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Refinishing ASW24



 
 
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  #21  
Old September 9th 20, 04:49 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Martin Gregorie[_6_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 699
Default Refinishing ASW24

On Wed, 09 Sep 2020 08:27:30 -0700, dtarmichael wrote:

I think he meant, use the Scotch to strip the gelcoat. That might
work...


Scotch is a bit smooth for that: use Hokonui, a bootleg spirit that used
to be (and maybe still is) brewed and distilled in the deep south of the
South Island, NZ. Rough as guts, traditionally sold in brown glass beer
bottles with a label showing an atomic mushroom cloud. It'll strip
anything, not just stomach linings.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

  #22  
Old September 9th 20, 07:29 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Chip Bearden[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 93
Default Refinishing ASW24

What UH said. He allowed me to supply a huge number of hours of work when we refinished my ASW 24 a few years ago. With two guys in the workshop (sometimes three), it was actually enjoyable sanding and talking soaring. But it takes a long time. I'm sure there's an easier way but I haven't talked to anyone over the years who's found it.

I recall there were spots--areas, actually--especially on the fuselage, where the gel coat just seemed a lot harder to sand than in other spots. And it was unrelated to whether it was over a seam where you would expect to encounter a slightly different gel coat/hardener ratio. Maybe it was where the factory had patched defects in the gel coat coming out of the molds?

One other thing--and I'll defer to UH and JJ on this--is that I wouldn't have started with the stab and elevators. The elevators and ailerons were the touchiest surfaces for me to sand, both removing old gel coat and finish sanding PU. The narrow chord combined with slightly concave surfaces meant it was really easy to sand through. And, of course, due to weight/mass balance considerations, we couldn't just spray on a whole bunch of stuff and sand some of it off. The sharper leading edge of the stab and the tight compound curves around the fairing for the rudder are a little fussy, also.

I had done some contouring/profiling on wings in previous years but was otherwise a rookie. If I were approaching it again, I would do it the way UH did. The first winter we did the fuselage (sans horizontal tail). The surfaces were big and relatively easy to sand and the consequences of slight imperfections were smaller. The compound curves, especially on the forward fuselage, were less of a problem than I had thought. In all, it was a good project on which to learn some technique.

The next winter we did the wings and tail. We were very careful with the wings because I think I have a "good" '24 and didn't want to have that little edge disappear in the dust. So we pulled leading edge templates from one wing and used those when applying the filler/primer. UH also wielded the grinder when we did the "B" leading edge mod and then we used templates to profile the outer portion of the wings where that applied (the leading edge is less sharp on the ASW 24B on the outer wings).

Sanding the big surfaces--fuselage and wings--went faster than I thought. My biggest mistake was not wanting to swap in new sandpaper often enough. It was still cutting but just not as fast. UH will laugh or be moved to tears for all the times he encouraged me to change paper and I declined.

It was a therapeutic, educational, and rewarding experience. And the glider still goes great and looks like new. We even did a few upgrades: e.g., UH's fuselage vent and filling in the factory water dump ports on the wings.

Chip Bearden
JB

  #23  
Old September 9th 20, 08:49 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 281
Default Refinishing ASW24

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 11:40:09 AM UTC-4, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Wed, 09 Sep 2020 04:06:05 -0700, wrote:

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 4:45:06 AM UTC-4, Colin Roney wrote:
Rum? Can`t stand it. It`s like drinking liquid rubber. Why not try a
good Scottish single malt whisky. Your working progress will benefit.
At 02:05 09 September 2020, Richard Pfiffner wrote:
On Tuesday, September 8, 2020 at 6:30:53 PM UTC-7,
wro=
te:
On Tuesday, September 8, 2020 at 9:14:39 PM UTC-4,

