Welding Rudder Bar

 The brake pedal tubes form an angle of 82 degrees to hold them aligned while welding I made a fixture from a piece of 3/16" steel and some hose clamps.  I drilled and filed holes for the clamps.  I found that having the clamps tight to the fixture prevented the tubes from moving and made it easier to align them.

I left a 1/32" gap between the tubes. I thing about 3/64" would have made welding easier with 0.065" wall tubes.

 The little tabs at the end of the brake pedals are the heel stops.  They're made form 0.065" steel and are basically 3/4 of a round slug.

 I found an easy way to hold the Safety Stops on the ends of the Rudder Bar.  I just used a piece of 0.032" safety wire to hold them until I had tacked them on.

 To hold the Pivot Bearing square to the Rudder Bar I used the fixture plate from the Brake Pedals and bolted the Bearing Tube to it.  I put 1/4" spacers under the Rudder Bar and clamped it to the plate to hold everything while I welded it.  I was able to weld about 3/4 of the way around before I had to remove the fixture to get at the area it blocked.

To hold the Bearing Support tubes in place while I tacked them to the bearing I placed a small magnet at each end on the Rudder Bar.  Once they were tacked to the bearing I removed the magnets and tacked them to the bar and finished the welds.  We're getting there.

Rudder Bar Parts Finished

 The only complex part is the diagonal brace for the Clip (bracket) which the brake cable attaches to.  John is planning to install hydraulic brakes.  I've drawn both brackets and drilled the hole 1/2", my largest drill size.  The big hole fits loosely over the end of the small end of the "L" shaped brake pedal tube (5/8").  I drilled the holes before using the band saw to cut to the parts because it's easier to hold a bigger piece of metal.

You can see in the picture I scribed a line for the 11/16" hole.

 With the parts cut out,  I clamped them in the vise and used a rat tail file to open the holes to the line.  By using as large a file as will fit it's easier to get a round hole.

After filing I used a 5/8" sanding drum to smooth the holes and then deburred the edges.

 There is a drawing which says to bend the end with the hole 55 degrees and one which says 60 degrees.  I chose 60 degrees since it was the later drawing and I assume they simply corrected an error in the original design, who knows.  I could have drawn this all out in 3D CAD but decided it was quicker to make new parts if I'm wrong.

I made a form block for the bend from a piece of Oak.  I gripped the hole end because of the very short space from the hole to the bend.  This probably would have worked better with a steel block to grip that short section better.

 For the long bend I made a steel block by grinding a 3 degree bevel on a piece of 1/2" x 1" bar stock and the putting a 1/16" radius on the corner. The ends of the block had to be cut to fit the angle of the end with the hole.  Because this is 0.065" steel, I had to support the block in the vice with a piece of wood.  As with other parts I used a piece of hardwood to hammer the bend.

 Here are all the parts for the Brake Pedal Rudder Bar.  The are a few pieces for the cable pulley which I did not make because John will be using hydraulic brakes.

 The pedal parts.  The drawing says to weld the diagonal brace to the bracket after the pedal is installed on the rudder bar.  The end with the hole slips over the tube and is held in place with a cotter pin.

The partial washers at the end of the pedal are to keep the heel from sliding off.
I found a later drawing which show that I formed the bullet end the way they did it at the factory, very cool.

 This photo shows the pedal bearing tube and it's brace bracket.  The small tube to the left of it is a stop for the pedal.  It's not clear from the drawing how it mounts.  I assume it will be obvious once the pedal is welded on.

This is the Rudder Bar Pivot Bearing.  Not only is it a heavier tube than the standard bearing it also gets an extra brace made from 0.065" sheet steel.

The next task is to weld all these.

Rudder Bar Parts (Post 3)

The clamps seemed to be at their limit with the 0.035" walled tubing for the standard Rudder Bar.  The 0.049" walled tube for the bar with brake pedals is just too strong to flatten with clamps alone.  I replaced the 2 clamps at the end with my vise and it worked fine.  It didn't flatten it as straight a line as the thinner tubing, you can see the bend in the plywood blocks.  A little work with the rawhide mallet made it straight.
To align the second end I clamped a stick to the first end and aligned it with the jaws of the vice.

