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Re: Europa-List: filling around hinges

Subject: Re: Europa-List: filling around hinges
From: Rowland Carson <rowil@clara.net>
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 11:37:27


>I had a problem getting the filler out of the hinge wire holes. An hobby
>knife cleaned up the 1/2" spaces but the holes were really a problem.
>
>I found that plastic trimmer line for the lawn trimmer just slipped in the
>holes before I filled. Then when cleaning up, the knife cut the line off and
>I could poke out the little pieces very easily.
>
>You may have gathered that I did fill all the way to the top of the
>knuckles.

and,


>I slit (tricky) a length of nylon tube & slid that over the hinge, that
>prevented filler contamination & sanding damage.
>(Now I'm wondering whether it's a good idea to paint the hinge?)

Cliff, Roger - sorry for delay in responding. Both your suggestions 
rely upon the hinge not being assembled. I have been following the 
instructions in the manual, and thus my rudder hinges are assembled 
with the hinge wire safetied. (Incidentally, once the hinges are 
rivetted on, I can't see how the hinge wires can be removed or 
inserted without cutting away quite a bit of the edge of the adjacent 
hinge flange layup.) I have not had a problem with the filler getting 
into the hinge-wire hole - when properly made up, it's much too dry 
to get anywhere by capillary action like plain epoxy does. The 
presence  of the other hinge leaf prevents Roger's idea being used, 
but it's something like that I feel is needed.

I have put masking tape over the hinge knuckle, with parcel tape on 
top for better epoxy resistance. That stops filler adhering to the 
hinge, but doesn't help with achieving a nice-looking edge to the 
filler. I suppose I could tape on a tiny triangular-section fillet - 
well, the hypotenuse would have to be a quadrant of a circle, not a 
straight line - but that seems a bit fiddly and I'm not sure it would 
stay on during all the work.

Still looking for better ideas!

regards

Rowland
-- 

| Rowland Carson  PFA #16532 <http://home.clara.net/rowil/aviation/>
| 670 hours building Europa #435 G-ROWI  e-mail <rowil@clara.net>




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