Rotisserie jig

[bamendala]

What are you guys using for fuselage and wing supports for your builds? Rotisserie jigs? Saw horses? Tables? I'm trying to get out of buying a rotisserie to save money but if they are a necessity I will. The covering process is where I'm most concerned. I think saw horses or bolting the gear legs on to do the fuselage work would be sufficient right? And if the rotisserie is the way to go Where's the best place to purchase one?
Thank you
Brian

[Charlie Longley]

You can get by without a rotisserie it’s just a little more work. I’ve done wings on sawhorses spraying dope. If you spray one of the polyurethane top coats a rotisserie is almost a necessity for a decent finish. I like and own one of the Wag Areo wing rotisserie’s. I’ve never used a rotisserie on a fuselage but am considering it on my current project. Four 2x4’s per the Stits manual works pretty well.

[supercub83a]

I bought a fuselage rotisserie from Javron, and I couldnt be happier with it. It was incredibly helpful for covering the fuselage. The wings I used saw horses with 2x4 supports spaced under the spars and long enough to cover several ribs and I dont think I would’ve gained much by having a rotisserie for them. I dont think you want to use a table because you want access to the underside of the wing while covering and its easy to move the saw horses to access those areas too. Trying to cover around the outboard connection of a wing rotisserie would be a pain IMO. I have only covered one plane so Im not the most experienced opinion on this.

Also I think you could build a fuselage rotator out of 2x4s that would work pretty good. I bought the rotator from Jay because this will not be the last supercub I build.


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[bcone1381]

I had a professional fabricator to make my rotissory from photos off websites like this. I paid way too much money for it. Everytime I used Smiled and was so glad made that decision. When I painted my fuselage I could spin and angle each surface so the light reflection of the lighting was perfect. I could see the reflectivity of the paint change from flat to a gloss then I thoguth I had reached the correct volume of paint application. Although I had NEVER painted anything before, the result was very nice finish with zero runs.

That alone saved me from either hiring out the job for 10X the price or having a poor finish that would have cost me double if I ever sell it.

[bamendala]

Thanks for all the good input guys I appreciate it. I didn't know jay had them so ill have to ask him about that next time I talk to him. I also like the idea of building one out of 2x material. I do come from a construction background so if I could find a rotating head I might be able to pull that off.

[Randy]

My son built a couple rotisseries for our wings, started with a $180 Harbor Freight tubing roller.
Some round electrical conduit to form the circles.
1" and 1 1/4" square tubing to make everything else.
Has wheels on both ends, worked very well.
Labor cost? and about 300$ of steel apiece...roughly.
Copied photos garnered from this site and other places on the net or the design.
We will be tooled up for the "next" project.

[supercub83a]

Here is a pic of the rear rotisserie that jay makes. The front is similar except it connects to two of the engine mount bushings. They both have a ball joint so that they dont have to be in perfect alignment and both are height adjustable and they can be locked in any position through 360 degrees of rotation.


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[bamendala]

Here is a pic of the rear rotisserie that jay makes. The front is similar except it connects to two of the engine mount bushings. They both have a ball joint so that they dont have to be in perfect alignment and both are height adjustable and they can be locked in any position through 360 degrees of rotation.


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Thanks supercub83a, do you have a few pics of the front jig and mounting bracket that connects to the engine mount bushings?

[flybynite]

I built a similar one without the lift mechanism. An adapter with a trailer ball for a U Joint bolts to the fuselage. You can use a saw horse for the tail or make a similar stand for the tail that bolts to the tailspring pad.
Tie the two stands together if they're on casters.

[Jlee]

I modeled up these rotisserie’s in CAD and have the McMaster materials list available if anyone wants to build there own..


Jlee

[Oliver]

Don’t over think it.
2.5” ID pipe receiver with 2” pipe inside, gives enough slop so no binding when you spin it.
make some wing holders to slip into receivers when you’re done with fuselage.

[bamendala]

Don’t over think it.
2.5” ID pipe receiver with 2” pipe inside, gives enough slop so no binding when you spin it.
make some wing holders to slip into receivers when you’re done with fuselage.

Thanks Oliver I'm totally overthinking it. After seeing your pics I think I can come up with something. I really like the simplicity of those.

[Farmboy]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133401019704

https://www.ebay.com/itm/324197306652


Transmitted from my FlightPhone on fingers…

[Oliver]

Sweet spot on cub firewall is about 4” below upper engine mounts.
Couple more photos:
outboard end of wing support, all thread and nuts/washers to adjust stand off.



