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I stopped by Lowes on the way home and picked up a bench mounted belt/disc sander for about $90. I rounded the ends of the second HS-609PP in about 5 minutes with that sweet machine. The same thing took over half an hour last night with a Vixen file. Considering the overall cost of this project, $90 for a power tool that will save me dozens of hours is well worth the cost.
I also dug out my palm sander and put on some 120 sandpaper to sand out the milling marks on the faces of the HS-609PP. That worked pretty well. I definitely need some more durable sandpaper. The white aluminum oxide paper doesn’t last long. There was some resin coated paper at Lowes that I’ll pick up. After the 120, I switched to 220, and then the Scotchbrite pads. Getting the right combination of steps is going to take some time, but I’ll figure it out. Once the Scotchbrite wheel shows up Monday, that should help as well.
Both of the pieces are looking sweet now. They’re ready for drilling to the rear HS spar. And then deburring. And then priming. And then, finally, riveting.
Received the primer/sealer from Aircraft Finishing Systems. They shipped it out very fast. I also received the $25 pneumatic cleco actuator I ordered from The Yard Store. I’m figuring out that you get what you pay for. It’s not a pretty tool, especially compared to the Sioux drill. It does seem to work, but leaks a fair amount of air if you don’t hold the trigger just right while the cleco is actuated. I’m pretty sure it will do the job.