wro=
te:
Only used two boxes of band-aids on my fingers and drank two
bottles
of=
good Cuban rum.
So, can we assume that the R/B ratio of one bottle of rum to one
box
of=
Band-Aids can be used as a measure of performance? Try three bottles
of
ru=
m and report back with the results. If you end up needing a
tourniquet, ple=
ase let us know.
Mark, the ratio is consistent with the measure of pain! I liken this
orde=
al to a couple of other projects that I have tackled in the past, I
basical=
ly said to myself ,"What the hell did I do this for". The tourniquet
sugges=
tion is a great idea, not sure that it would stop the flow, but
certainly w=
ould prolong the suffering.=20
On to the next step in this ordeal, will be building back up with
filler
=
and primer and on to the final coat or two or three of acrylic
urethane the=
n sanding down to 3000 grit and buffing, I might need more rum.

If a low number grit does not easily take off the hard finish use a
finer g=
rit until it cuts easily then move to a 80 or 65 grit. An electric
grinder=
with adjustable speed is what I have used. In my opinion an orbital
is
no=
t needed. Use no pressure on the sander let the paper cut.

http://www.craggyaero.com/ventus.htm

Richard www.craggyaero.com

Thanks for the suggestion Colin, I could never forgive myself for
drinking Scottish Whiskey, I would be contributing to the Kennedy
dynasty and for that I could never forgive myself. Rum is much better,
we call it the juice of the Caribbean gods, many a pirate sailed these
blue waters while indulging it that fine roasted sugar cane fermented
nectar. I will keep your suggestion in mind just in case the rum gets
too depleted. Bob

Do the Kennedy Clan still have dibs on that post-Prohibition money-
spinner? Enquiring minds want to know.


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

Martin, I do believe that the Kennedy clan still gets royalties on every bottle of Scotch whiskey imported to this country. Just recently a Kennedy was finally defeated for political office in Mass, what took those people so long. Maybe that Kennedy could come on down and help sand gelcoat now that he is out of work.
  #24  
Old September 9th 20, 08:50 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
John Sinclair[_5_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 88
Default Refinishing ASW24

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 11:29:22 AM UTC-7, Chip Bearden wrote:
What UH said. He allowed me to supply a huge number of hours of work when we refinished my ASW 24 a few years ago. With two guys in the workshop (sometimes three), it was actually enjoyable sanding and talking soaring. But it takes a long time. I'm sure there's an easier way but I haven't talked to anyone over the years who's found it.

I recall there were spots--areas, actually--especially on the fuselage, where the gel coat just seemed a lot harder to sand than in other spots. And it was unrelated to whether it was over a seam where you would expect to encounter a slightly different gel coat/hardener ratio. Maybe it was where the factory had patched defects in the gel coat coming out of the molds?

One other thing--and I'll defer to UH and JJ on this--is that I wouldn't have started with the stab and elevators. The elevators and ailerons were the touchiest surfaces for me to sand, both removing old gel coat and finish sanding PU. The narrow chord combined with slightly concave surfaces meant it was really easy to sand through. And, of course, due to weight/mass balance considerations, we couldn't just spray on a whole bunch of stuff and sand some of it off. The sharper leading edge of the stab and the tight compound curves around the fairing for the rudder are a little fussy, also.

I had done some contouring/profiling on wings in previous years but was otherwise a rookie. If I were approaching it again, I would do it the way UH did. The first winter we did the fuselage (sans horizontal tail). The surfaces were big and relatively easy to sand and the consequences of slight imperfections were smaller. The compound curves, especially on the forward fuselage, were less of a problem than I had thought. In all, it was a good project on which to learn some technique.

The next winter we did the wings and tail. We were very careful with the wings because I think I have a "good" '24 and didn't want to have that little edge disappear in the dust. So we pulled leading edge templates from one wing and used those when applying the filler/primer. UH also wielded the grinder when we did the "B" leading edge mod and then we used templates to profile the outer portion of the wings where that applied (the leading edge is less sharp on the ASW 24B on the outer wings).

Sanding the big surfaces--fuselage and wings--went faster than I thought. My biggest mistake was not wanting to swap in new sandpaper often enough. It was still cutting but just not as fast. UH will laugh or be moved to tears for all the times he encouraged me to change paper and I declined.

