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my DRDT-2 has arrived

JohnCFord

Well Known Member
Some assembly required. Shout outs to Darrell Reily, and Paul Merems for making this project possible. #HappyWeekend

Have a safe and happy weekend. ~J~
 
Sawed

I must say that I'm impressed with my 14" Dewalt chop saw. 6" x 3" x 3/16 inch material is a lot bigger than it sounds when you read it from the Experimental Aero plans. Time to jig up. The Miller SyncroWave 250 awaits in the back ground.
 
Looking good

I also made my own. Bought the front end kit from Paul and built the frame myself. The only problem is I had to buy a 6m length of the steel stock, Leaving me with enough material left over to built another three of them.
 
I almost bought 20 feet of the material but it was too expensive, 270.00 dollars. Luckily we have a material supply shop that does cut to order. What you see was 72.00 dollars.

~J~
 
Torch

My chop saw did not have the capacity to make the 45 degree cut so I had to cut it with the torch. It should dress out okay. Tomorrow I will cope the vertical beam to bring the weld seams a little more snug. Jig on Wednesday, EAA meeting on Thursday and hopefully welding this weekend.
 
Fit up, jig up, weld up

I know all of you are a the edge of your seat wondering how John is doing on his DRDT-2 frame so here are some snaps from the last two weekends. Should be done soon. Hopefully before I run out of argon.
Here is the fit up.


Jig up.



Weld up. Side "B". The jig worked pretty well. It kept the the upper and lower beams parallel and the working end perpendicular. In other words, "she held still".



I chose not to pre-drill the end cap so I wouldn't have to fight holding the location of the drill and tapped holes. This is an easier approach without the use of a complex jig to hold all of that in place. Still not done. This weekend it should be drill and tapped, ie: functioning. Then paint! I have on the shelf industrial black, wouldn't mind battleship gray, maybe even blue. Thanks for looking.

 
Very nice work, I also built one but yours looks better than mine. But it did get the airframe built!
 
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