Damon Brantley
  • Mcloud, OK
  • United States
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  • Lance W Miller
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Damon Brantley's Discussions

650 Side Skin Diagonal Stiffener Placement

Started this discussion. Last reply by Damon Brantley Apr 4, 2016. 2 Replies

I am trying to figure out the rivet hole placement for the diagonal L-angles on the side skins.The diagonal that is between the horizontal tail frames is well specified. However the placement of the…Continue

Scratchbuilding firewall tips?

Started this discussion. Last reply by Damon Brantley Nov 18, 2015. 4 Replies

I am trying to form my firewall. I have made the form according to the plans. However it looks like the forming process is going to be a little different than that of forming the ribs.From what I…Continue

 

Damon Brantley's Page

Latest Activity

Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Setting rivets in infrared

While setting the rivets for my spar jig I decided to take some infrared video of the rivet setting process to seehow the rivet heats up as it is compressed. Hopefully others find the results somewhat interesting.The video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5s0YRXXiuw…See More
19 hours ago
0 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Wing Spar Jig and Video

Just a note to be clear. This jig is only needed if you are scratchbuilding. The 650 kits are predrilled and the spacing will already be set.The wing jig is needed to ensure that there is correct spacing between the center spar and the rear channel attachment to the fuselage. This would seem to be a rather important item to have around when scratch building a 650.For some reason the wing spar jig drawing is not included in the current 650B plans.There are a few mentions of the jig in the cdrom,…See More
Aug 13
2 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Video of forming a 650 nose rib

I had to remake a few nose ribs and decided to use the opportunity to make a video demonstrating some of the techniques and tools I use for making ribs.The video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOOy9W8IR_Y A few items demonstrated include1. Use of a beverly shear for cutting sheet metal2. Center punch use3. Use of dowel pins for aligning forms and blanks4. Round anvil for forming the tip of the nose rib.5.…See More
Apr 16
0 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Wing skeleton loose fitup

I finished doing a loose fitup check of the main spar, ribs and rear spar. I wanted to convince myself thateverything was going to fit together nicely before I started drilling holes and doing other things that could not beundone. The ribs were drilled and clecoed to the main spar, but the rear spar was held on with cleco clamps and supported with 80/20 framing. The first pic is a shot of the right wing. The left wing was similarly setup.To make sure that the front and rear spars were straight…See More
Mar 19
0 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Rib Stiffeners

I am currently working my way through adding stiffeners to rear ribs 1-4. Below are a few pics of how I am doing this.I made a gage strip for laying out the end locations of the stiffeners. That is seen clamped to the edge in the first pic. Small 90 degree vee blocks are handy for transferring lines around edges. Another handy item I recently purchased(and should have done sooner) are the orange soft jaws for the vise. For what needs to be done here, having the ribs held up vertically is easier…See More
Mar 5
1 Comment
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Building Benches

As I have continued on with building my plane and having the space, I wanted to make some more benches. These pictures were made last year. What makes these a little different than other benches is that I decided to make the benches modular. The tables are 4x4 in size instead of the usual 4x12 that is often made. I made a 4x12 when I first started building, but that one has been retired in favor of the 4x4 benches. Even if someone had more limited space, using 4x4 tables could make easier to…See More
Feb 25
0 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

A few simple tools

Below are a few simple tools I have made that others may find useful.1. Wooden "gage" blocks- I have all sorts of bits of left over 2x4's. It has been useful to cut those into lengths such as 1",3/4", etc. If I need to elevate part above the table a little bit, I have a good selection of "calibrated" heights to work from. And as can be seen from the holes, they make good backer blocks for drilling. And for those last little bits of tweaking, door shims work quite nicely.…See More
Feb 20
8 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Universal Bevel Protractor

This is a tool that is often seen in a machine shop to measure angles. I have known about them for a while, but only recently acquired one.Things I found useful about the protractor that will make it a regularly used tool for me.1. The protractor can be locked down to a give angle.2. There is a broad face on the arms to make it easier place against surfaces I am measuring..3. It was very easy to see any gaps between the surfaces and the protractor blades.4. The protractor is rigid enough that…See More
Jan 21
2 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Video of Rib Flange Pressing

A demonstration of cutting and pressing a flange into a wing rib.See More
Dec 27, 2016
0 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Video of fabricating a simple angle bracket