It was a therapeutic, educational, and rewarding experience. And the glider still goes great and looks like new. We even did a few upgrades: e.g., UH's fuselage vent and filling in the factory water dump ports on the wings.

Chip Bearden




Roger on changing sanding pads often .........they’re expensive, but nothing compared to what the labor is costing. Also a good idea to weigh the controls before starting and check and record the trailing edge weight (balance). Easy on the prime and paint on all control surfaces. I have had to sand off and repaint controls that didn’t check out after painting. Use a respirator when spraying AU! If you smell the stuff, your killing brain cells!
Enjoy!
JJ
  #25  
Old September 9th 20, 08:57 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Martin Gregorie[_6_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 699
Default Refinishing ASW24

On Wed, 09 Sep 2020 12:49:27 -0700, wrote:

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 11:40:09 AM UTC-4, Martin Gregorie
wrote:
On Wed, 09 Sep 2020 04:06:05 -0700, wrote:

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 4:45:06 AM UTC-4, Colin Roney
wrote:
Rum? Can`t stand it. It`s like drinking liquid rubber. Why not try a
good Scottish single malt whisky. Your working progress will
benefit.
At 02:05 09 September 2020, Richard Pfiffner wrote:
On Tuesday, September 8, 2020 at 6:30:53 PM UTC-7,
wro=
te:
On Tuesday, September 8, 2020 at 9:14:39 PM UTC-4,

wro=
te:
Only used two boxes of band-aids on my fingers and drank two
bottles
of=
good Cuban rum.
So, can we assume that the R/B ratio of one bottle of rum to
one box
of=
Band-Aids can be used as a measure of performance? Try three
bottles of
ru=
m and report back with the results. If you end up needing a
tourniquet, ple=
ase let us know.
Mark, the ratio is consistent with the measure of pain! I liken
this
orde=
al to a couple of other projects that I have tackled in the past, I
basical=
ly said to myself ,"What the hell did I do this for". The
tourniquet sugges=
tion is a great idea, not sure that it would stop the flow, but
certainly w=
ould prolong the suffering.=20
On to the next step in this ordeal, will be building back up with
filler
=
and primer and on to the final coat or two or three of acrylic
urethane the=
n sanding down to 3000 grit and buffing, I might need more rum.

If a low number grit does not easily take off the hard finish use a
finer g=
rit until it cuts easily then move to a 80 or 65 grit. An electric
grinder=
with adjustable speed is what I have used. In my opinion an
orbital is
no=
t needed. Use no pressure on the sander let the paper cut.

http://www.craggyaero.com/ventus.htm

Richard www.craggyaero.com

Thanks for the suggestion Colin, I could never forgive myself for
drinking Scottish Whiskey, I would be contributing to the Kennedy
dynasty and for that I could never forgive myself. Rum is much
better, we call it the juice of the Caribbean gods, many a pirate
sailed these blue waters while indulging it that fine roasted sugar
cane fermented nectar. I will keep your suggestion in mind just in
case the rum gets too depleted. Bob

Do the Kennedy Clan still have dibs on that post-Prohibition money-
spinner? Enquiring minds want to know.


--
Martin | martin at Gregorie | gregorie dot org

Martin, I do believe that the Kennedy clan still gets royalties on
every bottle of Scotch whiskey imported to this country. Just recently
a Kennedy was finally defeated for political office in Mass, what took
those people so long. Maybe that Kennedy could come on down and help
sand gelcoat now that he is out of work.


:-)


--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

  #26  
Old September 9th 20, 08:58 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 281
Default Refinishing ASW24

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 2:29:22 PM UTC-4, Chip Bearden wrote:
What UH said. He allowed me to supply a huge number of hours of work when we refinished my ASW 24 a few years ago. With two guys in the workshop (sometimes three), it was actually enjoyable sanding and talking soaring. But it takes a long time. I'm sure there's an easier way but I haven't talked to anyone over the years who's found it.

