I started work on the upgrade kit this week. Knowing there would be a fair amount of work on the drill press and I would be working with some long pieces, I decided to build a work surface for the drill press that was level and flat. Picture # 1 is a piece of 8' counter top material with 4" cut from each side to give me a 16” work surface and 2 - 4" braces on the edge to provide support.
I spent about 4 1/2 hours on Thanksgiving Day working on 601ZW, when I got to the shop the thermometer read 28 degs., so I lit the furnace and went back into town to run a few errands. As picture # 2 indicates I still worked in some pretty heavy clothing during the day. When I left for the day the temp had gotten to 52 degs. Toasty.
The new work surface worked well as there were a good amount of rivets to drill out. The center spar has been split in half, all the added re-enforcing channels have been drilled and cleco’d. I still have some back drilling to do but I need to borrow a long #20 Drill from the guys at the airport first.
The rest of the week I will be in Florida taking care of some of the necessary details of my brother’s estate. So no more building this week, but all in all it has been a good week.
