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Building Tips and technical articles. => Building techniques => Topic started by: Bill Johnson on May 11, 2015, 07:43:59 PM
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Does anyone have a source for pre-cut aluminum angles, maybe 1.5" X 3.5 or 4", to use on a fuselage jig?
I can cut, drill and slot a board but don't have the right tools available right now to cut up some "L" extrusion.
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http://www.harborfreight.com/4-in-1-aluminum-rafter-angle-square-61877-11015.html (http://www.harborfreight.com/4-in-1-aluminum-rafter-angle-square-61877-11015.html)
Catch the flange on either side with wood screws. Or do some cuttin' and filin'.
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Good idea, Tim!
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Don't give me the credit! I got the idea from Tom Brightbill.
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I made a set from an 80/20 aluminum angle (eBay) by cutting at 1" increments and then having buddy with mill machine the slots. Got 14 brackets from the 18" length. Let me tell you they are ROBUST ! If you buy direct from 80/20 they will cut you however many 1.5" brackets you want, but there will be an additional charge for each cut. I did not price it that way because I had access to power hacksaw.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/190911927437?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
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Those are perfect, Allan.
This whole thing is frustrating because up until 2006, I did that kind of work as a structural mechanic. Up until abut 18 months ago, I could have had a buddy do it. Even now, I have the tooling but living in a rental house all my tools are in storage. No room in the rental house except a building table.
I can still hacksaw up a bunch of pieces and hand file them, then chain-drill some holes to get the slot but it's waaaaaaaay to much trouble.
I see Tom Morris has a set of wood ones for less than $20. I'll probably just go that route.
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Those are perfect, Allan.
This whole thing is frustrating because up until 2006, I did that kind of work as a structural mechanic. Up until abut 18 months ago, I could have had a buddy do it. Even now, I have the tooling but living in a rental house all my tools are in storage. No room in the rental house except a building table.
I can still hacksaw up a bunch of pieces and hand file them, then chain-drill some holes to get the slot but it's waaaaaaaay to much trouble.
I see Tom Morris has a set of wood ones for less than $20. I'll probably just go that route.
There should be a local metals supplier that has aluminum angle. Lots of time they have shorter cutoffs from custom orders. Find one that has 2" x 4" angle 1/4 or 3/16 thickness. They have power chop saws than can cut a dozen or so 1" pieces in a couple of minutes. Probably a lot cheaper than the 80/20 stuff, which is really overkill.
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Found several suppliers locally! Makes sense as there's a lot of aerospace industry activity in this area because of Redstone Arsenal. Sent an email to one so we'll see.
Thanks for the suggestions, Allan.
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Yea, I picked up some scrap aluminum angle stock a few years ago and cut them up with a hack saw then used my bench top mill to face them and cut slots for a jig. Got some 3/8" square aluminum to use for chocks. I've modified it over the years to do all kinds of stuff. About every third plane I check them for squareness and do any additional corrective machining needed. They work. And while tedious, not very hard to make.
Like this:
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Give Jim Lee a call. He should be listed in the vendor section.
James
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Thanks, James.
I just looked at his vendor section and website. He has a lot of little gems there!
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Thanks, James.
I just looked at his vendor section and website. He has a lot of little gems there!
It can be tempting #^. Jim's stuff is top shelf.
James