Thursday 30 October 2014

20th October 2014 - Door handles fabricated, doors installed

I made the internal door handles today. Using the ball turning attachment on the lathe I rounded both ends of two pieces of 8mm aluminium rod and one end of two pieces of 12mm aluminium rod. The 12mm rod was then cross-drilled and reamed to 8mm and drilled axially from the flat end with a 1/4" drill to match the latch spindle on the door. The 8mm rods were then pressed into the holes in the 12mm rod.
With the handles installed on the door spindles they were then cross-drilled with a 3/32" drill to take 12mm long 3/32" spring cotter pins (also sometimes called slotted spring tension pins). Then backing plates were "printed" to fit on the door and over the end of the 12mm rod. These were secured to the doors with double sided tape. The handles were then fitted and the cotter pins tapped in to hold them in place. Finally the doors were hung on the fuselage.
The second picture, taken through the passenger window, shows the pilot door shut. The handle lifts up to open to avoid it being opened accidentally.
Overall I'm quite pleased with the look of the cockpit and the way the doors fit into the framing.