January 3, 2015 - The Big Cut!

Well, here it is January 2015 and my last web log entry was in late July when I glued the outer and inner webs to the six spar ladders.   I don't know what happened after that.  Summer vacations, a long cross-country out west in the RV, helping my parents move, helping Bruce wire up his panel and the electrical system on his RV-3 restoration, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the next thing you know it's 2015.  That's why it is so important to keep the momentum going in an airplane building project.  You stop for a few days, and it turns into weeks and months.

One factor was that I was nervous about the next step, which I call the big cut.  It's similar to a milestone in the RV project, where you cut the big pexiglass canopy piece into two parts.  Everyone calls it the big cut.  Because a mistake is unrecoverable, a lot of time and money is on the line.

This was similar.  The next step was to shave 1/8" off the top and bottom of each spar ladder, accomplished by running each spar ladder lengthwise through the table saw.   The blade on the tablesaw is almost 4 inches high so there are all sorts of very bad possibilities, some including bodily injury!

I had been thinking about it for a long time.  Alternative ways of doing it.  Taking it somewhere that had an industrial strength tablesaw.  Using a planer.  Using the spar table as a guide.  But in the end, I just decided to follow the plan instructions.  I did buy a new -- sharp -- Dewalt 10" blade and a couple more roller-stands.  One Saturday I gathered my team -- Lynnette and Bruce -- and we went for it.

It turned out to be anticlimactic.   With Bruce pushing the spar ladder, myself keeping it alongside the fence and firmly pressed to the table, and Lynnette close to the on/off switch, things went as well as I could have hoped.  Amazingly well, in fact.

I couldn't believe how much sawdust was generated.  The thin strips of wood shavings were almost paper thin.

I felt great afterwards, having this milestone behind me, and it having come out so well.  Now all spar ladders were exactly 3 and 3/4" tall.

With the spar ladders trimmed, the way is clear to finish up the spars to completion.