Monday, June 22, 2020



 The wing tip bow has 2 diagonal braces running from each spar to about the middle of the bow.  The drawing gives dimensions for the locations of the ends at the bow.  They are from the center of the stringer connection the ribs.  I clamped on the square as a center line to measure from.

The little boxes are where the blocks are located which stop the tip end of the stick from sliding along the bow.  The dimensions are from the centerline to the other end of each block 4 9/16" foreward and 1 1/2" aft.  The blocks are 1 1/4" long, 1/2" wide, out of 1/2" birch plywood.  Why not just a block of spruce, it is what it is.


 The spar end of the sticks are in the corner of the solid rib and the spars.  I should have made the block on the spar, for the rib, wider so this end could be just square.  Although it may be glued in more securely this way.

The angles at  the tip had to be ground to fit.  The face against the block needs to be square to the face of the bow to be snug against the block.

 Same deal at the aft spar.


 Before these sticks get glued in they need to go through a hole in a gusset on the tip rib.  The TEN drawing shows these gussets but the hole is in the wrong place for the NINE.  The tip bows are shaped differently.

I found the holes easiest to cut with a Stanley knife, I know, it says Irwin not Stanley.  The scroll saw would have worked but it was quicker for 2 holes, with the knife, then to set up the saw, drill a starter hole, etc.  It worked best starting the cut in each corner, in each direction, on each side.  You can see the corners on the back after pushing through from the front.  The hole is 1/2" tall and about 9/16" wide.  I filed it to be a snug fit and then filed the sides at an angle until the gusset would naturally stay flat against the rib with the stick in position.

 I left the top and bottom long on these first gussets so I could figure out where the hole needs to be located.  I tried measuring but just couldn't see it well.
 The drawing says the gussets are 2" wide, with the hole centered fore and aft.  The forward one is 4 1/4" tall with the hole about 1 15/16" down from the top.  The aft one is 3 7/16" tall with the hole about 1 9/16" from the top.

I'll make the next ones with about 1/8" to 1/4" extra at each end and trim to fit.  The belt sander eats 1/16" plywood.


 Sticks, gussets and blocks ready to install.
 When I glued these in place I also added the remaining gussets for the tip rib behind the forward spar.  I had left them off earlier to make sure they didn't interfere with the stick gussets.


 Once I took the clamps off it looked to me like the forward stick should angle farther back along the tip bow.  Probably to about where the gusset will be in the middle of the "V" formed by the 2 forward rib gussets. 
Then I got even smarter and said gee I should see how all this compares to the original tip bow.  So I laid the old one on top of the new bow for a comparison.  That didn't help at all.  They had both sticks way farther forward than any drawing shows, go figure.  On the other wings I'm going to more nearly center the gusset because I think the end of that stick should be a little father aft.

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