Use a sawhorse on outboard end till fabric is shrunk,
then use existing wing hardware to mount rotisserie bracket.
(boneless cub on the laying in the background)

Pretty universal, same stand different plane:

[bamendala]

Thanks for all the info and pictures they have given me a few ideas. And thanks for taking the time to send me links i Really appreciate it. Seems like a rotisserie is just to convenient not to have so I will be building one. And thanks Oliver for helping me dumb it down. I like simple lol

[skywagon8a]

Thanks for all the info and pictures they have given me a few ideas. And thanks for taking the time to send me links i Really appreciate it. Seems like a rotisserie is just to convenient not to have so I will be building one. And thanks Oliver for helping me dumb it down. I like simple lol

Check the vertical CG before you set the pivot location. Make the tail pivot high enough so the tail doesn't hit the floor when you rotate it. You don't want it to get away from you while you are rotating it.

[Oliver]

The attach points I described will work well, keeping the aircraft level with a little ballast in the keel to prevent fuselage from getting away from you as wagon described.
I have never had a reason to spin a fuselage completely inverted. Creating the ability to do so will place the fuselage at an awkwardly high height. Stands are 40” tall

[Farmboy]

As an opposing viewpoint, in the time I’ve been working on my fuselage, I’ve rotated it completely upside down too many times to count. Getting the right weld angle, or simply making it easy to get a skin fitted, or access something is soooo much nicer.

Luxury? Perhaps. But I wouldn’t work on another without one.


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[Scott A]

Built mine while waiting for the fuselage also. I went the cheap Harbor Freight engine stand route.
You have to cut the stand and make it taller. Bought used Honda ATV U-joints off Ebay.
Doing the tail attach offset for CG and ease of rotating helps with the height issue also and allows me to go inverted with the vert. stab on without a height adjustable stand. I've liked being able to go full inverted for some of the welding.


Also, I went up to see a buddy that is recovering a cub. They have similar stands - all good until they decided to move from one hanger to another - rolling along great right up until it wasn't. They didn't have the stands connected together under the fuselage and the rear one twisted to the side - boom, the recover turned into twisted, bent tail repair. If not moving around a lot or if two peeps and careful is probably okay. I added the steel connector as I will be rolling to a side garage ('paint booth') at some point.

If I did it again I would do all from scratch not the engine stands and I would add the height adjustable.

Someone already pointed out the front attach pivot height - my first go I had the center of the pivot even with the top engine mounts - too heavy to turn, too much pressure to hold in place.

[bamendala]

Check the vertical CG before you set the pivot location. Make the tail pivot high enough so the tail doesn't hit the floor when you rotate it. You don't want it to get away from you while you are rotating it.

thank you sir that is good advice and I will keep that in mind.

[BU 1131]

Rotisserie built with material from my scrap pile. Looks bad, works great! It can be moved around easily with a trailer dolly for blasting & painting; has a clamp on front end to prevent unwanted rotation. Can be used for fuselage or wings....surplus now. Location SE Georgia.

[Mark_Moyle]

I have a lathe and mill which I use quite often to make things from scratch. I made my rotisserie with an indexable plate, using the front axle shaft inner and outer with the universal joint from a ford F150 4X4. Two spindle needle bearing for the same. Machined a chunk of 1018 pipe for the spindle bearings maybe 6” long and a steel thrust washer to keep the assembly together with maybe 0.020” end play. The locking pin is spring loaded with a ramp piece to hold the pin out until it lines up with the index hole I want. The tail portion of the rotisserie uses a GMC 3/4 ton front axle shaft with the U-joint. I machined the full length of inner shaft to accept the ford front spindle bearings and a thrust washer at the end. The shaft is allowed to move for and aft. I’ve used it on two airframes so far…


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[Scott A]

^ nice one also (envious of you guys/gals with mills lathes). Scrap pile one above is awesome too. I only have locks every 45 degrees - there are times it would be nice to lock somewhere in between at least when welding, probably okay if just assemble and covering. Easy fix to add some but just haven't taken the time.

[Gordon Misch]

I favor the tic-tac-toe boards, tail on a sawhorse. Easy to add an extension for the tail if desired, with a piece of scrap pipe attached at the tail spring location. Add some blocks of wood to prop the boards on and the orientation is very adjustable. Plus - it's easy to control the rotation regardless of CG because the boards give lots of leverage.

[bamendala]

I favor the tic-tac-toe boards, tail on a sawhorse. Easy to add an extension for the tail if desired, with a piece of scrap pipe attached at the tail spring location. Add some blocks of wood to prop the boards on and the orientation is very adjustable. Plus - it's easy to control the rotation regardless of CG because the boards give lots of leverage.

Gordon do you have any pictures of this set up? I'm interested

[Gordon Misch]

[bamendala]

Thanks Gordon... thats a pretty dang good idea

[danal]

I built a rotisserie for doing cars and it's universal enough for airplanes as well. My Great Lake fuselage is mounted in it currently.

[Charlie Longley]

I like it!