Carlson Skunk Works

October 23rd, 2007

AMF-14H Maranda SN:1026 Construction Log

Posted by Roger in AMF 14H Maranda SN1026, news

Well, there has been progress on the airplane and on the engine and on the shop and on the bathroom and …

What I am saying is that I have been busy!

So, the airframe is progressing in that all of the long ribs have been assembled. The first of the short ribs has been assembled as well, so we are onto the production of the next set of parts. Therefore, here are some pictures of the airplane parts.

Completed Long Ribs

First Short Rib

One of the small improvements that I made to my work area is to add “stilts” to my work table. I used some pieces of 2×4 and built extensions for the table legs to sit on. This raised the working height of the table top from 29 inches to 36 inches. This is a real back saver!

Table on Stilts

Closer View of Stilt

More Detail

Now, on to the engine! Progress has been made on disassembling the RH engine. Most of the external parts have been removed and we are waiting for the arrival of a nut splitter in order to remove the heads.

What has come off so far

I got the book “The Classic Corvair” by Bob Helt. In his book Bob suggested using a piece of 2×4 to make a parts holder for use during the engine rebuild. This was a fun and easy tool to build. I decided to make mine a bit bigger than what Bob had suggested and I think it looks rather impressive. It is really fun to have a nice place and method for keeping the parts from the valve train organized. I have a largish nail to hold each of the rockers, balls and nuts for each valve. As I removed each piece I put it on the holder in it’s place. I drilled a 3/8″ hole for each of the pushrods. I do think that one of my pushrods is bent.

Parts Holder

Here is where the prop will be installed eventually.

The Front of the Engine

Here is the back of the engine. If you look closely you will see some of the white aluminum oxide that I am finding to be quite common in this core. I will need to be very meticulous in cleaning it up.

The Back of the Engine

But I did mention the shop improvements as well. I needed more workbench space and I needed to start organizing the shop better. So I built an additional workbench. This one is fastened to the wall and is eight feet long. The shelf under the bench top will be used primarily for power tool storage. Right now I have my belt sander and some hand tools under there. I am busy using the scroll saw to make gifts and some tool parts like handles for pusher boards for doing small work on the table saw and router table.

The New Workbench

Speaking of the router table, it is done and it works! I still have to finish the fence, but it is usable in its current configuration. This is being used to build the doors for the bathroom cabinet. One thing I discovered is that I really need to have the vacuum port on my fence. Without the shop vac handy there gets to be so many shavings that they get under the part that I am currently working on and it can climb up and throw the cut quite a bit off. Anyway, here is a picture of the router table.

The Router Table

The router table is a homebuilt unit from a magazine article. It was originally intended to be clamped in a bench vice for use, but I don’t have a proper woodworking bench vise, so I build some legs to go under it. I mounted a switched outlet under the table on the left side. This is a switch and single outlet that is a single unit and fits in a regular switch box. I might replace this with a double switch box and put in a double outlet and a regular light switch so I can turn on both the router and the shop vac at the same time. It was a fun project and is proving to be very helpful. I expect that I will be making quite a bit of use of the router table for shaping parts for the airplane.

Now the background project that I have been “working” on since March! THE BATHROOM!!!

The Bathroom

Ok, so you can only see the toilet. My camera doesn’t have a wide angle lens and there isn’t enough room in there to get a good picture of the rest of the project. However, the new floor is in, the pedestal sink is in, the recessed medicine cabinet is in, the trim is installed and the cabinet is in. The only thing left is the doors for the cabinet and you can see the parts for them on the workbench if you look closely.

Well, that brings things up to date.

My wife and daughter will be at a women’s thing at church tonight, so my son and I are expecting to get a few more short ribs done. I will post more as progress is made.

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