I recall there were spots--areas, actually--especially on the fuselage, where the gel coat just seemed a lot harder to sand than in other spots. And it was unrelated to whether it was over a seam where you would expect to encounter a slightly different gel coat/hardener ratio. Maybe it was where the factory had patched defects in the gel coat coming out of the molds?

One other thing--and I'll defer to UH and JJ on this--is that I wouldn't have started with the stab and elevators. The elevators and ailerons were the touchiest surfaces for me to sand, both removing old gel coat and finish sanding PU. The narrow chord combined with slightly concave surfaces meant it was really easy to sand through. And, of course, due to weight/mass balance considerations, we couldn't just spray on a whole bunch of stuff and sand some of it off. The sharper leading edge of the stab and the tight compound curves around the fairing for the rudder are a little fussy, also.

I had done some contouring/profiling on wings in previous years but was otherwise a rookie. If I were approaching it again, I would do it the way UH did. The first winter we did the fuselage (sans horizontal tail). The surfaces were big and relatively easy to sand and the consequences of slight imperfections were smaller. The compound curves, especially on the forward fuselage, were less of a problem than I had thought. In all, it was a good project on which to learn some technique.

The next winter we did the wings and tail. We were very careful with the wings because I think I have a "good" '24 and didn't want to have that little edge disappear in the dust. So we pulled leading edge templates from one wing and used those when applying the filler/primer. UH also wielded the grinder when we did the "B" leading edge mod and then we used templates to profile the outer portion of the wings where that applied (the leading edge is less sharp on the ASW 24B on the outer wings).

Sanding the big surfaces--fuselage and wings--went faster than I thought. My biggest mistake was not wanting to swap in new sandpaper often enough. It was still cutting but just not as fast. UH will laugh or be moved to tears for all the times he encouraged me to change paper and I declined.

It was a therapeutic, educational, and rewarding experience. And the glider still goes great and looks like new. We even did a few upgrades: e.g., UH's fuselage vent and filling in the factory water dump ports on the wings.

Chip Bearden
JB

Chip, the therapeutic part of this comes from me not listening to the wife complaining about not being able to fly her glider. The educational part derives from my approach to spending more time doing things than required, but they are done correctly. The rewarding part of this ordeal is that I know P1 would be happy to see the old girl looking great again.
  #27  
Old September 9th 20, 10:08 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Chip Bearden[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 93
Default Refinishing ASW24

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 3:50:55 PM UTC-4, John Sinclair wrote:
On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 11:29:22 AM UTC-7, Chip Bearden wrote:
What UH said. He allowed me to supply a huge number of hours of work when we refinished my ASW 24 a few years ago. With two guys in the workshop (sometimes three), it was actually enjoyable sanding and talking soaring. But it takes a long time. I'm sure there's an easier way but I haven't talked to anyone over the years who's found it.

I recall there were spots--areas, actually--especially on the fuselage, where the gel coat just seemed a lot harder to sand than in other spots. And it was unrelated to whether it was over a seam where you would expect to encounter a slightly different gel coat/hardener ratio. Maybe it was where the factory had patched defects in the gel coat coming out of the molds?

One other thing--and I'll defer to UH and JJ on this--is that I wouldn't have started with the stab and elevators. The elevators and ailerons were the touchiest surfaces for me to sand, both removing old gel coat and finish sanding PU. The narrow chord combined with slightly concave surfaces meant it was really easy to sand through. And, of course, due to weight/mass balance considerations, we couldn't just spray on a whole bunch of stuff and sand some of it off. The sharper leading edge of the stab and the tight compound curves around the fairing for the rudder are a little fussy, also.

I had done some contouring/profiling on wings in previous years but was otherwise a rookie. If I were approaching it again, I would do it the way UH did. The first winter we did the fuselage (sans horizontal tail). The surfaces were big and relatively easy to sand and the consequences of slight imperfections were smaller. The compound curves, especially on the forward fuselage, were less of a problem than I had thought. In all, it was a good project on which to learn some technique.

