Christmas is coming

Well I have the 14 short ribs out of the jig. I am currently in the process of putting gussets on the front and back. I am getting ready to make the 4 full size ribs. I hope to get all this done by X-mas.
I have also been practicing my welding. Its getting a lot better. The joints don't look awesome but they do hold up to the destruction test. If I can't get Dad in the shop, I am going to have to take this bull by the horns. More fun for me I guess.

10 Ribs Done

Not really much to show lately. Just more of the same ribs over and over. I am getting better at making the joints. Soon I will be on to making the 4 full size ribs with full mahogany plywood skins.

First Rib

First good rib off the jig.

Obviously at this point I have only glued one side of the rib gussets.

At the front of this rib I put triangular gussets per the plans. After looking some things over I decided to replace these gussets with a single rectangular gusset that spans top to bottom just like the rest of the gussets that go up against the spar openings.

I went ahead and epoxied the back side of the gussets so that later on the varnishing will not be as hard. The solid blocking for the aileron spar attach and the nose block are made out of Douglas Fir. I oriented the grain on the rear block so that it will not split as easily when i screw the spar to it.

Gusset Stapler

I have been making ribs the last few days and have tried a few different ways of clamping the gussets while they dry. This method is not working for me so I am going to use the old fashion method, staples. Didn't have a gun so I bought this on for $10.99 at sears. I tried it on a piece of scrap gusset material and it worked great. I thought it would splinter the plywood. I was wrong. At the moment I can do about a rib a day. That's good enough for me.

Rib Diagonals

Today I cut all the diagonals for the ribs to length. I will later cut the mitres with my combo belt disk sander. I have a mitre saw but I like to use the disk sander better. It lets me fine tune each piece better. I made a first rib but after pulling it out of the jig and gluing the gussets on I have decided that this will be a practice rib. I think I can do better on the next 20. We shall see. This is not a big deal because I think I have enough capstrips.

Cap Strip Steamer

Here is my little invention for steaming the cap strips for my ribs. Its mostly made of 3" PVC pipe. The idea is to boil the water in the coffee pot until the steam goes up through the 1 1/2" pipe. The end that you are looking through has a screw on cap. The pieces of wire in the 3" pipe are to suspend the cap strips so the steam can engulf them. I have tested it out to see if it will make steam but have not used it on the wood yet.

After trying this method I didn't like it. I am now soaking the cap strips over night. This works pretty good.

Rib Wood $$$

Here is the wood for the 20 ribs I will be building. 1/2 x 1/4 spruce and 1/16" mahogany plywood. About $275 worth + shipping. I ordered the cap strips in 4' lengths and the plywood in 2' x 4' pieces.