 Cutting gussets  First rib to check High-Tech jig  Ready to make more! |
Needed a change of pace, so I moved into the woodshop of the Wee Beastie Biplane Works to start work on the ribs. After cutting out a master template for the nose pieces, I cut forty (40) blanks. The idea is to cut away most of the excess on the band saw and then to trim each piece to size on the router. I cut out one set of gussets in order to make one rib in the new high-tech jig. Everything worked out well, with only a slight surface stickiness where the T-88 pooled. I think a little wax will eliminate that. Flipping the rib over the next day, I put it on a flat worksurface covered with a sheet of the same acrylic used for the jig. Itried using a tack gun on the gussets with strips of cardboard under each to pull them back out later. It worked, but was too tedious for a lazy guy like me. I finally just settled for clamping each pair of gussets with a piece of acrylic under a thick piece of wood, all held in place with a five pound weight. That worked fast and the results were fine. Excess gusset material was trimmed away with the router. I'm getting the woodshop organized for rib production now. I hope to get all the pieces cut so I can start assembly, but first I need to count pieces needed for each rib type. |
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