May 1, 2006

The next spar I'll be tackling will be the forward fin spar which is a combination fuselage frame/vertical spar. Again, I drew the frame on the computer and will use that as a pattern to jig the part while I make it. I've learned to double check the jig measurements manually while fitting the various pieces of a part. This manual check has helped me be more accurate. I printed the pattern out twice this time so I can use one pattern for the fuselage frame lamination and the other for the complete part.

I glued the first pattern to some 3/4" plywood as a quicker way to draw the curve for the fuselage frame mold than the plotting points/connect the dots method I used last year. Then I jigsawed out the center and sanded to the exact curve with a drum sander on my drill press. I got most of the paper off at that point. The curve is pretty tight on this frame so I had the spruce strips taking a bath for a couple days until I had the mold ready. Tonight, I put the wet strips in the mold and clamped them in. I have an extra strip of spruce there on the inside that I will use as a plastic covered, protective strip when I do the laminating. I'll wait for a nice hot day to do the laminating, so until then these strips will dry where they are.

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