Initial Prep (Debur, Trim, Drill, and Cut)
6/27/22 – 0.7h
6/30/22 – 2.0h
7/1/22 – 1.6h
7/2/22 – 3.4h
7/3/22 – 2.6h
Deburring the ribs takes time, but isn't complicated. I've refined my deburring process to help me get good results. I start with the large hole deburring tool to remove the sharp edges on the lightening holes in the center of the ribs, and follow that up with several passes inside the holes with a Scotch Brite flap wheel on an electric drill. The next step is to debur the rivet (and other) smaller holes with a deburring bit on an electric screw driver or by hand.

Deburring the flange edges starts with a pencil (hobby) flat file to remove the small tabs and marks from the machining process. The “dove tail” deburring tool comes next to remove the sharp edges from the flanges. I use aluminum oxide sandpaper to smooth the flange edges followed by a pass with a maroon Scotch Brite pad to finish smoothing the edges of the flanges. My last step is to run a Scotch Brite flap wheel on an electric drill over the outside and inside of the flanges. The flap wheel takes care of any final burrs in the holes and edges on the flanges, and leaves a very smooth surface that is free of burrs.

Each outboard leading edge has a J-Stiffener that needs to be cut to size from the stock parts in the wing kit. I cut the main wing J-Stiffeners from the 96” stock, leaving 4 pieces of 72” J-Channel for the outboard leading edges and tanks. The Dremel with a metal cutting disk worked well for the rough cut, followed by some fine-tuning with the large flat file. After trimming the J-Channel to the proper length, the inboard #40 “starter” hole is drilled according to the dimensions in the plans.

The Dremel, metal cutting disk, and file also worked well to remove the splice strips from the tank skins. I used my deburring process on the splice strips to ensure the #19 holes were properly deburred prior to dimpling to prevent cracks. The splice strips are ready for primer after a final cleaning.
[Hole and Edge Deburring Tools, Dremel with Metal Cutting Disk, Large Flat File, #40 Drill, #19 Drill]

Final Prep (Dimple, Countersink, and Shape)
7/3/22 – 1.5h
The pneumatic squeezer made quick work of dimpling the #40 holes in the nose rib flanges. The #40 rivet holes for the nutplates on the inboard rib for the left leading edge (W-1008-R) get dimpled as well. The nutplates will used later to mount the stall warning switch. I also dimpled the Splice Strips starting with a #8 Screw Dimple Die in the #19 holes. The plans warn that these holes are prone to cracking if they aren't deburred properly, and I took extra care on these holes during the deburring process. I used the #40 reduced diameter dimple die for the nutplate holes to avoid damaging the #8 screw dimples I just finished. A standard size #40 dimple die would have flattened part of the larger dimple next to it.
[Bench Vise, Pneumatic Squeezer with #40 Reduced Diameter Dimple Die, #8 Screw Dimple Die]