tools, jigs, fixtures, and other neat stuff

[Steve Pierce]

Helped Tony Martinez out of Kansas with a couple of fuselages. He had this awesome micro-torch set up with an automatic shut-off and an electric striker that went off as soon as you touched it with the torch. You could weld little stuff, hang it on the hook while you moved things into position and then just touch tit and be welding again. Ingenious.

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[roundrocktom]

Steve,

That is neat set up.

Any idea where the electric striker came from?

Once I learned to correctly set pressure, I can shut down and relight in just a few (20?) seconds and be back to weldinng. That valve
would help with tack, hold next piece, tack, hold next piece... tack on some days. My "tab holder" is way too simple, but effective (scrap
shelving support).

Tom

[fancypants]

The shutoff valve/torch holder is a Smith Gasaver with the pilot light capped off. Pricey if bought new, but I was able to find one much cheaper on eBay. I like the piezo-electric sparker. A little googleing shows that it's a TorchMate. Might have to get one of those too. I suppose it's all unnecessary unless you're doing production-scale gas welding, but it's cool nonetheless.

[Steve Pierce]

Tony was using my fixture for installing the bird cage on the upper deck and the set up worked great because of all the little tach welds.

[mike mcs repair]

for centering holes and spacing evenly when drilling door frames..

heres the jig for centering and spacing holes, it snaps onto 3/8" frame tube, then you drill a hole, slide it till pointer is at hole you just drilled, and drill next hole... fast! its on a 3 or 4 ft piece of angle, so that it centers holes to how plexi-glass will lay

[jimboflying]

I tried the .223 heated shell case idea to make some holes in plexiglas. It worked well.

[Billy-250]

For those hard to get places.

Tried drilling the bucking bar to take an AN470 squeezer set. No way was I going to be able to make a hole in that stuff!
Double sided taped a piece of lead sheet to the bar and tried back riveting on a test piece.

Bucking with lead.jpg

Left and right were set with the lead, and pretty much untouched, center without and flatted. Reckon I can try it on a flap bracket for real!

[jimboflying]

I decided to do some metal spinning. I had not done it since jr highschool shop class. I went on-line and found an Englishman who made some videos on how to modify a wood lathe, make your own metal spinning tools, and general instructions. He made a beautiful airplane spinner in 90 seconds. So I built the large lathe tools and started to practice. My spinner turned out to be a small skull cap spinner but I did make some spun aluminum hub caps after a few tries that look nice. First you make a hardwood form the shape of the inside that you want, you center a flat piece of metal, turn on the lathe, apply pressure with the tool, and form the metal around your wooden form.
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[mike mcs repair]

I decided to do some metal spinning. I had not done it since jr highschool shop class. I went on-line and found an Englishman who made some videos on how to modify a wood lathe, make your own metal spinning tools, and general instructions. He made a beautiful airplane spinner in 90 seconds. So I built the large lathe tools and started to practice. My spinner turned out to be a small skull cap spinner but I did make some spun aluminum hub caps after a few tries that look nice. First you make a hardwood form the shape of the inside that you want, you center a flat piece of metal, turn on the lathe, apply pressure with the tool, and form the metal around your wooden form.
DSC00347.JPGDSC00351.JPGDSC00356.JPG

very, very cool!!!

I have watch videos on it, but never got around to try it yet..

I rented my videos from
http://smartflix.com/store/video/480...nning-Workshop

http://smartflix.com

[marcusofcotton]

Oooh, I like this metal spinning idea, anxious to give it a try.

Mark J

[Steve Pierce]

Way cool.

[Cub junkie]

Jimbo, that metal spinning is something I've always wanted to try and I got my chance to be in a real metal spnning shop recently as my brother is helping part time at a metal spinning shop in kansas city that makes parts for those expensive Waco biplanes built in michigan. I got to see the "dish pans" they make for behind the engine. They also let me try out spinning on a simple bowl. Thanks for posting, real craftsmanship there.

[Cub junkie]

If you are stubborn like me and think you have to build everything for your experimental then this is how I build a ring. If you are building an exp. Cub then buying one from Javron is a good way to go. These pics are how I build rings. Bugs has a good pictorial on mount building on his site. The Lord mounts are the J-7401-2 aerobatic mounts, they are smaller and cheaper than the usual larger Lord mounts if you use the "aerobatic" mounts from Aircraft spruce. I think spruce gets them made the same place Harbor Freight tools are made. The steel cups are off the Pitts Special mount print. The steel bushings I turned to simulate the compressed thickness of the Lord mount. The tubes are 3/4" .049 rolled on a 12.375 radius. Makes for a nice compact installation.

[mike mcs repair]

The other day someone was looking for those intake clamps for plug wires and primer lines, the engine shop said they were not available...

I got thinking why not use a skinny 5/16" wide band hose clamp??

