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Dave's RV-7A Builder's Log
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Date: 4-9-2015
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Number of Hours: 4.00
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Manual Reference:
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Brief Description: Baffle tension rods
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Today was a comedy of errors unlike any seen since I first started this project. With a few hours available on a day off, I was determined to not let the weekend go without some build time to show for it. Out to the hangar to do something fairly benign…baffle tension rods. When I last posted about these, my comments hinted at my lack of enthusiasm for the process of threading stainless steel rods. To that end, I recently purchased a new die from Menard’s…on the off chance that my original die would become dull through the process. More on that in a minute.
I had been at the hangar for no more than 20 minutes when the power went off. Dark, as in mineshaft dark. No problem—I’m threading stainless steel rods, something that can be done without electricity. Out with the headlamp and keep on working. After about an hour I had the first rod completed and installed. The second proved to be a little less challenging, only taking 45 minutes of twist the die 180 degrees, back it completely off, add some oil, cut a little more, etc. By the time the second rod was done, I was over two hours into the session. During that time I lost track of the times that a metal stop nut the size of a grain of rice went bouncing off into the darkness when I dropped it.
The third rod was where it became almost comical. After fifteen minutes of trying to thread the nut (and countless retrievals after dropping), I finally thought “I wonder if this nut has been cross-threaded?” Yep…it was never going to work. Fifteen minutes I can never get back. In the end, the power came back on, and three out of four tension rods were installed. That spare die? Well, I finally decided to try it out. It cut so fast that I had the last rod completely fabricated in fifteen minutes…live and learn.
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Rod #1...over an hour to make, but looks ok
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This is how it's supposed to look
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Tension rod #4...fifteen minutes, start to finish
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