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Finally got a sprayable day Monday, so the flap and aileron spars and TE's, plus all those wing nose ribs, pocket ribs, stub ribs, and odds and ends got alodined and sprayed with 420 epoxy primer. I did the aileron and flap nose ribs, rib attach brackets, ribs, and the larger gussets a few weeks back, then did all the rib and bracket fitting. On the fence as to whether just priming everything before drilling was easier versus full build-up, then prime or prime the small bits, then prime the spars, etc.... def easier to keep track of which ribs and brackets go where, but waiting for sprayable weather in damp, chilly MD is a time suck (I refuse to kill my spray booth filters with epoxy... bad enough with instrument lacquer, plus the spars would never fit).
Love those $9 Harbor Freight 20 oz $15 HVLP guns... cheaper to toss than to clean, given price of reducer used for cleaning. I tried acetone for most of clean, then reducer, but still saw enough residue to require full disassembly, so figure on a pint of reducer to get the gun clean enough to use again... and that is about $10 worth of the stuff with cost plus shipping. I buy those guns on sale at 40% off, so $9.60 per. Don't forget to pull off the female air fitting to recycle.
One consideration when selecting a primer: can the gun be cleaned with common solvents, or are you buying expensive solvent or reducer to do the job? MEK is nasty stuff, but with the right PPE, way cheaper than $90-$150/gallon of the unicorn tears that Stits and Akzo use for reducer.
And I am trying not to compare progress to others... Carlo is just starting his 6th month on the project and has flaps and ailerons ready to cover, aft and main spars built up, wing ribs and all the brackets, etc. done and quite a few of the fuselage weldments (primed and painted!!!). Called me the other day to say he found a prop for me... mid-time Hartzell paddle blade for a great price... 1000+ hours until OH...pulled after owner decided to go with ($$$) composite prop. He also found a scimitar for himself. Dude is a machine.
Finally got a sprayable day Monday, so the flap and aileron spars and TE's, plus all those wing nose ribs, pocket ribs, stub ribs, and odds and ends got alodined and sprayed with 420 epoxy primer. I did the aileron and flap nose ribs, rib attach brackets, ribs, and the larger gussets a few weeks back, then did all the rib and bracket fitting. On the fence as to whether just priming everything before drilling was easier versus full build-up, then prime or prime the small bits, then prime the spars, etc.... def easier to keep track of which ribs and brackets go where, but waiting for sprayable weather in damp, chilly MD is a time suck (I refuse to kill my spray booth filters with epoxy... bad enough with instrument lacquer, plus the spars would never fit).
Love those $9 Harbor Freight 20 oz $15 HVLP guns... cheaper to toss than to clean, given price of reducer used for cleaning. I tried acetone for most of clean, then reducer, but still saw enough residue to require full disassembly, so figure on a pint of reducer to get the gun clean enough to use again... and that is about $10 worth of the stuff with cost plus shipping. I buy those guns on sale at 40% off, so $9.60 per. Don't forget to pull off the female air fitting to recycle.
One consideration when selecting a primer: can the gun be cleaned with common solvents, or are you buying expensive solvent or reducer to do the job? MEK is nasty stuff, but with the right PPE, way cheaper than $90-$150/gallon of the unicorn tears that Stits and Akzo use for reducer.
And I am trying not to compare progress to others... Carlo is just starting his 6th month on the project and has flaps and ailerons ready to cover, aft and main spars built up, wing ribs and all the brackets, etc. done and quite a few of the fuselage weldments (primed and painted!!!). Called me the other day to say he found a prop for me... mid-time Hartzell paddle blade for a great price... 1000+ hours until OH...pulled after owner decided to go with ($$$) composite prop. He also found a scimitar for himself. Dude is a machine.
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