The next winter we did the wings and tail. We were very careful with the wings because I think I have a "good" '24 and didn't want to have that little edge disappear in the dust. So we pulled leading edge templates from one wing and used those when applying the filler/primer. UH also wielded the grinder when we did the "B" leading edge mod and then we used templates to profile the outer portion of the wings where that applied (the leading edge is less sharp on the ASW 24B on the outer wings).

Sanding the big surfaces--fuselage and wings--went faster than I thought. My biggest mistake was not wanting to swap in new sandpaper often enough.. It was still cutting but just not as fast. UH will laugh or be moved to tears for all the times he encouraged me to change paper and I declined.

It was a therapeutic, educational, and rewarding experience. And the glider still goes great and looks like new. We even did a few upgrades: e.g., UH's fuselage vent and filling in the factory water dump ports on the wings.

Chip Bearden

Roger on changing sanding pads often .........they’re expensive, but nothing compared to what the labor is costing. Also a good idea to weigh the controls before starting and check and record the trailing edge weight (balance). Easy on the prime and paint on all control surfaces. I have had to sand off and repaint controls that didn’t check out after painting. Use a respirator when spraying AU! If you smell the stuff, your killing brain cells!
Enjoy!
JJ


Agreed, JJ, although UH might argue that my labor cost was pretty low. Or high, depending on whether he still recalls what a PIA I was worrying about tinkering with the airfoil.

We took it VERY easy on the control surfaces and actually came out a little to the good, IIRC, when measured against factory specs. The downside was more than one sand through. IIRC, he finally finished off the last elevator and winglet when I was at my real job one day rather than take a chance on another sanding/spraying/sanding cycle with me on the job! My hat is off to you guys who do/have done this full time. It's a huge amount of work and a few seconds of inattention can result in hours more.

UH did the spraying but I hung around to watch a bit. Respirator, of course, and he was wearing the full positive pressure treatment. I also wore a pretty effective dust mask when dry sanding (old gel coat). I had one left over that I tossed in my toolbox. When the 'Rona first hit, I went downstairs and checked: sure enough, N95. I haven't been able to find any more since then, though.

My one physical effect was "trigger finger" from clutching sandpaper on rubber sanding blocks with all the finish sanding I did. It took over six months to go away from the fingers of both hands.

JB
  #28  
Old September 10th 20, 12:02 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Papa3[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 753
Default Refinishing ASW24

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 5:08:11 PM UTC-4, Chip Bearden wrote:
On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 3:50:55 PM UTC-4, John Sinclair wrote:
On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 11:29:22 AM UTC-7, Chip Bearden wrote:
What UH said. He allowed me to supply a huge number of hours of work when we refinished my ASW 24 a few years ago. With two guys in the workshop (sometimes three), it was actually enjoyable sanding and talking soaring. But it takes a long time. I'm sure there's an easier way but I haven't talked to anyone over the years who's found it.

I recall there were spots--areas, actually--especially on the fuselage, where the gel coat just seemed a lot harder to sand than in other spots. And it was unrelated to whether it was over a seam where you would expect to encounter a slightly different gel coat/hardener ratio. Maybe it was where the factory had patched defects in the gel coat coming out of the molds?

One other thing--and I'll defer to UH and JJ on this--is that I wouldn't have started with the stab and elevators. The elevators and ailerons were the touchiest surfaces for me to sand, both removing old gel coat and finish sanding PU. The narrow chord combined with slightly concave surfaces meant it was really easy to sand through. And, of course, due to weight/mass balance considerations, we couldn't just spray on a whole bunch of stuff and sand some of it off. The sharper leading edge of the stab and the tight compound curves around the fairing for the rudder are a little fussy, also.

I had done some contouring/profiling on wings in previous years but was otherwise a rookie. If I were approaching it again, I would do it the way UH did. The first winter we did the fuselage (sans horizontal tail). The surfaces were big and relatively easy to sand and the consequences of slight imperfections were smaller. The compound curves, especially on the forward fuselage, were less of a problem than I had thought. In all, it was a good project on which to learn some technique.

