Chuck and Ryan's Build Tips

[aeroaddict]

Good call on the iron. I bought several OTC high end irons and tested them with a thermocouple. All would grossly over shoot the set point.

As you know, once you exceed the temp on the fabric, it will not recover and will not re-shrink.

I bought the Toko ski wax iron and it worked great (acouple of years ago now). It held the set point within a degree. I do not have any fabric movement on the bottom of the wing when at full power as seen in many video's that feature a CC.

When covering I did use the old method of extending the fabric past the fabric spacer and onto the adjacent frame tubing. Your looks alot cleaner. I do not recall much intereference with fuel line and I didn't use the Garmin suite.

I really believe the key to a good fabric finish is a uniform temp controlled shrink of the fabric.

"pressed into place with a liberal (I hate that word) amount of Poly Tack." I guess you could say a "moderate" amount in stead. I don't know; is moderate better than liberal?

[Andy]

Fabric on my FX-3 ends in the same place shown in your photos. I have the right front panel removed so I'll check if I can see the wrap round the fabric spacer next time at the hangar.

Close inspection requires removal of the middle panel not just the front panel that I have removed. However, by lifting the front of the right middle panel, I could see that that fabric was pinked and wrapped round the front edge of the fabric spacer. Wrap was probably overlapped by 3/8 to 1/2 inch.

[ceslaw]

Thanks Andy. Sounds like our approach coincidentally matched Cubcrafters.

[ceslaw]

Grommets. The last part of covering the fuselage is placement of the plastic and fabric grommets. Our goal was to have sharp lines on the outer edges, with the plastic and the fabric firmly in place.

1. Once the exact location of the plastic grommets was determined, pencil lines were drawn on the fabric along the outside and inside edges. The fabric grommet was temporarily set in place and traced with a pencil.

2. A coat of Poly Tak was applied to the fabric where the plastic grommet is to be applied and allowed to dry. Once dry the plastic grommet is glued with a fresh coat of Poly Tak. I generally prefer to use two coats of Poly Tak.

3. Two coats of Poly Brush were applied to the fabric, extending an eighth inch beyond the pencil line defining the perimeter. It is allowed to fully dry.

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4. The dry fabric grommet is set in place and Poly Brush applied only to the inner portion. The opposite end of the brush is used to push the fabric tight against the plastic grommet. This causes the outer portion of the fabric to bulge upward, but that will be addressed later. The Poly Tack is allowed to set up for at least a half hour or longer.

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5. A hobby iron set to 250 degrees is used to gently smooth out the defects but only on the fabric over the plastic grommet. The fabric is ironed to make the fabric rest flat.

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6. Once smoothed, Poly Brush is applied to the rest of the fabric grommet. The opposite end of the paint brush is used to snug the fabric into the outer edge of grommet. This will cause bulges along the outer perimeter, which will be addressed later.

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7. After the Poly Tack has set up, the hobby iron is used to smooth the defects along the outer perimeter of the grommet. Smooth to the touch, not even-appearing color, is the objective.The goal is a nicely sealed line along the edges of the plastic grommet.

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Another point. The plastic grommet that is placed at the front stabilizer location was nearly a quarter inch too long. The excess was trimmed and the corners rounded to assure a proper fit.

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[ceslaw]

Sticky Stuff. To help ‘massage’ the fabric into place in certain areas a piece of scrap aluminum is used. The aluminum quickly becomes sticky from the Poly Tack or Poly Brush requiring it be cleaned or replaced. Removing the Poly Tack or Poly Brush is a pain.

Covering the aluminum with blue masking tape makes it easy. Just replace the tape when it starts to stick.

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Here is a trick for holding the fabric in place in the aft window slots. A handful of tongue depressors and wax paper are needed. Once the fabric is in place a tongue depressor wrapped in waxed paper is pushed into the slot. Several additional tongue depressors are used to tighten things up. When the wax paper and tongue depressors are removed the fabric is (hopefully) firmly in place.

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[ceslaw]

Parchment paper. The pinked edges of the tapes are touched up with the hobby iron set around 250 degrees each time Poly Brush is applied. Go to the kitchen and steal a piece of parchment baking paper from your spouse. She will never notice. The job goes quicker and the iron does not get gummed up with sticky Poly Brush.

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[PBY Catalina]

parchment paper. The pinked edges of the tapes are touched up with the hobby iron set around 250 degrees each time poly brush is applied. Go to the kitchen and steal a piece of parchment baking paper from your spouse. She will never notice. The job goes quicker and the iron does not get gummed up with sticky poly brush.

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excellent !!!

[ceslaw]

Fabric Challenges, Wing Tips. There are three locations where the application of fabric and tapes can be an issue: the base of the rudder, the navigation lights on the wing tips, and the navigation light on the rudder. Here is one way to put the tapes over the wing tip navigation lights location. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are several so nothing more will be said.

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Attachment 12079

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[ceslaw]

excellent !!!

How is your EXcoming along? Ready for paint??

[ceslaw]

Fabric Challenges, Vertical Stabilizer Base. There are three locations where the application of the fabric and tapes can be an issue: the base of the vertical stabilizer, the navigation lights on the wing tips, and the navigation light on the rudder. Here is one way to address the tape on the vertical stabilizer.

The tape on the upper forwards section of the vertical stabilizer goes on first, then the vertical stabilizer base, and finally the tape along the top of the fuselage. Start with a tape about twelve inches long, cut straight on the forward end and curved on the aft end. Fold it in half to mark the center. Use the hobby iron set at about 250 degrees to shrink only the center along the folded line. This will cause it to gradually take a curved shape. The overall width of the tape will end up narrower at the bend but that variation from its normal width will not be noticed after it is painted. It took quite a bit of time to massage the tape to the proper shape with the iron.

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