20B Panel

On Feb 16, 9:45*pm, brianDG303 wrote:
On Feb 16, 9:35*pm, brianDG303 wrote:





On Feb 16, 5:15*pm, Richard wrote:

On Feb 16, 2:19*pm, jcarlyle wrote:

Hi Guys
Does anyone have a 20B panel outline file that will work in Auto CAD
program. The 20B has a completely rounded top a flat bottom and steps
on both sides. *It is different than a 19, 20A, and is the same as a
20C.
Thanks Norm

I would also be interested if anyone has a .dxf *or *.pdf

Richardwww.craggyaero.com

There is a crude hack I've used from time to time, take a photo from
about 10 feet away and import that into autocad as an image file, then
scale to the correct dimension. I would want to check it against the
original before sending out to the water jet or laser people but it
can be useful. Send me the photo and accurate measurements at critical
points and I'll scale it for you.

Hey Kevin,
I just realized you were one of the people in this thread, and that
you were talking about working on your panel. If I get a photo to
scale I'll plot it out full size and we could check it against your
ship. If a few people wanted them we could send the file off to my
cutter and he could water or laser them pretty cheap. What's the cool
material to cut them out of?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Brian,

I would recommend fiberglass or aluminum. Fiberglass is the easiest
to work with and if you have mistakes it is easy to recoupe. Stay
away from carbon fibre if you are drilling or sawing on your own. It
is hard on drills and saws and can easily splinter.

Do the finish after you have all the holes cut. I coat my panels with
Stone Finish (available at Home Depot) and then bake them in the
oven. Make sure the wife is gone. Preheat to 200F turnoff place
panel in the oven. Don't miss the turnoff! If you want a flat black
over the stone finish use wood stove high heat flat black spray paint
(Home Depot again) do the bake again.

Some pictures of the finish at

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

Richard
www.craggyaero.com



Richard
www.craggyaero.com

Do you use the panel image as a template and "trace" over it with
splines?
Didn't know a raster image could be used to program a cutting tool!

Brad

Have to trace it, yes. I have no idea what the file would do to a
water jet and I don't want to find out.

If you haven't found a shop to fabricate the panels, take a look at
this website www.emachineshop.com. You download their version of
autocad, draw your part, select materials, click, click, pay,
delivery. Three guys here ordered panels to spread out the set-up
cost and I recall it was about $120/each for 3mm aluminum nicely laser
cut. They also have water jet and every other process. I have no
affiliation with this company, just think it's a cool option for
projects.
~Barny

With all the talk about computer generated panels, I would offer this.
It is quite easy to redo an old fiberglass panel.............just
grind the back of the panel down until its paper thin, then clamp a
smooth surface to the front (I use a clean hunk of aluminum), then lay
in 3 layers of medium cloth (92125) and after its cured, pop off the
front piece and you have a clean, flat new panel to drill what and
where you like. I use hole-saws in a drill press (drilling from the
rear) Tidy up any minor depressions with bondo, prime and paint with
flat-black spray can. The original panel mounting holes can be drilled
out again and everything fits back in the cockpit with mininum hassle.
Cheers,
JJ

On Feb 17, 10:01*am, Richard wrote:

I would recommend fiberglass or aluminum. *Fiberglass is the easiest
to work with and if you have mistakes it is easy to recoupe. * *

While there may be some gliders that were designed with metal panels,
and some of them may use the panel as a structural member, I think
it's generally accepted that fiberglass panels are safer in a crash
than metal panels.

Of course if you never crash it's not an issue.

Andy

On Feb 18, 7:03*am, JJ Sinclair wrote:
I use hole-saws in a drill press (drilling from the
rear)

Why drill from the rear? I was so sure that cutting and drilling from
the front would be better that I cut a wood spacer to fit inside my 28
panel so it was properly supported. It was much easier to measure
and mark the open face than it would have been to work under the lip.
What did I miss?

Maybe I'm mixing up front and rear. I'm assuming the front face of my
panel faces aft, or to the rear of the glider.

Andy

At 16:43 18 February 2009, Andy wrote:
On Feb 18, 7:03=A0am, JJ Sinclair wrote:
I use hole-saws in a drill press (drilling from the
rear)

Why drill from the rear? I was so sure that cutting and drilling from
the front would be better that I cut a wood spacer to fit inside my 28
panel so it was properly supported. It was much easier to measure
and mark the open face than it would have been to work under the lip.
What did I miss?

Maybe I'm mixing up front and rear. I'm assuming the front face of my
panel faces aft, or to the rear of the glider.

Andy
andy; cut holes from the side that you look at,while flying ( the
molded/finished side) and be sure to lay out the inst. mounting holes from
the centre that the hole saw will use. the back of the panel will be rough
and uneven, set up the hole saw so that the drill goes into your wood
block to act as a pilot hole.I use hole saws that have a single carbide
cutting tool and only cut inst holes with them. Paul

On Feb 18, 1:15*pm, Paul Weeden wrote:
andy; cut holes from the side that you look at,while flying ( the
molded/finished side) and be sure to lay out the inst. mounting holes from
the centre that the hole saw will use. the back of the panel will be rough
and uneven, set up the hole saw so that the drill goes into your wood
block to act as a pilot hole.I use hole saws that have a single carbide
cutting tool and only cut inst holes with them. Paul

Thanks for the advice but I got the job done several years ago.

Andy

Hi, Brian,

I sent an e-mail to your gmail account with the panel photos and
measurements on 17 Feb. Did you receive it?

-John

jcarlyle wrote:
Hi, Brian,

I'm working with Norm on his panel project. I'll contact you off-line,
and send you a photo of the panel, with measurements. I'll use my
Panasonic TZ3, which has a 28-280 mm lens (35 mm equivalent figures).
I really appreciate your help; I'm a neophyte with AutoCAD.

-John

On Feb 22, 8:56*am, jcarlyle wrote:
Hi, Brian,

I sent an e-mail to your gmail account with the panel photos and
measurements on 17 Feb. Did you receive it?

-John

jcarlyle wrote:
Hi, Brian,

I'm working with Norm on his panel project. I'll contact you off-line,
and send you a photo of the panel, with measurements. I'll use my
Panasonic TZ3, which has a 28-280 mm lens (35 mm equivalent figures).
I really appreciate your help; I'm a neophyte with AutoCAD.

-John

John, I never look at that account, I didn't realize it had
automatically been made my contact email. I'll fix that. Anyway, I am
just finishing it now.