolls well, but very stable when locked - I locked all four wheels on each. I think they're going to be very practical with lots of storage underneath.

They already take up a lot of room in the garage. I don't know how I'm going to fit an airplane in here too!

And big thanks to my neighbor Darin for letting me use his miter saw.

  Jan 20, 2021     Workbenches       Category: Workshop & Tools

Spent the last two days building workbenches. They came out ok. Not sure how level my floor is so it's tough to say the tables are perfectly flat - they look good on a bubble level. First table was pretty rough on the knees, building it mostly on the concrete floor. At least for the second table, I got to use the first table as an elevated work surface. Made life much easier. Somehow blew my budget on workbenches; need to doublecheck my Lowes receipts.

As planned, I have enough left over plywood to build a couple smaller tables for saws and grinders. May need some more 2x4s though.

Ordered the practice tool box from Vans today. Their shop is closed for quarantine because of COVID, and they are not currently shipping kits. I assume the practice kits are already packaged up though and that it will still ship.

Purchases: Workbench supplies, Van's Practice Kit

  Jan 17, 2021     Garage Prep Category: Workshop & Tools

Spent a lot of time this weekend cleaning up the garage and prepping it to look something like an airplane factory. The goal is to have at least half the garage pretty well clear of all of the garage stuff and leave at least enough area to build tail components and wings. I know getting the fuselage build in there is going to be a challenge, but I won't need to worry about that for a while. I moved the bikes to another wall, and rearranged a lot of the storage boxes. I went through all of the RC stuff that was out and really evaluated whether I would need any of it. Anything worth keeping got put in a box and put up high. The airworthy planes are hanging nicely on the wall now, which allowed me to get rid of the large table that previously held all of the RC clutter. I only left out the tools to fly; all of my build tools are put away.

I also hung three new shop lights which really brightened up the space. It looks great. And I finally pulled the trigger on a nice rolling toolbox that I have wanted for a number of years. I culled out a lot of stuff that we can get rid of. Most of it is still stacked up in the garage, but when bulk garbage comes next week I'll unload all of it and the space will really open up. Still going to need some storage for parts. I'm planning on two large steel racks that will sit in the middle of the garage to somewhat separate the airplane factory from the remaining garage space.

Next up will be work benches. Planning on two EAA style benches, probably 5'-6" x 2'-0". I'm thinking one with just a low storage shelf, and the other with two or even three shelves for parts. Based on a lot of online feedback, I will plan to let the top run long by about 3" on 3 sides for clamping parts. Definitely want locking casters. I think the floor is level enough that I won't need leveling bolts, maybe just door shims. the left over plywood from the top should give me two additional 2'-6" x 2' tables for a bench grinder/sander table and drill press/band saw table. Was considering a separate table for the DRDT2, but realized it will store below the main workbench and that I would never need it at the same time as I was drilling or riveting.

How to fit the build in essentially a one-car garage - the plan is to store completed components at my Dad's. He has a large shop as well as a nice steel barn that is unused. I figure that I will build the empennage and then drive that down to his place (~3 1/2 hours away) before the wing kit arrives. Once the wing is complete and the fuselage kit arrives, I will drive the completed wings along with the fiberglass fuse top down. Once the forward part of the fuse is complete, I will retrieve the tailcone and the fuse top. I'll build as much of that in the garage as possible. I don't think I'll be able to hang the engine with it in the garage, but should be able to get a lot of the firewall forward work done. I would also like to get as much of the interior and avionics done as possible before moving to an airport. Once I have a hangar, I'll be able to retrieve the wings and tail feathers for final assembly. I was targeting maybe Terrell, but now I think Lancaster i the better choice. They have t-hangars for less than $300/mo, almost outside the DFW Class Bravo, and only about 45 min from the house. That has got to be at least 5 years away.

Purchases: Craftsman Toolbox, shop lights