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Larry Winger's 601XL Project
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Date: 2-25-2007
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Number of Hours: 3.25
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Manual Reference: 6W3
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Brief Description: Completed pre-drillling right bottom cap and doubl
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The hardest part of this next step was setting up for the drill press to be level and at the right height relative to the work table. My goal was to be able to keep all my matched holes straight and perpendicular while holding the metal perfectly flat. Feeding the caps/doublers through the drill press in its native form is an invitation to disaster as the pieces bow. The answer was either to cut a hole in the middle of the table and stick the drill press column (without the head) through the hole, level the base, and reattach the drill press head. While I think this idea from Debo Cox is great, I opted for the simpler solution that I've seen several other builders use. I simply put a welded outdoor flower stand near the edge of the table, added a couple of pieces of plywood for additional height and strength, leveled the unit, and then cranked the drill press table firmly under the edge of the work table. Solid...and easy to put together or take apart. I broke in my new shop arrangement with #40 holes in the bottom spar cap on the right wing. After checking to see that they completely matched with the original web through which I spot drilled the cap, I then lined it up with the rear spar doubler and drilled through the cap to the doubler, clecoing every other hole to prevent bowing or misalignment. When I was finished, I couldn't resist clecoing the aluminum sandwich together for show and tell. All the holes aligned perfectly and I am already impressed with the rigidity and strength of Chris Heintz's spar design. It's pretty heavy, even with only just one spar car and doubler. Double that -- plus hat stiffeners, rib angles and spar cap angles, and I can see that these are going to be substantial pieces of flying hardware.
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My table-adjacent drill press
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Match drilling through the pre-drilled cap to the doubler
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End shot
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