Original Posted By: "Cinda Gadd"
Subject: Pietenpol-List: Glue JointsAnother thing that I do when gluing joints, using West System epoxy, is tomake a series of little indentations on each side of the joint using the corneredge of my wood chisel. This gives the joint some more surface area and"teeth." Seems to work very well.When I started building my Piet I made a test joint of 1-inch by 1-inchspruce in a typical longeron and upright joint with 1/8-inch ply gusset on=20bothsides. After only 24 hours I could not break the joint and so gave it to mypowerlifter son. Understand that he can squat or dead lift 500 pounds seeminglyeasier than I can lift 50 pounds! He could not separate the joint. I then tookahammer to the joint and only succeeded in breaking away the unsupportedgusset material. I have determined that this glue and method is airworthy --- notto mention that thousands of homebuilders have been using West System for yearsunder all kinds of conditions. But I've found that with all things having todo with airplanes, it doesn't hurt to be a little nervous...I started making the landing gear struts out of white ash the other day. Whatmade it special is that I'm using my great-grandfather's 1882 drawknife torough shape the leading and trailing edges of the white ash=E2=80=94basically justrounding off the corners but with a little more taper to the rear. (Wonder whatgreat-gramps would think of building an airplane=E2=80=94or airplanes in general!)A drawknife works very well for this task as long as it is sharp and you workwith the grain. (White ash will tell you very quickly if you're going againstthe grain.) I really felt a connection with the "old timers" using this method=E2=80=94no shrieking, growling power tools. Just a quiet swish, swish of sharpsteel. Very relaxing. But don't relax with a drawknife -- you wouldn't want=20tocutoff an important body part -- or stain that beautiful wood by bleeding allover it!Just think! Only four months, one week and a day or so to Brodhead '05! "Git'er done!"Fred B.________________________________________________________________________________