On the long tubes for the pedals the end is closed with a bullet shape.  The drawing doesn't give a clue how they did it.  I made cross cuts 5/8" deep to divide the end into 4 tabs.

Next I drew the shape I wanted for each tab to allow them to be bent over to the bullet shape

I cut the shape with the band saw by tipping the tube so I only cut on one side at a time.  You can also use the saw like a file to slowly work the shape.

The end hammered over nicely.  Now I need to weld is shut.

The pedal is "L" shaped except the angle is 82 degrees instead of 90.

 To make the miter cuts on the pedal tubes I cut the angle at about 45 degrees with the band saw and then used the belt sander to grind it to 41 degrees.  To set the miter angle I made a 41 degree gauge block.

You can see the angle of the "L" better in the finished parts.

Rudder Bar Parts (Post 2)

 The ends of the rudder bar are flattened to fit a piece of 3/8" dia. tube.  To do this I cut some scrap pieces of 3/4" plywood.  To help center the blocks on the tube and align the 2 ends I supported the tube on a piece of plywood.  I made the blocks 2 1/2" wide x 5" long, the taper is for 4 7/8".  If I were to do this again I would make the blocks wider to make clamping them easier.  The idea is you tighten the end clamp to flatten the tube.  It works fine but you need more clamps to get enough force, so wider blocks would give more room

  I made the blocks 2 1/2" wide x 5" long, the taper is for 4 7/8".  If I were to do this again I would make the blocks wider to make clamping them easier.  The idea is you tighten the end clamp to flatten the tube.  It works fine but you need more clamps to get enough force, so wider blocks would give more room.  If the blocks were about 4" wide you could have 2 clamps at the end with a little leverage from the wider blocks you would need less clamping force.
The end springs back about 1/16" so you need to over shoot.

 The second end was done the same while keeping the 2 ends reasonably aligned.

 The flattened end needs a notch for the tube.  You could cut it with snip on the .035" tube.  I find it as easy to cut a starter notch with the band saw and the file it with a 3/8" rat tail file.

You don't need to file into the flat sections.  Having the full thickness of the tube wall makes welding easier.

 The little tube at the end is a Safety Tip to keep your feet from sliding off.

I notched the front and back of the Rudder Bar tube so I made the Safety Tip long enough to set the full width.

After I made them I realized the factory only notched the front of the bar and let the Safety Tip end a little forward of the back of the Bar.  I'll do that on the bar for John.

 The both ends of the Safety Tip are welded shut.  On the back end I hammered the end closed a little to save some welding.  You just cut a notch with the band saw and hammer it closed.  The smaller the gap the eaiser to fill it with welding rod.

The other end of the tube is cut at 45 degrees.  It was easier to rough cut it on the band saw and then grind the angle with the belt sander.

 The finished support tubes and the way each end is finished.

The cut end welds to the bearing tube and the closed end welds to the Rudder Bar.

 The pivot bearings for the Rudder Bar.

The smaller one is 7/8" x 0.065" tubing for the standard bar.

The larger one is 1" x 0.125" tubing for the Rudder Bar with brakes.  Because of the brakes there are loads twisting the bar.

Here are the parts for the Standard Rudder Bar ready to weld.

New Rudder Bars - Main Tubes & Clips

 Because the front of the fuselage was cut off, I didn't have a rudder bar for the front cockpit.  I was able to purchase one but it is bent.  I could straighten it but I've decided to just make a new one while making a bar for John LeBlanc.

 As part of my trade with John I owe him a rudder bar with heel brake pedals.  The factory made at least 3 different versions of this rudder bar.  The three versions I've found seem to be the same except for the length of the bar.  I've chosen the bar which is 28 1/4" long.
It looks just like the standard bar with the pedals added.  It's actually a longer bar and the main tube is made of 0.049" tubing vs the 0.035" tubing on the standard bar which is 25 1/4" long.

 I started by cutting lengths of tubing for the main tubes.

Next, the standard bar has small clips (tabs) to locate the rudder cables.  These clips are just pieces of 0.095" steel cut 3/8" x 5/8" with a #38 hole drilled 7/16" from the end welded to the bar.

 The end with the hole is rounded.  To do that, I drilled a hole in a scrap of wood and used the belt sander to round the ends like I did for the floor clips.

You can see here the cable attaches to a steel loop which is held in place by the clips.