Not my original idea. The Europa Compendium ( available with an Europa Club
Membership ) offered this and nearly 100 pages of nicely summarized hints
and tips for all aspects of the kit. More than worth the modest cost of
membership.
Note: scribing a circular panel makes for a cutout with perfect (i.e., very
tiny) clearances. A router or saw will leave 1/16" to 3/16" gaps. And you
can reuse the cutout circle as the panel cover!
Shaun
----- Original Message -----
From: <EuropaChris@netscape.net>
Subject: Re: RE: Cutting access panels
> That's a good tip, Steve. Hmmm, let me see. My Dremel is an antique,
purchased in the mid 1980's when I worked in a hobby shop in high school.
It won't accept the router attachments. However, my father-in-law has a
newer version that the router base will fit on. I'll go borrow his, buy a
router base, and voila! I can draw a template on AutoCad, cut a piece of
1/8th inch ply as a guide and tack it to the wing with hotglue. Then just
follow the template around with the router base and I'll have a perfect
cutout! Yeah!!!!
>
> Shaun Simpkins had an equally kool idea - use a sharp compass or circle
jig and cut a ROUND access panel!
>
> Man, you guys are great....
>
> Chris
> "Steve Hagar" <hagargs@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Chris:
> >
> >
> >
> > I have found that when it is important that somethting be lined up or
cut
> > just right you don't depend on your hands to do it. Spending the time to
> > fabricate fixtures, guides, or helpers is time well spent. This is
especially
> > true when something has to be done more than once. Dremel makes an
attachment
> > for their little machine that makes it look like a little router so you
can hold
> > it down with 2 hands. If you put something like a 1/8" milling bit into
it you
> > can plunge down into the wing. I would then fabricate a guide out of
wood
> > or aluminum to temporily glue to the wing surface to run the router edge
along
> > while cutting. Pick yourself a easily definable datum like a seam etc to
> > register the guide the same on both wings. If the top of your wing is
not on you
> > can drill a small hole through to the bottom surface exactly where you
want your
> > opening to start. Use this as the datum for the corner of your hole. At
> > least doing it this way if you get it wrong you can get it exactly wrong
the
> > same way on the other side to and it looks like a professional job.
> >
> >
> >
> > Steve Hagar
> >
> > A143
> >
> > N40SH
> >
> > Mesa, AZ
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> >
> > From:
> >
> >
> >
> > Subject: Cutting access
> > panels
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi, all.
> >
> >
> >
> > I'm going to cut some access panels in the underside of our wings
tomorrow
> > for the strobe units. I am planning to mount the strobes (Aeroflash)
> > right at the end of the spar at the wingtip, vertically to the spar by
floxing
> > in a set of bolts. The panel will be right by strobe unit, sized to
> > just let the strobe pass through flat, as there is no room to tip it up
on end
> > to bring it through the small way once the skin is on.
> >
> >
> >
> > Anyway, the question I have is what is the best way to actually cut out
the
> > panel from the skin? I have a large Permagrit disk, some very small
> > Dremel engraving bits, and a plain 'ol hacksaw handle (the kind that
holds the
> > blade from the end.
> >
> >
> >
> > I want to end up with a decent cut, not something that looks like it was
> > done after a few pints of Guiness. Using a Dremel gives me the
> > heebie-geebies as it's too easy to 'slip'. It's not like a hole where
> > you can start small and size it gradually. A panel has to be done in
> > one shot.
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks for any tips, gang. Once the panel is out, it's easy from
> > there with 3 layers of BID and some anchor nuts. Ditto for the
> > strobes on the tips.
> >
> >
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > A159
> >
> >
> >
> >
http://webmail.netscape.com/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --- Steve Hagar
> >
> > --- hagargs@earthlink.net
> >
> >
> >
http://webmail.netscape.com/
>
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