The little block plane worked well for shaping the leading edge. When I was routing the spars I rounded the corners on it. That really helped with this job. When I got to a rib the plane slid right across it without catching on it.
The plane leaves slight corners because it only makes flat cuts. A 10" bastard file knocked the corners down nicely.
I finished up with the 150 grit sand paper I used for the spar routing.
It was quick and easy, and the shape came out perfect.
On the tip bow I found my trusty disc sander was perfect for removing large amounts of wood. I used a 36 grit disc and a very light touch. This is what I use for sharpening and balancing lawn mower blades, so I use it regularly. Once I roughed it down I used the plane, file and sand paper to finish it.
I had a spot where I let one of the laminations slip out of alignment during the gluing. I made some filler with sawdust and T-88. It sanded down to a nice smooth finish. The glue does clog a file, so you need to keep cleaning it with a file card.
It really does look like a wing now.
I used the band file to shape the ends of the corner blocks so they will not show through the fabric covering.
Any edge of a block which might touch fabric was chamfered to soften the corner.
The leading edge corner of the plywood wing walk stuck out slightly past the leading edge wood.
It also had a slight gap because I finished the edge flush with the face of the nose ribs.
The block plane is nice and sharp so it was easy to use it to smooth the corner flush with the leading edge.
I used the wood filler I made to fill the gap, leaving a very smooth finish.
I'm looking forward to doing all this on the next wing.
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