Yesterday I drilled, countersink and debuted all of the holes between the Horizontal Stabilizer rear spar and the doubler, and the drilled and deburred the hinge attach brackets.
For all of the final drilling on the doubler, I used a reamer to compare results with the drill bit. There is slightly less burring from the reamer, and it feels like it produces a better result. I tested it first, seen in the picture below.
Today I picked up a few new tools, including a cheap bandsaw to trim some of the thicker pieces that need trimming.
I also clecoed and drilled the flange bearing that makes up the inboard hinge bracket assembly.
Then using the new bandsaw and my vixen file, I trimmed the stringers and spar caps. The bandsaw makes a chattery mess of a cut (I probably need a different blade), but the file cleans it up nicely. A little sanding with scotch brite, and they came out nicely.
Next I’ll be clecoing the spar caps to the front spar, along with the front spar doubler, then doing some more drilling. I’m planing to get all the drilling, deburring and countersinking done, then prime everything (except skin), and then start riveting. This is slightly out of order from the instructions, but the Vans plans have you riveting parts together before priming. I’m sure there’s a really good reason, but it seems counter-intuitive.
Neal you probably have a skip tooth blade on your bandsaw which is great for timber but you need a metal cutting blade where the teeth are much smaller and you will get a better finish.
The guides and thrust wheels may also need adjusting to make it run smoothly.
Next time I’m over I can check it out for you.