All good things take time to mature. From a time many, many moons ago I wanted to build one, but from idea to first metal took a bit of time. I started off with the original pans that still can be had from Aircraft Spruce. On a separate website I gathered all and everything I could find about building metal fuses. In the end, just get your metal hot and start is the best method to learn. My biggest stumbling block was an old pot of Silversolder powder with an activating point of 850C, when my soldering rods (the usual yellow ones) melt at a lower temp. Why I did not notice earlier? Anyway, I now have a good combo from Silberlote with the proper paste. And all of a sudden the soldering is easy..
Notes for soldering: getting the right flame is still a bit of hit and miss. Today I learned form an expert welder that I overheated the bar where it turned black. You need no more then a yellow flame, blue is too hot! Lesson learned. Previous joints were made with a tiny needle like tip, but I did not quite get it right all the time, the valves on my rig are too sensitive, just moving the torch changes the amount of gas. The joints made with the needle tip are nice, easy to clean, but I could use just a little bit more heat. The number 6 tip supplied, is too much, or I need to reduce the O2.
By the way, I am building things to scale, within the limits imposed by the availability of the tubing: 1″ tubing ends up 9 mm, which looks about right. Strength wise it is overkill, but I don’t want a skinny looking frame. Weight will not be an issue.
Station 12, Landing gear bungee cord supports
