McMaster Door Seals - Tip

[Phil]

For those of you who will be working on the McMaster Carr door seals in the future, here is a tip that you can use on your RV-10 doors.

Depending on the McMaster seal that you purchase, you will need either 3/16" or 1/4" grip thickness. In my case I'm using the 1/4" grip.

When the time comes for you to finish the cabin top, you will want an even 1/4" thickness all the way around the door opening for the seal to grip on to. That usually requires adding some glass and filler on the inside of the door and then sanding it back off to 1/4".

Here is the short cut. Fill it with glass and filler, then rig up one of these and shim it so that you get the perfect gap. In my case it's 1/4". It makes quick work of an otherwise no-so-fun task.

Someone might have some up with this before, but I thought I'd share anyway because it'll be new to somebody and it'll save somebody a few hours of sanding and filling and sanding and filling...

Phil

 

[Aiki_Aviator]

Excellent

Just up to that part myself. This will be very helpful. Now one issue I have been struggling with through all the research is...... What is the depth of the section that you mount the door seal to..

I understand it is a 3/8 or 1/4" thickness, however I can't seem to find any indication of the actual depth that people are determining as the "most appropriate".

If it changes based on the sides, all thoughts are welcome.

 

[Phil]

Andrew,

Our process worked like this (starting with severely oversized gutters):

1) We wanted a 1/4" gap between the door and the frame. This is the area where the 3/16" diameter bulb smashes down to seal. So I took a piece of scrap aluminum and about 2" long x 1/2" wide and drilled a small hole 1/4" from the end. The hole was just large enough for a ultra fine sharpie marker to fit through. This became the template for a 1/4" gap.

2) So we crawled in to the airplane, closed and latched the doors.

3) Then we used our template and sharpie to draw a 1/4" line on the door frame all of the way around. This gave us the cut line for the door frame and we started off cutting the door frame close to the line and finished by sanding to the line. We sanded up to the line with sanding blocked held flat like the door will be. This maximized the area for the seal and also made the surface of the door frame parallel with the door.

4) Next was to work on the inside. We needed an even 1/4" thickness on the frame so the seal would grip on it uniformly. Some areas were more than 1/4" thick and other areas were less than 1/4" think. First we knocked off some of the high areas to something reasonable close (but still proud) and then we built up some of the thin areas we built up with glass (on the inside) and filler. At this point the door should be slightly proud of 1/4" all the way around.

4) Next step was to sand the added glass and filler down to the even 1/4". The jig I added to the die grinder above was setup to be 1/4" and it can be used to remove the proud spots and you end up with a perfect 1/4" thickness on the first pass.

Just FYI - we are carrying 1/4" thickness about the full depth of the gutter. So that means the 1/4" thick section goes about 3/4 - 1" deep from the edge of the door frame. The seal itself won't go that deep, because it will bottom-out before it gets there, but we just wanted the transition to look uniform all the way around.

I hope that helps,
Phil

 

[rleffler]

1) We wanted a 1/4" gap between the door and the frame. This is the area where the 3/16" diameter bulb smashes down to seal. So I took a piece of scrap aluminum and about 2" long x 1/2" wide and drilled a small hole 1/4" from the end. The hole was just large enough for a ultra fine sharpie marker to fit through. This became the template for a 1/4" gap.

The other thing to look for is that the cabin cover bottom frame and the door aren't parallel in several of the kits that I've seen. Mine wasn't too bad, but I've seen as much as a 1/4" bow in the cabin cover frame. The solution is simple, just fill in the bowed area with some glass strips and filler.

3) Then we used our template and sharpie to draw a 1/4" line on the door frame all of the way around. This gave us the cut line for the door frame and we started off cutting the door frame close to the line and finished by sanding to the line. We sanded up to the line with sanding blocked held flat like the door will be. This maximized the area for the seal and also made the surface of the door frame parallel with the door.

For those a little more visual, Ivan Kristensen made a video and an excellent job of documenting cutting his door gutters. This link should take you right to the video, but the other photos in this group are good references as well.

http://ivankristensen.phanfare.com/2292606_3334806#imageID=55427986

Trust me, it's not that hard. I was able to do a good job with zero prior fiberglass experience. I also purchased some extra length of seals that I used in the fitting of the door.

The hard part is getting the cosmetic parts to look right. The doors were the worst quality fiberglass parts in my kits. Too many large pin holes and craters located on the round edges which were difficult to fill. Too large for primers and micro and icing would stay. But that's a subject of a whole other thread.

 

[9GT]

I used a 5/16" HSS lathe tool bit sharpened to an arrow point as a scribe. Worked very well.

 

[Phil]

The other thing to look for is that the cabin cover bottom frame and the door aren't parallel in several of the kits that I've seen. Mine wasn't too bad, but I've seen as much as a 1/4" bow in the cabin cover frame. The solution is simple, just fill in the bowed area with some glass strips and filler.

Hey Bob,

I think I know what you're talking about. The starting gap between my door and the door frame were more than 1/4". The way we fixed that was to put a foam strip that was 1/4" thick on to the door temporarily with tape. Then close the door. Then fill the gap between the foam and frame with epoxy and cab-o-sil in a syringe. Once it cured we opened the door and the foam stayed with the door.

Now the gap on the lower edge is an even 1/4". We had to fill a few voids where the epoxy didn't flow completely, but it really turned out nice.

Here is a video I shot for a friend of mine who was curious to see how it turned out. This was after the first pass but it may demonstrate the process a bit for someone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqxEQCka5VY

Phil