Elevator Assembly May 29

RV14 Build May 29

Elevator

Started today by cleaning up the paint booth and organizing the parts into the Right, Left sides, and the rear fuselage parts.

Next I started the work to dimple all those holes, but I was curious about how the thickness of my primer job was. The paperwork says a final coat should be 1-1.3mils or .025mm-.03mm so I measured it. I was surprised at how close I was. When the primer is right at 1mils you can just barely see what looks like the "grain" of the metal.

Metal thickness without primer

Dimple time! This is a picture of the modified "skinny" female dimple die that you need to use on the elevator skin edges.

The plans say you have to check the flange angles after dimpling because they might straighten out a bit after. I noticed a little change, but I was able to work them back with my hands. I didn't have to modify my squeezer yoke at all for the narrow channel on the rear spar like the plans say you might have to IF you have the larger yokes.

Matt stopped by today to help for a few hours!

All the dimpling is done so now time to assemble. I started with the trim tab push rod that is double flush riveted. The plans call for using 3-3.5 rivets, but they seemed a little short I assume because of the primer so I went with 3-4.

The 3-4 Rivet before shooting.

The 3-3.5 Rivet Before shooting.

The 3-3.5 on the left and the 3-4 on the right. I shop head looks a little small on the 3-3.5 so I drilled it out and went with the 3-4s.

Moved on to the elevator counter balance flanges. I noticed people where back riveting these types of parts. I wanted to try it so I rigged up my own back rivet jig to hold the die.

I set the rivets with the squeezer first and finished with the back rivet method. Overall very happy with the outcome.

Elevators 10.5 Man Hours - Yeah Help today!

Elevator and Aft Fuselage Prime May 28

RV14 Build May 28

Elevator and Aft Fuselage Prime

Started the day by working 1 more piece of the rear fuselage to prime so when the time comes I will have all the parts I need to rivet for this small rear bulkhead.

Next I moved on to prepping the skins for primer. The plans have to leave to area where the foam wedges bond to the skin with Pro-Seal unprimed so, I measured, marked, and taped off these areas on both elevator top and bottom skins as well as the trim tab skins.

Since the new primer Im using needs to cure for 30 mins before spraying I mixed up a batch that I thought would be enough to prime everything before I start laying out the paint booth. I was using my larger paint gun today and it turns out that I use ALOT more paint with this gun than the little detail gun I used the other day. I ended up needing 3X this amount of primer to do all the parts.

Most of the parts laid out in the booth. This was a mistake because I get overspray on the parts Im not currently working. I need to spray what I can let it cure move the parts out and repeat. I should get a part drying rack set up so that I have a place to put parts why they cure.

2 of the parts I had to prime I noticed in the plans that they still needed to be final drilled, so i did this real quick while I was waiting for the last batch of primer to set up.

Finished parts. Overall Im very happy with the result. Im still not a great painter, uneven and surprisingly a little to light in some spots more than heavy.

Elevator Prime 6.0 Hours, Rear Fuselage Prime 3.0 hours

Elevator and Aft Fuselage Paint Prep May 27

RV14 Build May 27

Paint Prep

Spent the day cleaning metal to prep for priming tomorrow. Same process: Eco-Etch soak 1-3mins, scuff with scotch-brite, rinse well, dry, clean with alcohol or MEK and prime.

Lots of work ahead of me.

Making progress.

All the skins are done!

I decided that I want to try and prime the skins in a vertical orientation, maybe is will help my painting skills?

Finally done for the day!

having the table in the entry way instead of the storage rack was nice. So far I like the move I made for the shop. It gave me workable space even when the paint booth is down and taking up most of the shop.

Paint Prep Elevator 5.0 Hours, Paint Prep Rear Fuselage 2.0 Hours

Aft Fuselage May 25

RV14 Build May 25

Aft fuselage

Decided to come to the shop today after my race, not a good idea, I was so tired after 2.5 hours I called it and left. The rear spar for the Elevator trim tab I had to re-order because is CS both ends showed up so I reworked that properly this time.

Then moved on to mocking up the rear bulkheads. I didn't want to do any primer prep because I was on call for the next 2 days and didn't want to clean a bunch of metal just to have to do it again because it sat too long and oxidized.

Match drilling the #30 holes on both bulkheads and the HS attaching bars, except the bottom hole is a 1/4". I used the drill press for this just to be safe with the larger bit I didn't want it wandering=.

Rear Fuselage 2.5 Hours

Elevator May 23 & 24

May 20

Elevator

Paint - New Priming Method

My primer has shown up!! I also ordered some mixing-mate mixers and lid seals just to make my life easier.

Time to start the tedious process of cleaning metal to prep for primer.

New Primer Steps that Im going to use.
My new process is going to be soak with Eko-Etch for 1-3 mins at a 1:2 diluted mixture and and scuff to clean with the Scoth-Brite pads, Rinse well with water, let the parts dry, wipe off with 91% rubbing alcohol or MEK to clean just before priming.

Primer with the mixing-mates on them.

The primer is mixed 1:1. I wasn't sure how much I was going to need to do all the interior components of 1 elevator so I started with the smallest amount and it was just Barely enough.

I picked up the little airbrush gun that I saw on someones else blog that they liked for priming small parts. I used it for  this whole batch and it worked great for the smaller pieces, but should have used my paint gun for the larger ones. I just didn't want to have to clean both.

All suited up, I look like Im in a chemical suit! probably overkill but I don't to get the primer on my clothes and I definitely don't want to breath it in.

Primer turned out awesome, Im not sure if its any tougher than what I was using have testing it, but it goes on at a recommended 1-1.3mils thickness vs 3mils so that have to save some weight. The chemical resistance is far better that the previous stuff.

I decided to move the storage racks in the shops next to each other and open up the front space so it is usable. Not sure how I feel about it, we'll see how functional it is,

Elevator 7.5 Hours