Brief Description: Fitting the Main Spar Tube Part 1
It was a real good day today. I got quite a bit done on the fuselage top. I was a little concerned about fitting the main spar carry-through tube at Station O. I went to a friend's shop to look at his fuselage (Rob Taylor) to see how AviPro did their fitting. After I had that visual, I headed back home to my shop to git 'er done. The tube is pretty large, 1 3/8ths by .058, and expensive, so I didn't want to screw it up.
I took my time. First, I decided to "smoosh" the ends cold. I started the process with the smooshing jaws I made for my vise. I was very careful not to go too far, because the middle of the tube can make a dogbone kind of shape (collapsing the middle) without any forming other than squeezing it in the vise. After I got it started, I took a smooth ball peen hammer and just started working it. CroMo is tough stuff, so I went at it pretty steady. I felt like a blacksmith forging my BH fuselage! After careful whacking/grinding/filing, I was able to get the fit I wanted.
