Stites Cleanex SNX-0414

[flyguy0609]

OSH 2023 Sunrise Balloon launch copyright 2023 jklmst llc

Going on the OSH-Haj. I'll be there from Thursday PM to Sunday. It would be nice to be able to put a face with these posts. PM me if your going and would like to meet.

It's been a week, I feel like I hit a wall. First off, my shop vac quit sucking, which really sucked. Saturday, I was milling an angle and the bit locked up with the work piece and a couple, err a few, OK, a number of the drive gear teeth decided to go MIA. I knew the gears were made of plastic. They also sell an upgrade belt drive kit for the mill, suggesting broken gears was not a rare event. I ordered the belt drive, I doubt it will arrive before the holiday weekend. I also picked up a 3 axis DRO (digital read out) for my mill. This will eliminate backlash issues with obtaining the tolerances I'm looking for. (For the record, +- .005 inches) Saturday was shot,, and it didn't get better on Sunday.

The tail feathers are just about finished, What next, Wings or fuselage? For the wings, I have the factory built main spars, the preformed ribs, and some of the angle components. The original owner left both aileron and flap stock, as well as a partially assembled flap. With the usable material I can make either 2 standard ailerons and 1 standard flap, or 2 aerobatic flaps and 1 aerobatic aileron. For the fuselage, the vertical channels are a combination of matched hole and fabricated parts. THe skins for both fuselage and wings are matched hole drilled.

Last weekends productivity went straight down the drain. I have a 4 day weekend coming up, I am shifting gears. The parts from the previous owner have been sitting around for 12 years or longer and have a very noticeable layer of dirty dust (Dusty Dirt? sounds like a stripper, Stormy Daniels and Dusty Durt staring in Donny's Shenanigans.) The parts need to be thoroughly cleaned and prepped for assembly. I also need to generate a complete parts list and inventory for my corvair engine. I just signed on for WW's Supervised Build in December. That's the plan for this weekend.

It is important, when facing setbacks in the build to maintain some momentum. That will be difficult this weekend, There is a NASCAR race, practice on Saturday and the race on Sunday. Lake Shore Drive and most of the roads around my place are closed. Going out to the hangar will be ok as there is very little traffic at 8 AM on weekends. Experience shows that the return trip will be a nightmare.

Tornado/waterspout trying to eat a rainbow. copyright 2023 jklmst llc

[flyguy0609]

The The weekend of July 6 & 7, my mill bit pulled the part up, jamming and stopping the bit, resulting in breaking a drive gear in my end mill. The gears are made of plastic, so I wasn't surprised. There is a belt drive upgrade available, so I ordered it and installed it on Saturday 7.13. I also spent some time reorganizing and cleaning the hangar. When I purchased the kit, several skins were heavily corroded.

white rust

I cut them up and sent them to the recycling bin.

Part of the stash or trash operation, i built a paint booth out of 3/4" pvc pipe and plastic drop cloths.

paint booth in process

,

paint booth build

The seams between the plastic drop cloths were overlapping and taped on both sides, preventing the escape of over-spray. One side of the front is not taped so I can enter and exit the booth. Again there are multiple layers. My shop vac has a HEPPA filter, so I will be using that to filter and supply fresh clean air to the booth at positive pressure, reducing/eliminating airborne contaminates. I have an extra vacuum hose I will use to make it an approximation of a closed loop.


I also picked up a DRO (digital read out) for my end mill and am in the process of adding that to the mill.

DRO

[flyguy0609]

It's been a while, I thought summer would provide more opportunities to build. HaHaHa....The last month was spent on the Haj to OSH and various infrastructure projects. I noticed that the work table leg under the mini mill was starting to bow out. I purchased a tool stand and moved and set up the mill on the stand. It is now rock solid. When I installed the DRO on the mill, I accidentally damaged the Z axis linear scale. I purchase a new one and installed it.

Why go to the cost and trouble adding the table and DRO (digital read out)? Simply put, error management. In this case, error is defined as variance from the plan dimensions. My tolerance goal for fabricating parts is +- 0.005 inches. Between backlash and the wobbly table, I was only able to get to about +- 0.010. First articles produced with the DRO shown below.

Error/Variance = 0.0006. The caliper is accurate to +- 0.0005. This means the "true" length is somewhere between 2.2655 and 2.2650. Min Error/Variance = 0.0001.

0.006" Variance.

Spot on.

When I am making clips, whenever possible, I will use material from scrap channel stock. Every time I grab my calipers I close the calipers and zero them out. Open the calipers to the length specified in the plans. Set this to zero. Now measure the blank. The calipers will read the difference between the plans and the blank. Next mount the blank on the mill vice. Finding the edge can be accomplished with an edge finder, or gently bringing the turning mill bit into direct contact with the part until you hear chatter, or inserting a piece of paper between the turning bit and the blank. Typically paper thickness is 0.005", It may vary. For the vertical axis, bring the stationary bit down to make contact. Zero the DRO scales at the appropriate edges.

Caliper calibration: I have been using the same set of digital calipers every day for years at work. I calibrate them once a year (ISO requirement). In all that time, I have never found them to be out tolerance. Once in a while, or if they have been dropped on the floor, gently close the jaws and hold them up to a light. If you see any light, they need to be adjusted (tramming) by using the tiny screws inset into the spine.

New Plumber

[flyguy0609]

It's been a while. The horizontal stabilizer has been drilled out, de-burred, and everything all cleco'd together. The halves of the hinges were mated and checked for free travel, as well as making sure the hinge pin is easy to insert and extract. Finally we check to make sure there are no waves, warps, droops,or twists.

I like the way that looks.

I decided to put a primer coat on the inside of the tail feathers. Consequently, very part has been scrubbed with dish detergent, rinsed with distilled water, followed by a clean rag with acetone. Tomorrow, I do the acid etch and prime.

Some time you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.