Rudder cable slots

I've got to cut slots for the rudder cables in both the floorboards and
the rear skins. Are there any tricks for locating the necessary slots
in a way to keep them as small as possible?


--
This is by far the hardest lesson about freedom. It goes against
instinct, and morality, to just sit back and watch people make
mistakes. We want to help them, which means control them and their
decisions, but in doing so we actually hurt them (and ourselves)."

On Sat, 17 Jun 2006 04:03:40 GMT, Ernest Christley
wrote:

I've got to cut slots for the rudder cables in both the floorboards and
the rear skins. Are there any tricks for locating the necessary slots
in a way to keep them as small as possible?


You might lay out the rudder attach points and whatever other pullys
etc they might go around and draw lines on you fuselage plan view to
locate the exit points.

Ernest Christley wrote:
I've got to cut slots for the rudder cables in both the floorboards and
the rear skins. Are there any tricks for locating the necessary slots
in a way to keep them as small as possible?


Do it by semi-mockup.

1. Make a dummy floorboard that indexes accurately to the real one using
tooling holes or some other index holes, but with roughly located
oversize cutouts for the cables.
2. Install the dummy floorboard and the cables so they pass through the
oversize holes as they would in the finished installation.
3. Cut a piece of cardboard for each cutout hole in the dummy panel, big
enough to overlap the holes by an inch or two.
4. Make a hole in the cardboard piece in the center where the cable
should pass with a slit to let it fit around the cable.
5. Fit the cardboard so it's flat over the hole with the cable passing
through the hole in the cardboard.
6. Set the rudder control to full travel one way.
6. With the cardboard located on the dummy panel by the cable, push a
few push pins through the cardboard to tack it to the dummy panel as
locator pins.
7. Remove the pins and move the rudder controls to full travel the other
way.
8. Repeat step 6.
9. Remove everything.
10. Clamp the dummy panel over the real floorboard, accurately located
by the index or mounting holes.
11. Put the cardboard where it was on the dummy panel and align it on
the first set of tack holes with the tacks.
12. Index the cable passthrough point through the hole in the cardboard
onto the real floorboard with a pencil.
13. Move the cardboard and pin it to the other set of tack pin holes
representing the other end of rudder travel.
14. Index the cable passthrough point through the hole in the cardboard
to the real floorboard.
15. Remove the dummy panel and complete the layout of the required slot
on the real floorboard, with the necessary clearance allowances, based
on the index points made.


John

"Ernest Christley" wrote in message
...
I've got to cut slots for the rudder cables in both the floorboards and
the rear skins. Are there any tricks for locating the necessary slots in
a way to keep them as small as possible?

Tape some light cardboard over the area where the cables exit the fuselage.
Cut a 6" x 6" hole in your "best guess" of where the slot will be.
Install the rudder cables.
Cut an 8" x 8" piece of the beer carton . . er . . light cardboard.
Cut a slot in it say 1/4" x 2" (kinda depends on the taper of your
fuselage).
Snip the cardboard so's you can slip it over the cable and then tape up the
snip.
Position the two pieces of cardboard together and tape the small piece to
the big piece.

Now here's the trick. Measure from witness marks on the big cardboard to the
structure which you will still see after covering. This will let you replace
the cardboard precisely after things are hidden. Snip and remove the
cardboard from the cables.

Cover the fuse, tape the cardboard back into position and cut the slot.
Start with just a small hole and expand it with a razor blade until it's
perfect. You can use this technique with most any skin penetration which
must be done after covering, such as aileron pushrod holes, throttle cables,
etc.

Rich S.

Earlier, Ernest Christley wrote:

I've got to cut slots for the rudder cables in both the floorboards and
the rear skins. Are there any tricks for locating the necessary slots
in a way to keep them as small as possible?

If you can remove temporarily the panels to be drilled/slotted, maybe
you can aim a laser pointer down the cable path so it lines up with the
pulley grooves, then reinstall the panel and mark the laser spot.

When I was installing the push-pull tubes for my HP-18 center stick
retrofit, I made a nifty little tool that aimed a laser pointer down
the axis of where the tube would go. Then I'd just mark the laser spot
on a bulkhead, holesaw it, and move on to the next one. I seem to
recall that I'd borrowed my daughter's pointer, and what I was marking
was a tiny picture of Tinkerbelle...

Thanks, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com/hp-24

Bob Kuykendall wrote:

Earlier, Ernest Christley wrote:


I've got to cut slots for the rudder cables in both the floorboards and
the rear skins. Are there any tricks for locating the necessary slots
in a way to keep them as small as possible?


If you can remove temporarily the panels to be drilled/slotted, maybe
you can aim a laser pointer down the cable path so it lines up with the
pulley grooves, then reinstall the panel and mark the laser spot.

When I was installing the push-pull tubes for my HP-18 center stick
retrofit, I made a nifty little tool that aimed a laser pointer down
the axis of where the tube would go. Then I'd just mark the laser spot
on a bulkhead, holesaw it, and move on to the next one. I seem to
recall that I'd borrowed my daughter's pointer, and what I was marking
was a tiny picture of Tinkerbelle...

Thanks, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com/hp-24




That's one of those "I shoulda thought of that!" ideas, Bob.

It would work GREAT on fabric!

Richard