Airplanes and Old Cars Mostly

[happiestflying]

Evening all. Jeremy here, in Silverdale WA, by way of Winnipeg MB, Chicago IL, Revelstoke BC, Vancouver BC, Victoria BC and Seattle WA.

I'm the proud owner of a Kitfox IV Speedster aircraft which I did not build but which I modify from time to time. It is of course steel and aluminum and fabric. I fly the snickers out of it when I can, which is about eight months a year around the Pacific Northwest. Decided to fly instead of build, as time's a wastin'

I am, finally, fully engaged in a frame-off hacker's restoration of my 1955 Willys CJ-5, which has caused me to become a dilletante metal pounder. It's a piece of work that sat ignored in a field for years, and under a tent at my home for a few years more, but I have finally made the start on it. There's plenty of rust, crud, gunk and bondo, and plenty of panel work to come, as well as an engine rebuild and more. Not intending a show restoration, just get it back in tolerable condition to leave at our beach town summer home in Oregon.

Then there's my former daily driver, a hot-rod 1951 Willys Pickup, now in need of a new engine and some body work. Again, I did not do the building, just bought it and abused it, and now need to repair it. And of course I have to get started on the sister project, which is a 1951 Willys Wagon, which I hope to turn into a Woodie of sorts. Two other dead or aged vehicles lying around the house are a 1978 Honda Goldwing and a 1964 Ford F-350 dualy flatbed which needs a complete new flatbed built.

So, all of these are requiring skills I currently do not have. I've spent lots of nights on YouTube watching various people selling stuff or making stuff, and am starting to absorb some of it.

Have been acquiring what I consider to be the "starter kit" versions of small metalworking tools to add to my existing inventory. I have a fairly complete woodworking shop formerly known as my wife's garage, so own things like a serious drill press, 14" bandsaw and a dedicated smaller 12" metalworking bandsaw, large belt/disc sander, full complement of air tools, compressors, quite a good MIG welder, oxyacetylene torches, cutoff saw, a steel welding table with reasonably manly vise, wire wheels and grinders, pretty much every portable version of tools you might require. There's also a sandblast cabinet, a pressure-washer sandblaster, a parts washer, and I know I've forgotten things like a table saw or two, etc. I've got tons of clamps, hold-downs, etc. I even own a few things to measure with.

However, I've recently added in the things I wasn't familiar with, in the "starter kit" sizes, such as a bench-top bead roller from Eastwood, a bench-top English wheel from Grizzly, a smaller planishing hammer and stand which, though used, I think was Harbor Freight. I accept that all these are low end choices, but will probably muddle me through the restoration work I need to do.

Last big item missing is a TIG welder, as I think adding a spool gun to my Millermatic 211 MIG is the wrong idea. At the end of this road I think I'd like to have TIG welding skills.

Running off at the mouth. Will stop now. Looking forward to learning a lot here.

[crystallographic]

Welcome to the forum, Jeremy.

[cliffrod]

Welcome to the forum, Jeremy.

[happiestflying]

Thanks for the welcomes gentlemen. Here's a progress report.

The thing about metalworking is, you get REALLY dirty.

This is not to be construed as a negative.

Scored 49 lbs of 20 gauge cold-rolled steel at the salvage yard today, 8 sheets 4'x15", left out in the rain, but cheap at $20. Then of course there was the four hours of wire wheel and oscillating sander work to make them acceptable, but hey, the labor's free.

And, halfway through the cleanup I figured out exactly what I'm going to use them for. A hopefully minor but necessary diversion from auto restoration. I had intended to do some English wheel and beading practice on them, because they're just a bit lighter than the autobody 18 gauge sheet metal I'll be doing,
but now they have an intended purpose, though I'm still going to wind up doing lots of welding and beading with them.

You see, these Willys vehicles are going to need lots of parts powder coated, and my budget does not allow for sending them out to some guy. So, I need a big powder coating oven, and, interestingly enough, there's a classic huge art deco FreezeRite upright freezer in our garage, not in working condition because it would require Freon, which is no longer available.


So, I'm going to strip out the compressor and motor, use those for other purposes, and retrofit it as an oven, large enough to take an entire motorcycle frame, as well as the tool stands that will be made to accommodate the other metalworking tools. And in order to do that, you have to gut the interior and replace the existing insulation with high temperature resistant insulation. Today's sheet metal score will be the interior walls after installing the new insulation.

Or not. Depends on my energy level.

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[rivetdriver]

welcome to the forum

[CaptonZap]

I don't know what you are going to use for a heat source, but you will need some sort of de-stratification fan inside the cabinet.
And if the insulation currently in the cabinet is fiberglass, I wouldn't worry about it. Use it. The binders may degrade, but you could try a piece at 600 deg F, and see if it survives.

CZ

[dark_gap]

Welcome Jeremy, will be awesome to see what are you building for airplanes is a pending subject in my life hehe.