Apr 02, 2024     Workshop Ongoing       Category: Workshop

So, workshop build is still ongoing, but (despite the picture showing an absolute carnage of mess) things are getting closer. I've got the parking bay (where that pesky boat will move forward into) walls sealed and concrete densified and sealed, as well as the studio all up and running for Amy. Remaining (major) things:
1. Seal walls of the shop area
2. Densify and seal concrete floors of shop area (probably gonna have to do this in two chunks, but we'll see how it goes).
3. Finish installing remaining 3 light fixtures, finish electric outlets in shop area
4. Move in the airplane parts
5. Continue building the plane
6. Engineer clever storage mechanism for future completed plane parts

For those interested, some products used:
-Wall sealer: General Finishes Gloss and Flat - We've been using a roller to apply this, we do a gloss coat first and then the flat-coat after. It's been a great product so far, goes on nicely, isn't much more expensive than the big-box store poly products and the performance is MUCH better (less drips, less entrained air bubbles, etc.)
-Concrete Densifier and Sealer: Using two products here, Ghostshield Lithi-tek 4500 (this is the densifier, I'm using it at half strength and applying with a low-pressure sprayer). Since this is slab on grade, the densifier should help a bit with potential freeze/thaw issues as well as getting a bit of additional hardness into the concrete. After 24hrs, I then apply two wet-on-wet coats coats of Ghostshield Siloxa-tek 8510 - let that dry down for an hour or so, and then wipe up any remaining wet product. The Siloxa-tek product is solvent-based and provides oil and water resistance. So far, it's been high-performing on the floors I've completed, but time will tell as to it's durability (but so far, the water is beading up as though it was a freshly waxed car - so that's a good sign). The other plus with this sealer (at least for me) is that it has zero surface modification (so no gloss, no loss in traction, etc).

  Feb 01, 2024     Barn is getting really close to finished       Category: Workshop

Been a while since I've been working on the airplane…but…good news, solid progress has been made in barn-land. It's all under roof, HVAC is up and running, plumbing is running, and the electric finish out is under way. Probably a couple more months and the space will be finished and ready for plane building again

  Nov 29, 2023     No -10 build progress, but the barn progress continues Category: Workshop

Barn is moving along nicely, we're all built at this point, fully insulated, and have electric service to the barn. Amy and I are now working on running all of the electric, building the interior walls, running HVAC, etc.

  Oct 14, 2023     Well, we finally decided to build the barn       Category: Workshop

After years of talking about it, Amy and I finally made the decision to build a hobby barn for the both of us! This will get me much more space to spread out with the plane build (though it will slow progress for a while here as the barn is being built), and gives us the chance to make Amy a dedicated studio space for her hobbies too! More to come, but build progress will slow for a bit (which, is probably OK as I'm getting dangerously close to the Laser Cut Parts portion of my Wing kit)

  May 25, 2022     Finished organizing Wing Kit - (2 hours)       Category: Workshop

Finally spent some time sorting out the remainder of the wing kit hardware - all my hardware is now split between my cases and the small part bins that I designned and printed (primarily because the Flambeau cases weren't available as they were updating their website for a few weeks during the time I needed them - and considering they were about 5-9x marked up on Amazon, it was way cheaper to print my own).p

  Aug 28, 2021     DRDT-2 Table Build - (5 hours)       Category: Workshop

I had been putting off the dimpling of the VS skin and the rudder skins as I hadn't yet built a table for the DRDT-2. I was originally thinking of an 'in-between' mount for it, where it was be cradled between two of my workbenches (an idea conceived prior to receiving my empennage kit). However, after getting used to my shop and the way that everything flows, I decided that the plans suggested for the DRDT-2 work tables was an excellent place to start.

I had some leftover marine-grade 1/2" plywood, so I used that to build the tabbles. I built to the spec of the plans mostly, the only deviation was that I created two bottom strips to mount under the 8x8" spanner that runs between the two sides of the table. These strips allowed me to use the 1.5" screws I had on hand to attach the 8" spanning piece, and also serve as guides to keep the table tight to the middle of the DRDT. As much as gluing and pre-drilling holes bug me in woodworking, I decided to do this right, and pre-drilled, glued, and screwed everything together. After 20 minutes or so, I stapled a piece of an old area-rug to it to serve as the cushioning/scratch-resistant surface for the skins, then put it to the test with dimpling the skins.

  Apr 09, 2021     Workshop Starting Point       Category: Workshop

As I was researching building, I spent a good amount of time trying to get a feel for people's shops - so here's a quick look at my (initial) shop. This is a 1-car garage (a garden garage, as it's in our walk-out basement); it's about 15.5' long, and 12.5 wide. I finished it and painted it an off-white, and added can lighting to improve lighting. For now, our lawn mower and our garden seeds are also hanging out in the 'Airplane Factory'. I've dubbed this my initial shop, since it'll be large enough for the empennage and wings, though things will start to get tighter once I start the fuselage - and it definitely won't work once I start mating the fuse and empennage. But, that's a problem for the future!

I ran a compressed-air line (using the most excellent RapidAir kit) through the the joist-space from our upper garage (where my 30 gal. air compressor is located) so I have an outlet in the shop now too - it's not shown in the photos, but is just to the right of my red tool cart. It's great to have the air compressor located elsewhere, I don't have to deal with any compressor noise.

Currently, I have 1 of the EAA1000 tables built, as well as a smaller table using the plywood offcuts which will likely play many different roles throughout the build - for now it's my DRDT storage table and where I have my vise mounted (p.s. make sure you have a vise in the shop - sounds obvious, but you'll use it...a lot. I picked up a Yost 750E and custom printed some softjaws - I started with ABS, and if I need something more durable I can always print up some nylon ones too). I'll be making at least one more of the EAA1000 tables to start as well. I repurposed an old tool cart (actually, it's a 30+ year old crash cart), and that houses most of the commonly accessed tools I'll be using.

For storing the myriad of small parts, I have a couple of part boxes (from Flambeau Cases, 1024-2 and 1032-2) - I printed some smaller boxes to slip within these cavities to make it easy to get small parts in/out of the cases. So far this has worked well for the practice kit - I can quickly and easily find the parts, pull out the bins when I need them, and them put them safely out of the way for later. Plus, I have a lip on the inner-boxes that prevent things from sliding out, and they're sized to perfectly seat against the top...I haven't given these a 'shake test', but they should do a great job for my purpose (from shelf to table and back).

I've also made a number of other storage solutions for things like clecos, working part dishes, etc. I'm sure that scrounged and re-cycled containers work just as well, but since i have quick access to a couple of 3D printers, I have found it to be quite easy to design and print my custom storage solutions.