KR> Tapering Outboard Spars
I can't understand what all the fuss is about !! It's just a case of using basic hand tools. Go back to basics and mark out all of your spar dimensions and get a good quality hand plane. You'll be surprised how quickly the excess material can be planed away, and accurately too. That's how all of mine were done and they are perfect. Gavin Australia P.S I'm a metal worke not a wood worker. - Original Message - From: <rhartwi...@juno.com> To: <kr...@mylist.net> Sent: Friday, July 02, 2004 9:43 PM Subject: KR> Tapering Outboard Spars > Would-be-builders, don't despair, it is not necessary to spend a lot of > money on saw blades or table saw. When I built my KR2 airframe in about > 1974 I did not have a table saw. I built what amounted to a small box > out of particle board, screwed a used Skil circular saw to the inside of > what would become the top and plunged the blade through. The blade was a > 7 1/4" Sears hollow ground cabinet blade (not a carbide blade). This > blade is very cheap, cuts a surface as smooth as a planer and you can rip > all of the spruce for a KR2 without sharpening (A few years later I used > the same blade in a table saw, without sharpening, to cut all of the rib > caps and fuselage material for a Pietenpol.) The fence was a straight > board clamped to the top. My taper sled was a straight board with a > block attached to each end. A nail was driven through the block and into > the end grain of the spar material. The result was a good glue surface > on a very accurately cut spar cap. You can spend a lot of time and money > on tooling that you only need once--better to spend both on the actual > construction of the airplane. > Dick Hartwig > Waunakee, WI > rhartwi...@juno.com > > ___ > to UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@mylist.net > please see other KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.712 / Virus Database: 468 - Release Date: 27/06/2004
KR> Tapering Outboard Spars
Gavin said: "I can't understand what all the fuss is about !! It's just a case of using basic hand tools. Go back to basics and mark out all of your spar dimensions and get a good quality hand plane. You'll be surprised how quickly the excess material can be planed away, and accurately too. That's how all of mine were done and they are perfect." Hear! hear! The only reason I'm getting mine done by CNC is because I can and it's a cheap, easy and accurate option for me. I don't have a table saw and before the gentleman at the mill made his offer to me, this is exactly how I was going to do them myself. Sometime the simplest solutions are in plane sight ;-) Cheers. Peter Bancks stranged...@dodo.com.au http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com http://canardaviationforum.dmt.net
KR> Tapering Outboard Spars
Why go to all that trouble anyway? If you build the spars as per Dan Diehl instructions, at http://www.diehlaero.com/ Dan does not taper the spars both ways, he leaves the spars 2" Wide or ( 1 15/16" I've forgotten already) all the way to the tips, this gives a much larger area for the skins or glass to contact the spars, with only minor gain in weight. Phillip Matheson mathe...@dodo.com.au Australia VH PKR See our engines and kits at. http://www.vw-engines.com/ http://www.homebuilt-aviation.com/ See my KR at Mark Jones web http://mywebpage.netscape.com/n886mj/pmkr2.html
KR> Tapering Outboard Spars
Would-be-builders, don't despair, it is not necessary to spend a lot of money on saw blades or table saw. When I built my KR2 airframe in about 1974 I did not have a table saw. I built what amounted to a small box out of particle board, screwed a used Skil circular saw to the inside of what would become the top and plunged the blade through. The blade was a 7 1/4" Sears hollow ground cabinet blade (not a carbide blade). This blade is very cheap, cuts a surface as smooth as a planer and you can rip all of the spruce for a KR2 without sharpening (A few years later I used the same blade in a table saw, without sharpening, to cut all of the rib caps and fuselage material for a Pietenpol.) The fence was a straight board clamped to the top. My taper sled was a straight board with a block attached to each end. A nail was driven through the block and into the end grain of the spar material. The result was a good glue surface on a very accurately cut spar cap. You can spend a lot of time and money on tooling that you only need once--better to spend both on the actual construction of the airplane. Dick Hartwig Waunakee, WI rhartwi...@juno.com
