Tiedown Bars   April 25th, 2007

The next step in the process is fabricating the tie down bars. These bolt on the spars and hold the rings used to tie the plane down.

You get a piece extruded aluminum with a hole in it, and you have to tap it for a 3/8 bolt. So, I borrowed a tap from work and got busy. First time I’ve used a tap…not much to it as long as you use some cutting oil…

I don’t have the actual tiedown rings, so I just bought some 3/8 bolts to try out my new taps. Pretty nice…

Behind each tiedown bar there are two spacers that support the bar. These have to be fabricated from aluminum stock. I bought an abrasive cutter at Harbor Freight for $30, and it sure beats a hacksaw for making quick, clean cuts.

After making the cuts, I put them on the belt sander to straighten and smooth up the edges.

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