Today was more rib building. I believe I'll be saying that for quite some time. Currently, I have five completed and 57 to go... each one takes approximately 2:00 to complete. Here's each step in a standard rib build.
Cut and fit the cap strips, the uprights and diagonals Apply the epoxy to one side of the assembly Place the gussets and staple them onto the rib Pop the rib out of the jig Apply epoxy to the other side Place the gussets and staple them to this side Set the rib between sheets of wax paper and apply weights so it dries flat Glue the test blocks together for this batch of epoxy Clean up the work area
There are a couple of places where I can get some time out of the process. First, i can be less finicky about trimming the diagonals. If I were to do this, I could gang cut them (cutting the same diagonal for several ribs at the same time). Right now, every single diagonal is trimmed and fitted with a very tight fit. They're very accurately cut in length (less than 1/64 of an inch in total gap and never pressed hard into the jig) and the angles at each end of each diagonal is mitered very accurately. Bill Scheunemann and the Biplane Forum Builders' Manual both tell me not to worry about it and leave the ends square. I can't quite bring my self to do that. Ugh. Too bad because that would probably save me 20 minutes per rib!
More time saving ideas on the next entry. I've discovered that this program cuts off my entries if they're too long.