I found the large skinny hose clamps after much searching & luckily my neighbor had one with a brand stamped on it, because all the online places I found wanted $29 for UPS shipping to Alaska- for a $0.64 clamp well box of 10...

oh the clamps are Ideal brand 62p series, so part numbers would be like 62p32 or 62p30 etc

size chart here http://www.idealclamps.com/catalog/c...&SECTION_ID=17

best price I found?? here,
probably way to big of clamp, you need to determine size, remember it shortens clamp by about 3/8" or so putting the dimple in it...

http://kscdirect.com/item/IDL%2B62P32/INDEPENDENT%2BDISTRIBUTORS%2BCOOP_62P%2BSERIES%2BM ICRO-GEAR%2BSS%250A

so I made a quick 10 minute tool to bend the dimple in clamp.. if i did it again I would use a larger vise grip...

original style clamp, with the screw, nut and washer to mess with....







heres the ones I made from hose clamps






and you can obviously do other sizes, and ANGLEs.. for whatever you need....



I stretched out some strait to get an idea of how much length you loose this shows a LENGTH loss of 3/8"... you'll need to do the math blah blah pi*d or whatever to determine clamp diameter change... I am not awake yet



the quick 10 minute tool made form $1 vise grip knock off....

[Crash]

Good idea Mike.

Greg

[Bill Rusk]

Excellent, Mike

Bill

[Scooter7779h]

for centering holes and spacing evenly when drilling door frames..

heres the jig for centering and spacing holes, it snaps onto 3/8" frame tube, then you drill a hole, slide it till pointer is at hole you just drilled, and drill next hole... fast! its on a 3 or 4 ft piece of angle, so that it centers holes to how plexi-glass will lay

hey I recognize that door! It's mine.

[aktango58]

Mike,

super idea!

is that pat. pend?

or all rights belong to SC.org

[mike mcs repair]

you really do NOT need a rotary table to do this... that just helps cutting the final shape.... you can cut and belt sand to shape....

if you want to make your own jig, you can make it much simpler, as the only important holes are the adjusting screw holes that MUST be 7.2" apart(thats the distance of your measuring point on a 6" Cleavland wheel, you could make it different and adjust all the math and hole spacing say if you are on the big 10" wheels) and have 16 threads per inch.. all those other holes were for pins for locating where to drill the bolt holes in shim, and clamp hole for mounting it to my rotary table.. you could just use an old shim on top of new one to position holes

I made some new instructions, since I only do custom shims once every year or so, to help me remember the steps

MCS Repair Service... Chugiak AK mikeskup@mcsrepair.com

Shim Making Steps Feb 19 2013

1. Our adjusting screws are 16 threads per inch so they move jig 1/16” for each turn
2. Back out all adjusting screws till flat
3. Run screws back in till they just touch table
4. Mark index position of each screw as your zero reference
5. Now to set angles you set the screws just backward of what your measurements were
6. First reduce your measurements down to the difference by subtracting the bigger one from the smaller measurement (so like 3 ⅞ - 3 ½ = ⅜ = 6/16 which means you will turn 6 turns in on the screw..)
7. Set the LEFT screw to the FORWARD measurement & lock
8. Important!! set the RIGHT screw to the REAR measurement + PLUS THE AMOUNT OF TOE IN YOU WANT (1 Turn = 1/16” 2 Turns = ⅛” …..) & LOCK
9. Turn top and bottom screw the same amount till both just touch and no rocking occurs
10. Calculate the camber as follows we want the measured camber say it was 5.8 degrees(90 - 84.2 = 5.8 thats the format we want 5.8
11. For example say we want our shim to change it to 4.0 degrees. we take the measured minus the wanted, so 5.8- 4.0 = 1.8 degrees of change.
12. So we calculate the right triangle for that with a base length the same distance as our adjusting screws are located apart(and the distance between where we took our measurements) which is 7.2”... so we had 1.8 degrees and if we make the base of our triangle 7.2, that gives us a height of 0.22626912 use tangent tan(1.8 = 0.22626912
13. Now divide that by 1/16” = .0625” 0.2262912 / .0625 = 3.6203
14. Turn down on BOTTOM screw 3.6203 turns & lock
15. Turn top screw back UP till no rocking occurs & lock
16. The orientation of shim you are about to make is the top(farthest from you) will be top of finished shim and the right edge will be forward, stamp this on the top salvage so you don't get confused if you remove it
17. Cut raw stock to fit jig & install blank in jig
18. Using a straightedge and a letter W drill locate off the pins as shown to drill the 4 axle bolt holes
19. Now mill shim flat
20. Re-stamp top T and front F in good part of shim, mark as AXEL
21. Now change to a small cutter and cut shim out of jig, if you are mounted on a rotary table, or cut and sand to shape if not
22. to make ski axel mirror image shim put shim you just made under a new piece of stock and clamp it down
23. mill it flat
24. Re-stamp top T and front F in good part of shim, mark as SKI
25. Importaint!! remove shim from underneath & reclamp stock flat on jig
26. Using a straightedge and a letter W drill locate off the pins as shown to drill the 4 axle bolt holes
27. Now change to a small cutter and cut shim out of jig, if you are mounted on a rotary table, or cut and sand to shape if not

and a new worksheet

​MCS Repair Service... Chugiak AK mikeskup@mcsrepair.com N-number ________________________________
Make sure to shake plane well once on grease plates
Measure from tail to each side of strait edge
make sure strait edge is actually strait
make sure framing square is square
Measure on rim side, not brake disc
keep shaking then repeat measuring till you get some repeating numbers
************************************************** ****************************

