Removing or Replacing Fittings and Tabs

I am in the process of stretching a tripacer fuselage and was curious what the proper procedure is for removing fittings and tabs. Basically Im curious if it is appropriate to simply cut the fitting and grind it or if there is a more appropriate method. My understanding is that grinding on airframes is a no no but I cant seem to come up with a better method for eliminating unwanted tabs and fittings. Thanks for your help.

Brad

I use a die grinder and a 1/16" thick reinforced cut-off wheel. Wear a full face shield - I have a couple of pretty interesting scars on my face from a disk blow up from only wearing safety glasses. Then, smooth what's left over with a sanding disk/flap disk and hand finish when it's getting close. Be careful - if you nick/damage the airframe tubing in any way, it will require repair - a lot of tube walls are only .035"

Tom

Thanks

Tom,

Thanks for the input. That was roughly the route I was planning on using. Considering the fact that I am somewhat of a disaster with a grinder its a plus that grinding on airframes is off limits. I have the fuselage cut and will start re-aligining the old tubes to meet up with the splices tonight. Then on to removing a couple of tabs that are no longer needed. Thanks again.

Brad

Bluepoint(Snap-On) makes a neat cutoff tool that takes a 3 inch disc. It has two positions for angles. Best of all it has a metal safety shield over the disc that doesn't get in the way.

If I ever rebuild a fuselage I will buy a piloted cutter to cut the tubes out. I have a good selection of die grinders now since I am rebuilding my new fuselage. For the small tight areas I have a soiux pencil grinder with a 1/8" carbide bit on it.

Tim