Mike & Dave,

Thanks very much for the advice. I went ahead and did exactly that and it worked out okay.

- John

I'm having an alignment / interference issue while trying to locate the horizontal stabilizer front spar properly to drill the holes in the spar inboard of the middle rib. Van's instructions at this point just basically say, make sure the HS-702 is held tight against the HS-405 main rib and then dri...

N155RE wrote:I have a large table saw which has a nice machined surface. This is what I used.

Now I feel silly: I have a table saw.

- John

Mike & Spike, Thanks for the advice. There's always something else to spend the money on, so I do appreciate the perspective. I'm only about 20 hours in to the build and I know I have a lot yet to learn. The table top is probably less than 1/16" off of true. HS front and rear spar prep is complete a...

According to my precision straight edge, my EAA1000 tables aren't completely flat on top. I think I need something rigid and guaranteed flat to measure the ribs against during fluting and I'm thinking about getting 2-3 square feet of granite kitchen counter top cut for the purpose. Has anyone gone t...

Okay, I'm convinced. I'll leave it on the shelf for now. Thanks, guys.

- John

I got an Avery toolkit, with various additions and deletions, before I attended a builder's class where I was exposed to the Chicago Pneumatic #214 squeezer. I liked it enough to buy one of Avery's #214 units. Are there conditions where the hand squeezer will come in handy (so to speak) or am I safe...

I always leaned my Cessna 170 (Continental O-300) for taxi to avoid the risk of an occasional extended run-up to clear the plugs. From talking to people on the airport, I got the impression that this was a pretty standard thing to do. No need to do anything fancy; just pull the mixture knob out a li...

I inventoried both the empennage and wing kits over the Christmas holidays. There was no damage at all (I was very favorably impressed with the crating) and exactly this missing: One little plastic bushing. One small AN bolt. One bag of miscellaneous lens attach hardware. which I though was pretty g...

I didn't quite make my 2010 goal. Attending the classes, buying the tools, setting up the shop, even receiving the kit, inventorying & organizing it, and resolving the discrepancies, doesn't quite seem like starting. I had hoped to actually start assembling the horizontal stabilizer over the Christm...

I know that they are anodized. I know that priming itself isn't considered strictly necessary (except, perhaps, in coastal climes). Nevertheless, among those that have decided to prime the interior parts, how many of you all go back and prime the rivet heads after assembly?

- John

Same was true of my 170: no primer at all that I could see and, with the baggage compartment back cover removed, the inside of the fuselage looked pretty good for a 50-year-old bird.

Thanks so much for the advice.

- John

Although I haven't made the decision on exactly what priming system to use, many of the systems call for cleaning / degreasing one or two times with a solvent like lacquer thinner or MEK. I'm wondering if denatured alcohol is an acceptable substitute as I believe that, being mostly ethanol, the vapo...