Getting set up in the basement

Set up the basement with the table, the backplate and the practice kits. Still waiting for the tools to arrive before I can start.

The practice kits arrive!

Took the empennage kit back to FedEx to ship to Van's.  When I got home from work the Van's Accessories arrived (From Aug 22 order, Two practice kits, and tool box kit, Boelube, etc...) I took the inventory from the box and set up the table in the basement. Now...I just have to wait for my tools to arrive before I can start.

Just a quiet day

Picked up a drill press today at home depot. Also picked up carpet underlay for the work table. it should be the same thickness as the back rivet plate. Looked into the invoice that was sent with my Emp kit in hopes that I can submit it to MD-RA. Nope....The invoice states RV-8. Going to have to wait till I get the right kit.

Yeah!!!..Wait forget it

When I got home from work I cleaned and polished the back rivet plate. I'm very pleased how nice it turned out.  I was careful to grind down the corners so that it did not gouge the aluminum when it is pulled over top.

                                                                                                                                                                          I went for lunch and then took trip over to home depot to pick up some sandpaper and a 220V extension cord. When I got home I had a big surprise. The Empennage kit arrive from Vans!! But the joy was short lived. When I opened the box and looked at the inventory sheet...They had sent me an RV8 kit and not the RV7 kit :( After a quick phone call Vans told me they would ship out the right kit and contact FedEx to pick up the RV8 kit.

More tools and primer investigation

I submitted a questions to the Vans AirForce Forum on a back rivet plate. I asked about cold steel vs stainless steel. I also asked how to keep the cold steel from rusting. Everyone came back with a recommendation for cold steel, and most said a light coating of WD-40 prevents rust.  So I ordered 3/8" x 6" x 24" cold rolled steel bar from Metal Supermarkets and picked it up on my way home from work. Had an interesting phone conversation with the owner of Anderson Anodizing in St. Albert. I called him looking to see what the charges might be to have the aluminum alodined for me (I have serious concerns of my abilities to alodine the parts at home....both during the winter time, and in safe handling/disposal of the Alodine) His recommendations to me was that he did not feel that the alodine was necessary. His concerns were more for the proper cleaning of the aluminum so as to allow good adhesion of the primer. He agreed that the 2 part epoxy was a great choice and that it would help prevent corrosion.  After reading Vans recommendations on priming  coupled with my recent conversations. I have decided that MY best option for priming the interior is a very careful prep and clean of aluminum parts followed by two thin coats of epoxy primer (the overall weight of 2 part epoxy being a concern too). I'm glad that I have finally come to a consensus on the primer....It has been haunting me for the last week!            

Test Priming Day 3

Woke up this morning and checked the 2K epoxy primed pieces. No question that this primer is tough! Resists scratches. When I got home from work...tough as nails (after 23hr dry time). The only concerns that I have had all day was with respect to metal prep. I phoned a friend who owns a local autobody shop. He confirmed to me that the two part epoxy primer was his recommendation for the job, however he indicated that he saw no need to apply alumiprep, but was fairly certain that Alodine was a good idea. He said that is the process used in aviation that he was used to seeing. He indicated that the process helps open up the aluminum to accept the primer. I am convinced that it is superior, however I have serious concerns with applying this method at home. Alodine is extremely nasty stuff, and the application process requires Alodine to be washed with clean water. How do I do that in winter? Do I want to Alodine in the house???

I've been looking at Endura Paints under aviation primers and they have two recommended methods for preping thin aluminum. The Alodine method, or a Biodegradable method using a cleaner and a Metalink product. According to the data sheet the metalink is waterborne "Endura MetaLink is an environmentally friendly, chromate free, pre-bond adhesion promoter for bonding metal alloys such as: Aluminum (#2024, #5052, #6061, #7071 and #7075)". The only concern I have is a lot of parts are alclad....not alloy....So how will this work? Hmm. Geezze my head hurts.

Update - 10:00pm Epoxy test pieces are great. Can't scratch a thing on them. I have tried to wipe them with MEK and virtually nothing comes off! 

Test Priming Day 2

Just after midnight  (about 7 hrs after spray) I checked the primer, scratch test has improved greatly but I was able to scratch it although considerable pressure was required (See bottom left corner). I work up this morning and checked the sample primer pieces. The primer has hardened to a point where it is really difficult to scrap with a finger nail (See bottom right corner). Almost no primer was scraped off the aluminum despite great effort.  When I got home from work (23hrs after spray) the test piece was not able to be scratched with a fingernail (see right side). Only when a screwdriver was used could the primer be scraped. (see center)

After 28 hours, I tried to remove the primer with a moistened towel. MEK and Acetone took the primer of the Aluminum very easily. The degreaser took a bit of rubbing in order for the primer to be removed. Gasoline had no effect on the primer. using a light colored cloth there was no transfer of dark primer onto the cloth...Didn't expect that. I prepped four new pieces of aluminum with Acetone, MEK, Degreaser and one just plain scuffed and wiped dry. Acetone seemed to evaporate almost immediately, more so than the MEK. I let the pieces dry outside for a while.  Then I sprayed two coats of Spray Max 2K epoxy primer. The primer application was really smooth and covered well. It occurred to me that in comparison, the Dupli-color required 2 heavy coats to cover, while the 2-part epoxy covered a bit better with only one pass. I waited 30min for the second coat. I noticed that the pieces took time to be dry to touch, after 30min the pieces where still a bit tacky.  (Note: The placement and timing of the scratches is the same as the sequence above.)  After 1 hour, the primer was able to be scratched with a fingernail. It seemed more like I was removing the top layer of the coat as I could not scrape down to aluminum. After  4 hours, the scratch test is similar to the Dupli-color after 24hrs. You have to press extremely hard to scratch with a fingernail, even then you only seem to be distressing the top layer....not quite breaking through the top layer.