1. angel of floor between wheels ___________________________
2. distance between measuring points 7.20 typ. ________________

************************************************** ****************************

1. left wheel rear measurement ________________________________________________
2. left wheel forward measurement ______________________________________________
3. left wheel top to bottom angle ________________________________________________

1. right wheel rear measurement ________________________________________________
2. right wheel forward measurement _____________________________________________
3. right wheel top to bottom angle ______________________________________________

************************************************** ****************************

1. left wheel rear measurement ________________________________________________
2. left wheel forward measurement _______________________________________________
3. left wheel top to bottom angle ________________________________________________

1. right wheel rear measurement ________________________________________________
2. right wheel forward measurement ______________________________________________
3. right wheel top to bottom angle_____________________________________________ ___

************************************************** ****************************

1. left wheel rear measurement ________________________________________________
2. left wheel forward measurement _______________________________________________
3. left wheel top to bottom angle ________________________________________________

1. right wheel rear measurement ________________________________________________
2. right wheel forward measurement _____________________________________________
3. right wheel top to bottom angle_____________________________________________ ___

************************************************** ****************************

1. left wheel rear measurement ________________________________________________
2. left wheel forward measurement _______________________________________________
3. left wheel top to bottom angle ________________________________________________

1. right wheel rear measurement ________________________________________________
2. right wheel forward measurement _____________________________________________
3. right wheel top to bottom angle_____________________________________________ ___

************************************************** ****************************

and full pictures are in my album http://picasaweb.google.com/mike.skup/AroundTheShop#

and if anyone wants to build one, I have the real cad files somewhere, then if you have a cad program that can read them, then you can print out full size patterns on white stick label paper and just stick it to your raw metal and punch through it....

[mike mcs repair]

and I think I just figured out a Jig for making shims in a metal cutting bandsaw or chop saw!! much faster..... been wanting this for years.... stay tuned!

[mike mcs repair]

whats a more appropriate forum site URL to post this to that deals with cessna's and citabria/spring gear planes???

and I think I just figured out a Jig for making shims in a metal cutting bandsaw or chop saw!! much faster..... been wanting this for years.... stay tuned!

and it's SOOOO simple

1. use ..say a thick web piece of angle aluminum or steel with holes on each side 7.2" apart drilled & tapped to say 3/8x16 tip (the 16 tpi is the important part) with set screws pointing out to lift it off table and the fixed side vise jaw
2. leave set screws not poking out of jig for first step
3. then set your shim raw stock(a piece of 3" round bar with the 4 bolt holes already bored in it, with the 2 sides milled/cut flat to a shim shape/size) in this jig and clamp it in saw vise(requires a floating jaw on one side on saw vise)
4. make a cut through to "square off" end(DO THIS EVERY TIME you start a new shim!! don't count old cut as being right for what we need!!).. it does NOT have to be square to stock!, just flat
5. mark the top, front and such... do not rotate stock during following steps
6. set the set screws to the right amount as in other post
7. make cut, this just gave you your axel shim
8. remove stock & turn set screws back in so they don't protrude again like step2. and put stock back in & clamp
9. make another cut, this just gave you the mirror image shim for ski axel stub..
10. mark the top, front and such...

quick sketch of jig that would go in saw vise


hmm.... now i need one of these... http://www.grizzly.com/products/9-Sl...-Cut-Saw/G0681 or http://www.grizzly.com/products/Slow...-Cut-Saw/G0665

[spinner2]

Ski season has ended for me and I switched back to 31's and a Baby Bushwheel. When I was removing the 3200 tail wheel and Burl's s tail ski I thought I should take a picture of my chain removal tool and post here. This is a welder's vise grip with a couple of little mods. On the chain end I've drilled a hole and pushed in a .125" dia dowel pin that slips into a chain link. The other end has a groove ground in it so it stays centered on the arm. The vise grip is adjusted so it expands the spring attached to the rudder horn enough to allow the threaded link easy passage out of the arm hole.

What can be a frustrating job is simple now.

[mike mcs repair]

Ski season has ended for me and I switched back to 31's and a Baby Bushwheel. When I was removing the 3200 tail wheel and Burl's s tail ski I thought I should take a picture of my chain removal tool and post here. This is a welder's vise grip with a couple of little mods. On the chain end I've drilled a hole and pushed in a .125" dia dowel pin that slips into a chain link. The other end has a groove ground in it so it stays centered on the arm. The vise grip is adjusted so it expands the spring attached to the rudder horn enough to allow the threaded link easy passage out of the arm hole.

What can be a frustrating job is simple now.

I LIKE it!!

[Tim]

What can be a frustrating job is simple now.

And I thought it was just me

I like it also

[tempdoug]

I dont know if this is the place to put this, but some ok prices on cylinder base nut wrenches. Just bought a set of the internal allen nut ones instead of borrowing http://www.aircraft-tool.com/shop/de...DUCT_ID=6494-2 Other types and sizes also.