Since my last post I've focused back on the elevators still trying to get the hinge configuration set up.
If I would have realized up front how much work modifying the stabilizer/elevator was going to be, I would have probably just gone with some balsa stock and formed my own elevator.
Splicing the elevator pieces together was a pain and this hinge thing is pretty much driving me to insanity!
But since everyone has already told me I am insane, I figure I have nothing to lose so am plugging ahead.
So to get the hinge set up in the elevator, I went with some nyrod and notched some hard balsa and have glued this all up.
Here’s the steps that I took to make the elevator leading edge hinge. Since this is what I want it to look like:
I had to come up with a way to build up the front of the elevator while also making sure that the hinge was going to be centered and straight.
So first step is getting some rectangular 1/4 x 1/2 hard balsa stock in which I found the center of the ½ surface using this tool:
Given that the Nyrod outer dimension was 1/16” I found the center and made a 1/16 wide mark on this centerline and then proceeded to make a notch using a round file. It was important that this notch be straight and that it be centered.
This notch has to be deep enough to allow the nyrod to be fully seated.
This gave me a slot in which I then epoxied the Nyrod rod into. (Note prior to gluing I passed a “straight .062 music wire rod through the nyrod to make sure it was straight when gluing)
Here’s a picture of all the pieces that make up this hinge:
Top and bottom pieces are the elevator, the next piece is the ¼ x ½ hard balsa with the notches. Next piece is the nyrod (Yellow tube) with a short brass tube on one end (Will explain this later) the next piece is the .062 music wire. This was to make sure that the nyrod was straight and that the brass tube lined up with the center of the nyrod.
Here’s a close up of the pieces.
The elevator control rod ends that go into the elevator I made fairly long so I wouldn’t have to worry about them punching through the elevator.
Here’s how all the pieces fit in the notch in the balsa wood.
Before gluing these pieces in I coated the brass piece with Pam cooking spray and then wiped off the excess this is because I don’t won’t the brass piece to be glued in. I needed this brass piece to provide a seat for the elevator control rod that would line up exactly with the center of the nyrod.
Since I also wanted to make sure everything was straight I found several pieces of aluminum channel and used these to clamp the pieces into the notch. Since I didn’t want these pieces being glued to the aluminum channel I taped one side with strapping tape as I found epoxy does not stick to this at all.
Here’s everything glued and clamped.
Next I'll unclamp everything and post some more.