Cutting
gussets out of 1/16" Mahogany plywood. Aviation snips or sharp scissors
work fine. I cut all of the pieces for one location on a rib and placed
them in a bag labeled "A" through something. I had labeled each gusset
on the plans accordingly. Then later when I got ready to assemble the ribs
I would look at the plans, grab the bag for gusset "whatever" and place
it in the proper location on the jigged up cap strip. Speeds things up. |
Don't
worry. That's a sanding belt I have on there (I'm not a complete idiot.)
This is what I used to get the angles correct on the diagonal and upright
cap strips. |
Here I
am cutting the long cap strips to size. An Exacto saw works great. The
fine teeth on it don't splinter the wood. (Yes dear, I'll vacuum the carpet
when I'm done.) |
I cut
and fit all of the cap strips (long, vertical and diagonal) before beginning
any assembly. I had a "master rib" I used. I would only pull out the cap
strip piece I was making and leave all of the rest in place. I would make
all of those pieces and then replace the master rib piece. This somewhat
insured all identical pieces would have the same angles on the ends. |
Once
I was ready to build a rib I would take a wide flat board and sand the
side of the rib until all of the cap strips were the same thickness so
as not to leave any large gaps for the gussets to bridge (not all
1/4" cap strips are actually 1/4" thick.) |
After
sanding the cap strips I would clean the saw dust off and scarify the joints
where the gussets would be glued to provide a rough surface for the glue
to adhere to. I used the edge of a bastard file for this. |
Here I
am taking a gusset out of the aforementioned bag to pre place in position
on the rib. After placing all of the gussets on the ribs I went back with
the bastard file and scarified the side of the gusset that was going to
get the glue, creating a better gluing surface. |
I used
T-88 glue to glue my gussets on. I found a tongue depressor works fine
for spreading a thin layer over the entire side of the gusset that is getting
glue. This helps to protect the wood and you don't have to go back and
try to varnish in all of those nooks and crannies after putting the second
side gusset on (I didn't forget to varnish the cap strip in those crannies
later though.) Don't forget to wear those gloves (YUK!) |
After
gluing each gusset I placed a cylindrical steel weight (about 1" dia. X
2") on each gusset to prevent any air pockets from forming while the glue
dried. I elected not to use staples or nails as I didn't want to chance
splitting the cap strips and once the glue dries they are mainly dead weight
anyway. Some of the long gussets may require 2 weights. |
The butt
rib on the lower wings have the entire sides sheeted with mahogany plywood.
Here I am cutting out the aft spar pass-through with a Dremel tool. Before
I put the second side on I varnished the inside of the rib. I marked the
sheet that wasn't glued on yet and varnished everywhere it wasn't going
to contact a cap strip. |
Cleaning
up the plywood where I couldn't get in the corners with the Dremel tool. |
Cutting
the front spar pass-through out. |
My son
helping me varnish the ribs (he is working on aileron ribs...more his size).
If you keep up with this site you will see him grow much older on these
pages before this project is finished. |
I have
even gotten my daughter involved. She is the artist in the family and she
put her familiarity with a paint brush to good use. (No honey... that varnish
was already on the table from the factory.) |
After
all of the ribs were varnished I put them on two stub spars that were the
correct dimensions to insure they would fit properly. |
After
all of the ribs were on the stub spars I took a sander and smoothed off
all of the gussets to insure there are no sharp corners sticking up when
I cover it. Having them together like this kept me from rounding the capstsrips
off as might have happened if I had tried to sand them individually. The
small differences in the sizes of each rib probably wouldn't have mattered
on the finished plane but I like knowing they are all VERY close to the
same size. |
I
even used rib building technology when building the doors of my shop. Big
gussets!
|
|
