Progress Update

[orchardair]

I'm not sure what stage # I'm in, but I just wanted to add the comment that welding the 0.050 doubler to the 0.090 tube was of course different than to the 0.065 tube.
Do people have any tricks to perfectly align the holes and slots in the two tubes that form the landing gear suspension?

I am talking about the highlighted areas:

slots.JPG (26.66 KiB) Viewed 4823 times

[Bitshifter]

I had access to an end-mill so that is how I did mine.

[orchardair]

I was almost tempted to invest in an end-mill, and I am sure having access to one is awesome!

Instead I used my drill press, a die-grinder and a file, and a couple of jigs (simple ply wood piece to align the tube perpendicular to the drill press).

Sometimes there is something ridiculously satisfying in making a simple slot in a piece of metal. Especially if you only used hand tools?

DSC_1871.jpg (137.93 KiB) Viewed 4804 times

DSC_1872.jpg (238.16 KiB) Viewed 4804 times

[Bitshifter]

Very nice, especially for using a drill and file. I would never be able to get that close with my drill press.
I thought I was the only one working in flip flops, teaches you to be quick on your feet.
Looks good.

[orchardair]

Bending 0.125" sheet takes quite a bit of heat (glad I got the #3 tip from the tin man for my Meco), and something to bend against.
The gear leg fitting needs to have an internal opening of 1.125". While a square tube of 1" size is easy to find, a 1.125" one is not.
So for the second bend I just added some 0.125" material, and heated away...

DSC_1965.jpg (64.01 KiB) Viewed 4768 times

Then it's a combination of the die grinder, bench grinder grinding wheel and finally belt sander.

DSC_1966.jpg (49.46 KiB) Viewed 4768 times

Final result:

DSC_1967.jpg (50.72 KiB) Viewed 4768 times

[HC85]

Looking great ! Keep'em coming! Your photos have helped a ton on my build, thanks for posting!

Rick

[orchardair]

Hi builders!
It's winter, and I needed a relatively small project to get motivated into the build again. I decided to tackle some small parts, and wire lugs seemed to be a good option.
Specifically, I worked on the 2 rear landing wire lugs and 4 front flying wire lugs.
Because all 6 are identical except for the size of the hole drilled in them for the wire hardware, I tried to do this as efficiently as possible:

The parts as I got them from the water jet cutters, after cleaning some surface rust:

parts

DSC_0011.jpg (59.61 KiB) Viewed 4547 times

Set up the internal part and the 7/16" tubing, spaced 2" apart for tack welding:

set up for tack welding

DSC_0012.jpg (58.89 KiB) Viewed 4547 times

Another view, creative jigging:

ready

DSC_0013.jpg (65.7 KiB) Viewed 4547 times

After tack welding:

tacked

DSC_0014.jpg (52.18 KiB) Viewed 4547 times

Now add the wrap-around piece, tack at the tip:

exterior piece tacked

DSC_0016.jpg (54.75 KiB) Viewed 4547 times

(continued in next post)

[orchardair]

I used a flat pliers to bend (with heat):

bend

DSC_0018.jpg (80.96 KiB) Viewed 4547 times

Then another tack weld, and continue the bend around the tube:

wrapped

DSC_0019.jpg (59.95 KiB) Viewed 4547 times

After completely welding around the perimeter, separate the individual parts with a cut off wheel. The 2-inch spacing was good to provide enough heat-sinking, but required extra cuts and a little wasted 7/16" tube. Oh well.

product

DSC_0021.jpg (71.6 KiB) Viewed 4547 times

All that is left is to ream the tube to 5/16" and drill the hole for the hardware, keeping in mind that two of these require are a different size hole.

[mmarien]

I like the way you have you're vise tied down. Despite the hack job there your pictures give us a heads up on how a lot of the metal work can be done. Keep it coming

[HC85]

Hi doc, It looks like we are in about the same place, building wise. I just made all those fittings. Of course I did it the "hard way".

I wish I'd seen how you set up production before I made mine!

I ended up cutting my tubes about 1/4 longer than needed, and sticking a bolt in it when I felt my length was too short to avoid "burn away" while welding.

I'm happy that I have been welding for awhile and forming stuff, before attempting to make those! Otherwise I may have invented some new cuss words! But, they were fun, and they all turned out okay in the end doing it the hard way...( which I always seem to find out how to do!)

Thanks for posting your progress , it looks great!

Merry Christmas and Hatzy New Year!

Rick

HC85