The next winter we did the wings and tail. We were very careful with the wings because I think I have a "good" '24 and didn't want to have that little edge disappear in the dust. So we pulled leading edge templates from one wing and used those when applying the filler/primer. UH also wielded the grinder when we did the "B" leading edge mod and then we used templates to profile the outer portion of the wings where that applied (the leading edge is less sharp on the ASW 24B on the outer wings).

Sanding the big surfaces--fuselage and wings--went faster than I thought. My biggest mistake was not wanting to swap in new sandpaper often enough. It was still cutting but just not as fast. UH will laugh or be moved to tears for all the times he encouraged me to change paper and I declined.

It was a therapeutic, educational, and rewarding experience. And the glider still goes great and looks like new. We even did a few upgrades: e.g.., UH's fuselage vent and filling in the factory water dump ports on the wings.

Chip Bearden

Roger on changing sanding pads often .........they’re expensive, but nothing compared to what the labor is costing. Also a good idea to weigh the controls before starting and check and record the trailing edge weight (balance). Easy on the prime and paint on all control surfaces. I have had to sand off and repaint controls that didn’t check out after painting. Use a respirator when spraying AU! If you smell the stuff, your killing brain cells!
Enjoy!
JJ

Agreed, JJ, although UH might argue that my labor cost was pretty low. Or high, depending on whether he still recalls what a PIA I was worrying about tinkering with the airfoil.

We took it VERY easy on the control surfaces and actually came out a little to the good, IIRC, when measured against factory specs. The downside was more than one sand through. IIRC, he finally finished off the last elevator and winglet when I was at my real job one day rather than take a chance on another sanding/spraying/sanding cycle with me on the job! My hat is off to you guys who do/have done this full time. It's a huge amount of work and a few seconds of inattention can result in hours more.

UH did the spraying but I hung around to watch a bit. Respirator, of course, and he was wearing the full positive pressure treatment. I also wore a pretty effective dust mask when dry sanding (old gel coat). I had one left over that I tossed in my toolbox. When the 'Rona first hit, I went downstairs and checked: sure enough, N95. I haven't been able to find any more since then, though.

My one physical effect was "trigger finger" from clutching sandpaper on rubber sanding blocks with all the finish sanding I did. It took over six months to go away from the fingers of both hands.

JB


Now on my fourth refinish project in a club environment, I'll just say that it's an acquired taste. The fun part doing it with a club is that you can sometimes enlist lots of help. Our record is 10 (ten! ) RO sanders all grinding away at once on a pair of Grob Twin wings. Makes fast work of a really nasty project. The downside is managing "free" labor. You pretty quickly identify three sub-groups:

- Those who get it. A few minutes of dual and you're okay letting them work more-or-less independently until a new skill is required.
- Specialists. They lose interest in the boring stuff, but they can be counted on to spin a wrench or work on tricky sub-projects (like divebrake caps or control surfaces).
- Gophers. These are the ones who really want to help, but end up creating twice as much work with sand-throughs, flat spots, or destroying equipment. I assign them critical tasks like going to get lunch/beer or making hardware store runs.

Speaking of which... off to the shop tomorrow or Friday to put a couple coats of primer on LS3 Flaperons. Now there's a crazy-ass piece of work...

P3


  #29  
Old September 10th 20, 12:35 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 51
Default Refinishing ASW24


Now on my fourth refinish project in a club environment, I'll just say that it's an acquired taste.
P3


If you can taste it, your mask is on wrong!
  #30  
Old September 11th 20, 12:22 AM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 281
Default Refinishing ASW24

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 5:08:11 PM UTC-4, Chip Bearden wrote:
On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 3:50:55 PM UTC-4, John Sinclair wrote:
On Wednesday, September 9, 2020 at 11:29:22 AM UTC-7, Chip Bearden wrote:
What UH said. He allowed me to supply a huge number of hours of work when we refinished my ASW 24 a few years ago. With two guys in the workshop (sometimes three), it was actually enjoyable sanding and talking soaring. But it takes a long time. I'm sure there's an easier way but I haven't talked to anyone over the years who's found it.

