A little progress XL H-58

[Chuck in Indiana]

Sure.. if I had one.  The neighbor has one I can probably borrow for a few minutes, if necessary.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Ok, Mr. Miller.. you browbeat me into doing it right. I'll make a little die set..

You can see how it works.

Why the collet block you say? 58 years ago (gasp) I signed an indenture of apprenticeship as a sheet metal tool and die maker. If you try to cold form this much metal, it will make the tube go oval and ruin your afternoon because it won't fit into the strut. Trust me on this..

Making the parts is anti climatic..set it in the die set, apply 20 tons..

and as they say in England, "Bob's your uncle."

Whatever that means..
Yay..

"TWEET" quitting whistle. It's beer o'clock and time to bask in the glow of a job well done. 

[DA Miller]

two things: 1. a wise man once said " having the right tool is 75% of getting the job done" or something like that. 2. I want to do the same thing and I was hoping that you would take the bait and lay it all out so I could copy it.  Thanks for your help

[Pilotarix]

I have not been on the forum for some days. I have been too busy with other stuff.
I am happy that this thread goes on. I have been here looking at the pictures and text many times. Great thread, excellent work, and lots to learn here. 
Thanks!

[Chuck in Indiana]

Things have been at a standstill while I waited for some 3/8 X 1/4 bushing stock. Parted it off on the lathe to the right lengths. Sorry, no picture.. you'll just have to imagine a parting tool cutting off a piece of tubing. 
Set up the mill and used a 2 flute end mill to bore the 3/8" holes in them.

If you've never seen an expansion reamer.. this is how it works.

The more you tighten the screw on the left, the more the reamer..er..expands. Turn it with a tap wrench to make the hole any size you want within reason. I made them a slip fit for the bushing stock.
Here's one fit up.

Nothing left to do but weld them in, so I did that.

Hmmm. I'd better do a little inspection to make sure I welded them all around. But that's a job for another day.
Time to seriously consider installing the wings..

[DA Miller]

is there a difference strength wise etc. between 4130 tubing and bushing stock?  The reason I ask is I have some 3/8" X .058 wall 4130 that I'd like to use as a bushing, and the ID is .259 which works well with a 1/4" bolt. TKS for your help.  DA

[Chuck in Indiana]

That'll work. I shouldn't have said bushing stock. It's normally mild steel, but it'll work, too.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Ok, the strut fittings are done. Might as well make some bullets. Seems appropriate for a flying machine named bullet. 
Turned a 60 degree or so angle on some all thread, and blended it with a file.
All thread is a few thousandths smaller than an AN bolt, and makes for easier assembly. Another use for them is you can drive them out with the real hardware, and they keep everything in alignment while the AN hardware is tapped home.

I'd be slackin on my Tech counselor duties if I didn't show you this file card. See the steel that is trapped in the file teeth? That is called "Pinning" and will turn a file into junk pretty quickly if it isn't cleaned out. Here's the file card..

A few strokes the the metal brush part parallel to the teeth, and a few with the brush. Do it religiously, and your files will last for years.
If I can get my Lovely Assistant (tm) to help for a few minutes tomorrow, we'll try a first fit up of the wings.

[DA Miller]

for those new to the file card I'd like to relate my experience and see if you agree.  When I first used a file card I pulled the card toward me with the card teeth points facing me. This seemed to more or less work. One day for no real reason,  I pushed the file card away from myself.  This orientation still had the file card teeth facing me but they were now moving away from me.  To my surprise they did a much better job of removing the pinning.  In your opinion is this the correct way to use a file card?  TKS for your help..DA

[Chuck in Indiana]

Whatever works. 

[jrbirdman47]

Do you ever "chalk" your files? I use children sidewalk chalk, (Pink is nice, but I prefer blue), and it does seem to reduce the amount of pinning while simultaneously increasing the amount of cleanup, which is an added bonus.

[DA Miller]

I've heard of using chalk but have never tried it. Do you put the chalk on when using the file or only when using the file card.  I'll give it a try; I have some blue sidewalk chalk. 

[jrbirdman47]

I just "file" the chalk prior to use and load up the grooves with it. I guess that keeps the metal filings from getting stuck in the grooves. Doesn't stop everything, but seems to keep most of it from sticking and makes it come out easier with the file card.

[Chuck in Indiana]

A little more progress today.  The three major milestones when building an airplane are when you first put the fuselage on the gear, when you first mount the wings, and when you first mount the engine.
2 down, one to go..

There's always that nagging "what if the wing fittings don't match up with the fuselage fittings?" feeling, but with my Lovely Assistant's help, they went right on.
Fuselage and wings leveled, now just need to raise the tips 3 inches for dihedral and build the struts to fit.

[Pilotarix]

Congratulation on the accomplishment of the second major milestone.
That looks pretty darn good.
Always a great feeling when things come together like planned in a project—looking forward to more pictures.