N34KP's rebuild

[Richard Roller]

Back from visiting my sisters and mother. I planed the doublers on the lower right longeron this morning. Time to glue up the lower left.

[Richard Roller]

Glued up the lower left longeron doublers today.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Nice work, Richard. I'm a machinist, not a woodworker, but have been learning about hand planes on this Piet project. It's strangely satisfying watching a chip roll of them.

[Richard Roller]

The rear splices are complete. Station piece and pulling them together at the tail post next.

[taildrags]

Richard; do you plan to refit the tailspring and other fittings that require holes back there before varnishing the wood?

-Oscar

[Richard Roller]

Oscar. Yes I do plan on drilling before refinishing. I still have a drill guide, made out of 1" key stock, that I made for the longeron repair from 5 years ago.

[Richard Roller]

Station piece, diagonal and doublers. Late night glue up.

[Richard Roller]

I glued in the old tailpost last night. Gussets next.

[Richard Roller]

[taildrags]

Looks like an airplane, from nose to tail.

-Oscar

[Chuck in Indiana]

Good as new..

[Richard Roller]

[Richard Roller]

The tail reconstruction is finished except for fairing strips and holes for the fittings.

[taildrags]

That's gotta be a great feeling, Richard. I know it was a great feeling for me every time I completed a subassembly back when I was making repairs to my Air Camper. Patience and determination will eventually win the day.

-Oscar

[Richard Roller]

The holes for the forward tailwheel brackets are drilled.

[Richard Roller]

Since I moved the upper seat back aft 3-1/2" I was able to reuse the diagonal brace behind the seat back by re-cutting to the new angles. I still need to install the forward gusset.

[Chuck in Indiana]

One piece at a time.. attaboy!

[Richard Roller]

Well crap...., while marking up the longerons for cuts for the splices, I found a crack in the lower left one, right where I wanted to do the splice. Always something. Time for another inspection for additional damage I might have missed and to re-evaluate the splice location on the lower left longeron.

[KenBickers]

Good eyes. I'm glad you caught the crack now and not when it might matter later. It seems you're doing this just right!

Cheers, Ken

[Richard Roller]

The first two splices cut.

[taildrags]

Wish I had thought of that nifty scarfing jig. It's nice when you have the working room for nice jigs and clamps and planes and spokeshaves to work with! It seems like anytime I need to make repairs to something, I have to work with small tools and work by eyeball in very tight spaces.

-Oscar

[Chuck in Indiana]

What did you use to get rid of the biggest part of the scarf?

[Richard Roller]

On my first try, back on one of the tail longerons, I tried a saws all and chisels. It was practically uncontrollable. Vibration and catching the wood it jumped all over the place.

Now I use a small draw knife I bought at Rocklers. It takes 3 to 5 minutes to cut down to just shy of the guide, then I finish with a block plane.