Ivan's RV-7

Stiffeners, deburringTimer icon1h

March 13, 2022

Started working on my next practice kit.

The first steps were to cut the stiffeners with snips and deburr everything.

Vinyl removed and stiffeners cut with aviation snips

My go-to setup for deburring is a 3M™ Scotch-Brite deburring wheel (7A, medium grade, part number 12-00875 on Aircraft Spruce). This wheel is simply amazing. It's very quick and finish is superb. It's a bit harder to use for parts which are thin and large (like skins) or when it's hard to access their interior features (like ribs).

I am going to look for a different solution for skins (perhaps, smaller Scotch-Brite wheel on a die grinder or Dremel tool) since real skins will be quite larger and harder to manage. Even tiny skins from the practice project require some agility to keep the edge at exact angle to the wheel. Too much of the angle and wheel grabs the part; too little and it leaves groove in the wheel.

Two ribs I am going to deburr with files or sandpaper and leave more practical solution for later, once I have real parts to work on.