Brief Description: Drilled forward bow, fabbed the latch handles.
In the morning I did some more research on plexiglass drilling and countersinking. Found a really good thread on VAF at: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=47568.
Ordered a countersink, an edge scraper, and a 1/8" (#30) plexiglass drill from Sky Geeks.
Got to the shop about 3 PM again. Unpacked my order of fiberglass supplies and stowed them. Yesterday I got a glob of water out of the air hose, so today I drained the water filter and the bottom of the air tank. Got out a couple quarts of water! Guess I should do that more often.
Did some more experimenting with drilling and shaping a test piece of plexiglass. For drilling, faster drill speeds definitely produce a smoother hole. Tried some material removal along a line of tape. The 1" ScotchBrite wheel in the electric drill works quite well for removing material quickly. Then the #60 grit sandpaper on a vibrating sander works to flatten the edge.
Drilled the # 40 pilot holes in the forward canopy bow, as marked on the masking tape from yesterday. See photo 1. Then removed the tape and agressively deburred the holes, so they won't scratch the backside of the canopy when I next put it in place. These holes will get final drilled to #30 later. I'll not be getting back to drilling into the canopy until after returning from vacation, and by then the new tools will be here.
Jumped ahead and worked on the canopy hatch mechanism. Found the shaft on the canopy latch would not go in to the hole in the handle. Had to sand down the shaft to make it fit. Then drilled and tapped the hole for the fastening screw. Started to countersink the hole with the #30 caged countersink but it wandered off to the side because the pilot was too small. Grrrr. Will try to correct it tomorrow when I am more alert.
