Firewall tip (learned the hard way)

[captain_john]

It is easy to cut things a bit short. Especially when not taking the kerf of the cutting blade into consideration when placing the cutting edge onto the line on the material.

The angles which attach the firewall to the floor are supposed to be 3" tall. Mine came out a bit too short!

See the little buggers on the table in the pic? They go right there on he bottom of the firewall. That's what I am talking about...



After polishing them and making them all pretty, I tried match drilling them to the firewall and the top holes lacked edge distance!



Fortunately, these are made from the same stock as the front tank support brackets! I had enough left over from that job and from this one to make 2 replacement ones!

I made the new ones on the larger side (about 3 1/4" tall) and they should be fine. It is a whisker heavier, but hey...

Don't forget to radius the OUTSIDE of the vertex so they nest nicely into the the smaller angles stiffening the stainless sheet!

This should be just the trick!

Remember, measure twice!

Hope this helps someone else another time!

CJ

[aparchment]

Hmmm, yeah CJ I see what you mean. You wouldn't want to add any more weight to your plane than you can help. Heck, that big IO-390 you are considering is light as a feather, and all that pretty glass you are looking at weighs next to nothing! Glad to see you are keeping you plane light.

Antony

[JohnR]

Thanks for the warning CJ. I learned that lesson on the tank mounts. Glad that the raw material was big enough to allow for a practice piece and still make both mounts.

What are you thinking of the Fuse compared to the wings? Mine fuse ships this week so I need to wrap these wings up. Getting closer but still lots of finish type stuff to do.

[captain_john]

That's right Antony!!!



John, from my perspective, the fuse looks easier than the wings.

...in some ways!

Pro's

Only 1 part to make, by and large
Less priming
Very satisfying

Con's

When it is all drilled you rip it down to nothing to deburr and dimple!
Less clear instructions
More builder "engineering"

How do they say it?

Mux nix?

Still, all fun!



Re the brackets:

After getting them to clear the required 3/32" on the bottim, they are only 1/8" longer than spec! Start LONG with these people. They mysteriously SHRINK!!!

CJ

[Wicked Stick]

Yeah, I usually leave a 1/8 " extra on some parts and only grind it away if I need to. Very seldom have I had to do that.

With the 8, there are several angled parts that most builders make 2 or 3 times to get it the correct shape. One in particular I wish Van's would update the drawings on cause they are way off. (front tank attached angles)