I recall there were spots--areas, actually--especially on the fuselage, where the gel coat just seemed a lot harder to sand than in other spots. And it was unrelated to whether it was over a seam where you would expect to encounter a slightly different gel coat/hardener ratio. Maybe it was where the factory had patched defects in the gel coat coming out of the molds?

One other thing--and I'll defer to UH and JJ on this--is that I wouldn't have started with the stab and elevators. The elevators and ailerons were the touchiest surfaces for me to sand, both removing old gel coat and finish sanding PU. The narrow chord combined with slightly concave surfaces meant it was really easy to sand through. And, of course, due to weight/mass balance considerations, we couldn't just spray on a whole bunch of stuff and sand some of it off. The sharper leading edge of the stab and the tight compound curves around the fairing for the rudder are a little fussy, also.

I had done some contouring/profiling on wings in previous years but was otherwise a rookie. If I were approaching it again, I would do it the way UH did. The first winter we did the fuselage (sans horizontal tail). The surfaces were big and relatively easy to sand and the consequences of slight imperfections were smaller. The compound curves, especially on the forward fuselage, were less of a problem than I had thought. In all, it was a good project on which to learn some technique.

The next winter we did the wings and tail. We were very careful with the wings because I think I have a "good" '24 and didn't want to have that little edge disappear in the dust. So we pulled leading edge templates from one wing and used those when applying the filler/primer. UH also wielded the grinder when we did the "B" leading edge mod and then we used templates to profile the outer portion of the wings where that applied (the leading edge is less sharp on the ASW 24B on the outer wings).

Sanding the big surfaces--fuselage and wings--went faster than I thought. My biggest mistake was not wanting to swap in new sandpaper often enough. It was still cutting but just not as fast. UH will laugh or be moved to tears for all the times he encouraged me to change paper and I declined.

It was a therapeutic, educational, and rewarding experience. And the glider still goes great and looks like new. We even did a few upgrades: e.g.., UH's fuselage vent and filling in the factory water dump ports on the wings.

Chip Bearden

Roger on changing sanding pads often .........they’re expensive, but nothing compared to what the labor is costing. Also a good idea to weigh the controls before starting and check and record the trailing edge weight (balance). Easy on the prime and paint on all control surfaces. I have had to sand off and repaint controls that didn’t check out after painting. Use a respirator when spraying AU! If you smell the stuff, your killing brain cells!
Enjoy!
JJ

Agreed, JJ, although UH might argue that my labor cost was pretty low. Or high, depending on whether he still recalls what a PIA I was worrying about tinkering with the airfoil.

We took it VERY easy on the control surfaces and actually came out a little to the good, IIRC, when measured against factory specs. The downside was more than one sand through. IIRC, he finally finished off the last elevator and winglet when I was at my real job one day rather than take a chance on another sanding/spraying/sanding cycle with me on the job! My hat is off to you guys who do/have done this full time. It's a huge amount of work and a few seconds of inattention can result in hours more.

UH did the spraying but I hung around to watch a bit. Respirator, of course, and he was wearing the full positive pressure treatment. I also wore a pretty effective dust mask when dry sanding (old gel coat). I had one left over that I tossed in my toolbox. When the 'Rona first hit, I went downstairs and checked: sure enough, N95. I haven't been able to find any more since then, though.

My one physical effect was "trigger finger" from clutching sandpaper on rubber sanding blocks with all the finish sanding I did. It took over six months to go away from the fingers of both hands.

JB

Well the end is in sight, I am spraying the final coats of primer and sanding down to a super smooth and blemish free surface prior to spraying paint. I should be finished this weekend and work toward balancing the elevators and then on to sealing and a final check. I am trying to find the balance specs on the 24, if anyone has them it would be greatly appreciated. Bob
 




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