Brief Description: canopy shroud braces, parts fabrication, prep for
I started the week with some more work on the canopy shroud and had to complete the next steps which included making up 6 clasps from .032 aluminium. I wasn't looking forward to this fabrication work but found the right material and started measuring and marking - with some difficulty - the clasps to be cut. It seems very apparent to me that the further along I go in this build the less detail Vans gives on given tasks and even the drawings are becoming quite criptic and a lot of time gets spent figuring out what a missing dimension should be - when I can't find it I often resort to consulting with local builders and then the international builders at VAF forums. One way or another I get an answer (although not always) but it takes up time. So with the dimensions all figured out I marked out the clasps and cut what I could with the snips, this material was a little thick for the snips so I had to use a dremel tool and hacksaw with varying results.
Once cut I stacked all the pieces onto each other and then clamped with a cleco clamp till uniform or centered, I then drilled the first hole through the lot on the drill press, based on my markings, stuck a cleco in the hole and could then drill the second hole the same way. With clecos in both holes the six pieces of metal were well stacked together and in this stack I stuck them on the sanding disc and grinder to get the desired shape - 1/4 radius on either end of a rectangle. When the shaping was complete I released the clecos and seperated and individually finished, deburred and edged each piece. I then prepped and primed them all.
I fitted the canopy frame braces to the frame and skin in assembly and propped up as instructed. I could then mark out my holes to be match drilled on the braces and clasps when the clasps were clamped in the splits in the braces.
