Got a lot done today on my one day off between trips. Removed the HS skin and disassembled the skeleton. Deburred all rivet holes and dimpled the ribs and spars with the sub-structure dies. Dimpling the ribs brought them out of square and alignment. Had to resquare and re-align. Deburred all holes and edges of the HS skin. Again, used a file to smooth out the skin edges, followed with medium emery cloth, finishing with 320 grit 3M sanding sponge. Like butter.
The most time consuming step today was stripping off the blue protectant film around the rivet holes. I used an old wood burner with the tip smoothed out. Most builders seem to use a soldering tip for this, and I can see why. The wood burner requires a slow pace to cut through, and leaves many ragged edges. Maybe a soldering tip is better, but the burner was in hand and was free (it belonged to my mother-in-law). Free tip from another bulid log: use a wooden straight edge to strip the film. A metal straight edge will transfer the heat with unfortunate results.
Like my Kirby shop-vac? Got it years ago from a thrift store for 50 bucks or something. They are four figures new. It is so much more quiet than my real shop vac, and the hose reaches farther. Plus it does a better job of cleaning the floor.
Another 4 day tomorrow, then the granddaughters will be with us for four days. We'll see what I can get done...
