MartySantic

MartySantic

Well Known Member
Does anyone have a picture or a description on how I can cut the 30 degree angle on the flaperon bearing bracket. (Page 18-02) Can't figure out a way to clamp it in the bandsaw to make the cut. Really don't want to ruin the part for a few oz.
 
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What I did Marty, was to go ahead and do the match drilling on the mounting holes for the part, and then screw the part on it's edge to a square block of hardwood. I then marked off the line I wanted to cut and used the bandsaw to remove most of the material. I then pushed it up against my 12" sanding disc and finished it to the final surface. Only then, did I remove it from the wood block. Steve
 
Marty,

Norm has some great photos of how he trimmed these blocks in his album:

http://picasaweb.google.com/nctaylor1/RV12#

The method appears to be the same as that described by Steve.

A side note is that others have reported that they messed-up the trim dimensions (the side flats evidently have to be trimmed) and that the drawing is not exactly to scale. In other words, first trim the raw block to both length and width and then layout the rivet hole.

By the way your blog is great.

-Dave
 
Thanks for the blog comment. Will continue as long as I receive comments, the blog is not hard to continue as long as it is helping any builders avoid my mistakes.....
 
Flaperon actuation bracket drill hole size for tap?

What have others used as a drill size for the 3/8-24 threads in the flaperon actuation brackets? The plans call for a 21/64 drill but the Avery RV-12 kit only comes with 5/16 and 11/32. 5/16 is fine for 3/8-16 but really too small for the 3/8-24 threads. Tap/drill size tables formally call for a size "Q" drill which falls in between 5/16 and 11/32.
 
I went to the local hardware store and bought the 21/64" drill. It tapped just fine. I also noticed that the "Q" size drill was the one recommended. Not available locally. The 21/64" drill worked fine. Had to also buy a 3/16" bit at the same time. The one I had was very dull.
 
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Drills

MartySantic said:
I went to the local hardware store and bought the 21/64" drill. It tapped just fine. I also noticed that the "Q" size drill was the one recommended. Not available locally. The 21/64" drill worked fine. Had to also buy a 3/16" bit at the same time. The one I had was very dull.
Click to expand...

Harbor Freight has a set of drills that includes drill sizes by 64ths, numbered drills, and lettered drills that is very inexpensive.
 
match drill mounting holes first

Match drill the mounting holes first before cutting the sides. If you cut the sides first, they might not be square and it will be much harder to align the part for match drilling.
Joe
 
I may be burned at the stake as a heretic, but the weight savings vs the effort is not worth it for this part. I did not like my first efforts at making these, so I bought more stock and kept at it. I finally got ones I liked using my chop saw to cut the angle. All told I probably saved about 10 french fries worth of weight. Yes, if you keep adding all the bits of weight saved for the whole plane together it is a pound or two. There just isn't much variation allowed in a 12 to amount to a real weight savings. It is more of an attitude than a real difference in this plane.

If you are having a problem, just drill and tap, and forget the 30 deg angle. Yeah, it looks keen, and it shows the right attitude, but it will make zero difference in your final weight.

I gained 30 pounds of useful load on my plane when I stopped eating junk food.
 
Right On

Mark - your comments are right on. Losing 'excess' weight is healthy and probably will increase your quality of life as well as the length of your 'useful' life. Yeah, I know that it takes willpower to lose weight but the benefits are really worth it (I know). Losing weight takes time and a real commitment - like a few years in my case.

When someone asks for the weight of an RV-12 'optional' component such as auto pilot or gear pants, I just resolve to lose some more. Best for me and for my airplane.:

And Marty - please leave your build posted - your info is greatly appreciated by those who follow and it will be used by countless new builders. Thanks to you and the other posters - much appreciated:cool:
 
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Band Saw- a great "optional" tool

Reading through the recent posts on this thread made me think through my build and how many times I have used my band saw on the project. I already had one with a fine tooth aluminum blade but I have to say that it is probably the most useful "optional" tool for an airplane build. Everything from cutting apart various aluminum parts (rather than using snips which tend to bend the thin aluminum) to fabrication of the various brackets and other parts that are made from stock (including plastic parts and heavy rubber hoses). Cutting the angles on the flaperon actuation brackets took less than 5 minutes using a band saw. For those who are just starting your build, I would think seriously about investing in one. It does not need to be a big/expensive model. There are many table top models out there.

Jeff
 
18-02%20step2c.JPG


Weight saving 30gr=1oz
 
Scrap pile

My scrap pile is a whole lot bigger than that! But the majority of it is from ruined parts that I had to re-order. LOL
I finally bought a band-saw, a small old used one with a wood cutting blade. I was shopping for a metal cutting blade for it until I watched "Hints for Homebuilders". The hint recommends using a wood cutting blade for cutting aluminum. Evidently aluminum clogs the fine teeth of a metal cutting blade but not the course teeth of a wood cutting blade.
http://www.eaa.org/video/homebuilders.html?videoId=27108871001
Although a hacksaw can be used for cutting metal on the RV-12, a bandsaw makes it much easier.
Joe
 
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