December 20, 2006

I picked up the wing wood today and took a lot of time unpacking everything. My little one car garage is getting pretty full of wood, but the shelves and storage loft hold everything out of the way. Thankfully, making the parts doesn't add wood to the garage, just changes its shape and perhaps takes some away as sawdust.

Wing Rib Jigs, Lesson #1: Once I got the wood out for the station 6 rib I'm starting with, I stuck two capstrips in a put of boiling water for about 30 minutes to soak the first 6-8 inches of them. I put them in the pre-bending jig and bent them down. As soon as they were bent, I was about to put the clamp on and "snap," the front notch of the 2x4 flies off.

So the lesson is not to put that notch too close to the edge of the 2x4 jig. I guess I could have seen this ahead of time, but no, I didn't. I just traced the curve onto another 2x4, with the notch further from the edge and band-sawed it out. This time the notch held the wood down nicely. These are the little things you learn along the way.

I also received a new toy today thanks to my Dad. A very useful item that I think has a lot of versatility for this project. Thanks Dad!

  |   Wing Parts Menu   |   Home