Building the wing jig

[Stormer]

My partner and I are just about ready to build the wing jig. Anybody out there have any tips? Should we use 2x4s nailed together or 4x4s? We are thinking of building 2 jigs side by side, to make the build go faster. Pictures of your wing jig would be great.
Thanks in advance.
Steve and Glen RV6A 1997 wing kit, prepunched!

[Mel]

4X4s will probably result is less "movement", and that's what you are after. Precision is not critical as you will level the spars themselves, but you don't want the jig to shift during wing construction.
I strongly recommend that you do 2 jigs and build the wings concurrently. It will go much faster.

[miyu1975]

Build one like this....with 2 poles...not just one in the center..

Otherwise you will be crawling on the floor to roll under the wings and to get to the inside...and this will especially annoying when you have done this several times and still yet always seem to forget a tool that you needed..ask me why I know.

[Crossbow]

Originally Posted by Stormer

My partner and I are just about ready to build the wing jig. Anybody out there have any tips? Should we use 2x4s nailed together or 4x4s? We are thinking of building 2 jigs side by side, to make the build go faster. Pictures of your wing jig would be great.
Thanks in advance.
Steve and Glen RV6A 1997 wing kit, prepunched!

I do not know if this is the case with you or not, but in my shop, I was not able to nail/glue the base of the jig to the floor.

Therefore, I stole an idea that I saw on a builder website where he used 2X6's and Jackposts to build a jig that is very sturdy, yet completely removable. This is the method that I use, and it does work quite well.

So, if the floor fixing is an issue for you too, then you may want to try this approach as well.

[txnbuilder]

I built two separate wing jigs as well. Used two 2x4's glued/screwed together rather than 4x4's. As you can see in the link below, they are not attached to anything, which was very useful when we moved to a new house.

I still have the Sketchup file if you are interested...

http://www.fabs-designs.com/rv7a/labels/Wing%20Jig.html

Luis

[N941WR]

I went with the two 2x4 route and screwed them together. Just make sure you find straight ones and put the back-to-back as described on the wing jig section of my web site.

[cnpeters]

Used steel uprights attached to a wood mobile base so I could move around. Support arms attached to steel uprights. Was very solid, mobile. Did one wing at a time to save garage space - no regrets.
See bottom pic here (I can send more pics if needed. These were also re-cycled for my fuselage rotisserie):
http://www.mykitlog.com/users/displa...=26736&row=107

[longranger]

Originally Posted by cnpeters

Used steel uprights attached to a wood mobile base so I could move around. Support arms attached to steel uprights. Was very solid, mobile. Did one wing at a time to save garage space - no regrets.
See bottom pic here (I can send more pics if needed. These were also re-cycled for my fuselage rotisserie):
http://www.mykitlog.com/users/displa...=26736&row=107

This is great for the RV7/8/9/10 fully prepunched wings, where the "jig" is really just a work rack to allow access to both sides simultaneously, the alignment being determined by the parts themselves. The -4 and -6 wing construction method relies on the uprights being rigid relative to each other to absolutely assure there is no twist in the spar before drilling skins to ribs.

[SmittysRV]

I'll built one at a time, but only because I didn't have room to build both. I had to stay on "my side" of the garage. My jig is free standing. I put some liquid nails on bottom to hold it in place to the concrete, which was easily scrapped off later.

Here's some pics:
http://www.smittysrv.com/more_stuff.asp?ID=316

[Andy_RR]

Out of necessity, I built a mobile wing jig for my -8 wings. It's on casters and is forkliftable because my workspace tends only to be available evenings and weekends. Works well so far, except that I feel that mobile jigs are a recipe for inadvertent damage if others get the need to move things...



The jig is 100x100x3 RHS (4"x4"x1/8") from memory. Also, whilst I intended (and am) building both wings simultaneously, I have put them too close together to allow good build access to each wing when they're both on the jig. For some operations, I need to remove the wing I'm not working on for access - another inadvertent damage risk. I did drill/ream all the rear spar holes with it sat at 5' AGL on a forklift though, so that was kind of handy!