I had some more time over the holidays, so we dug into more match drilling & deburring.
Got the HS-405 & HS-404 ribs drilled in.
It seems ridiculous talking about $35 in parts, but I was terrified to drill the first holes. After a while I just grabbed a pair and did it, and the rest went much easier.
The below joint was especially tricky, as I had to clamp it together & drill it in place. Right angle drills are recommended, though I found out they're the $300 custom variety, and not the Home Depot variety. My solution is farther down.
Got the skin match drilled!
Erin came out for her first session on Tuesday. She says she had fun!
So about that narrow-access solution? Found a low profile dentist's drill attachment for a dremel.
The collet fit both #30 & #40 bits. I bought a dremel with only 2 speeds, so you could get one with more variability, but starting slow & sizing up with high speed worked well. I wouldn't want to do many, since it takes good control or a lot of jig building to stay straight, but it's the best commercial option I've found.
Happy new year! It meant more time for the plane. Erin continued match drilling skins on the left horizontal stabilizer, while I fitted ribs & match drilled the right.
Erin moved on to deburring; machine deburring outer holes is fine, but hand-twisting bits for the interior holes was a pain.
Oh yeah, all the warm clothes? Temps were in the 20s. Definitely need to get a couple propane bottles for the heater!
Yes, we're drilling & deburring these holes with cordless drills. The RPM on the 20V DeWalt are low, but effective. Eventually I will invest in a larger compressor and air drill, but it's hard to justify the extra $700 right now. Maybe with the wings....
We got the horizontal stabilizers all match-drilled, and almost half of the deburring done. Next up: priming, dimpling & driving those rivets!
Empennage: 7.5 hrs
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