Dumb Fiberglass Question

[flickroll]

I have fitted the empennage fairing on my -8 and it looks pretty good. I do need to cover the HS and VS with packing tape and mix up a slurry of epoxy/micro so as to fill any slight misfit between the glass and aluminum parts. My question is how do you hold the fairing in place while the epoxy sets up? If I use screws won't they get epoxied to the airplane? If I try to tape on the fairing it won't fit right. Maybe attach with clecos? Thanks

[tcone1]

You can use vaseline as a release agent on the screws or clecos. I would try to avoid putting any spooge in the screw holes to begin with, but a little vaseline will allow them to be removed without damage.

[DanH]

Jim,
You do want to screw it down exactly as it will be when finished. All you need is a tiny bead of liquid shim along the underside of the edge, so the screws should not get much exposure to epoxy. However, if you're worried about sticking a screw, coat it with a release agent...which can be a film of grease, a squirt of hairspray, Turtle Wax....

[flickroll]

Thanks guys. When I built a Christen Eagle and assembled the canopy, you epoxied the canopy/skirt/frame together and held the whole thing together with clecos while the epoxy set up. After the epoxy set, you just twisted the clecos and most all of them came out easily, just a few required a little more muscle.

In the case of the -8 I'll keep the slurry to a minimum, and to be safe coat the screws with grease. Thanks again.

[MNAv8or]

Originally Posted by tcone1

any spooge in the screw holes to begin with

LOL spooge LOL

[Brian Vickers]

Dan,
I have seen you mention liquid shim before. What is your preferred product and where do you get it? When I do a general search on the Internet, there are lots of products called ?liquid shim.? My composite parts could use some minor gap filling.

Thanks

[DanH]

Just my loose term for epoxy mixed with a filler to close a cosmetic gap in composite parts. Which filler depends on what sort of service the part will see. Epoxy/micro is soft, so not such a good choice for exposed edges subject to abuse. Epoxy/cabosil is just thickened epoxy and somewhat tougher. It also flows nicely under pressure but prior to gelling it doesn't flow out of the gap because of gravity. Epoxy/flox is the toughest, but doesn't flow or finish very well. For an emp fairing I'd use epoxy/cabosil mixed a little thicker than toothpaste.

There really are structural "liquid shim" products for sheet metal gaps. I recall somebody with first hand experience in production work talkimg about them in this forum.

[Brian Vickers]

Wonderful, I already have cabosil and epoxy on the shelf. Thanks for taking time to share information.

[RV505]

Originally Posted by DanH

Just my loose term for epoxy mixed with a filler to close a cosmetic gap in composite parts. Which filler depends on what sort of service the part will see. Epoxy/micro is soft, so not such a good choice for exposed edges subject to abuse. Epoxy/cabosil is just thickened epoxy and somewhat tougher. It also flows nicely under pressure but prior to gelling it doesn't flow out of the gap because of gravity. Epoxy/flox is the toughest, but doesn't flow or finish very well. For an emp fairing I'd use epoxy/cabosil mixed a little thicker than toothpaste.

There really are structural "liquid shim" products for sheet metal gaps. I recall somebody with first hand experience in production work talkimg about them in this forum.

This is what we used at United. Great Stuff

http://www.henkelna.com/cps/rde/xchg...UID=0000000IS8