While working on my wing spars I realized I had put a nose rib angle in backwards and needed to make another one. I decided to use this as an opportunity to demonstrate the method I use for for laying out, bending and checking parts that I fabricate.See More
Dec 10, 2016
1 Comment
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Starting to rivet spars

After what seems like too way long a time I am finally starting to rivet the spars.See More
Nov 24, 2016
0 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Using magnetic drill for drilling holes in spar

My focus for the last few months has been to complete spar construction.Most of the holes were drilled and match drilled into the doublers using my mill to insure that the holes were perpendicular. However some holes near the root were left  deliberately left undone because of uncertainty in the plans. .Once the spar was clecoed together I had a better understanding of the hole locations and needed to drill those out.Despite my best efforts it was not going to be practical to setup a fully…See More
Nov 6, 2016
0 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Nose Gear Bottom Bearing Fabrication

I completed most of the fabrication of the nose gear bottom bearing. This was a fun little machining project.It gave me a chance to make use of the boring head for machining the hole for the nose gear leg and the sine vise for accurately cutting the angles.Almost finished result. I still need to split the bearing and drill…See More
Jul 16, 2016
0 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Starting to cleco firewall

After making lots of parts and remaking a few, I finally get to start drilling and clecoing the firewall together.I mounted the firewall onto 80/20 stock with extra steel angle and magnets so I can work on it standing up.The 80/20 is connected with hinges, so I can tilt the firewall back  to allow continued loose fit upto the rest of the fuselage.The fuselage can be seen behind and is similarly supported with 80/20,steel angle and magnets. .…See More
Jun 12, 2016
0 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Nosebar for brake

After a couple of weekends of work I have finished making a 1/4" radius nosebar for my brake. Since there are very few pieces that need a 1/4" radius bend I originally tried to make a nose bar out of plywood to use on my 4 foot brake. However it was just not up to the task of bending the .063 pieces of aluminum needed for the firewall.I fabricated a similar 1/8" radius nosebar four or five years ago. This is not the first time I have made a nosebar. The stands I made, mentioned in another post,…See More
May 15, 2016
0 Comments
Damon Brantley posted a blog post

Acme thread material stand

While ordering 4130 tubing for making various steel parts of my project I noticed that the 1-1/8" with .058 inch wall tubing has an inner diameter of just over an inch. I happen to have some 1" acme rod and nuts that would fit quite nicely  inside that tube. After scavenging pieces from a few other stands I was able to put together the following…See More
May 6, 2016
0 Comments

Profile Information

Aircraft Model
Zenith CH 650
Project Status
Less than half
Building From
Plans-only
Engine installed (or plan to install)
Corvair
Building Experience
No Experience
Flying Experience
Private Pilot

Damon Brantley's Blog

Setting rivets in infrared

Posted on August 19, 2017 at 4:52pm 0 Comments

While setting the rivets for my spar jig I decided to take some infrared video of the rivet setting process to see

how the rivet heats up as it is compressed. Hopefully others find the results somewhat interesting.

The video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5s0YRXXiuw…

Continue

Wing Spar Jig and Video

Posted on August 13, 2017 at 9:00pm 2 Comments

Just a note to be clear. This jig is only needed if you are scratchbuilding. The 650 kits are predrilled and the spacing will already be set.

The wing jig is needed to ensure that there is correct spacing between the center spar and the rear channel attachment to the fuselage. This would seem to be a rather important item to have around when scratch building a 650.

For some reason the wing spar jig drawing is not included in the current 650B plans.There are a…

Continue

Video of forming a 650 nose rib

Posted on April 16, 2017 at 8:00pm 0 Comments

I had to remake a few nose ribs and decided to use the opportunity to make a video demonstrating some of the techniques and tools I use for making ribs.

The video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOOy9W8IR_Y

 A few items demonstrated include

1. Use of a beverly shear for cutting sheet metal

2. Center punch use

3. Use of dowel pins for aligning…

Continue

Wing skeleton loose fitup

Posted on March 19, 2017 at 5:11pm 0 Comments

I finished doing a loose fitup check of the main spar, ribs and rear spar. I wanted to convince myself that

everything was going to fit together nicely before I started drilling holes and doing other things that could not be

undone. The ribs were drilled and clecoed to the main spar, but the rear spar was held on with cleco clamps and supported with 80/20 framing. The first pic is a shot of the right wing. The left wing was similarly setup.

To make sure that the…

Continue

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At 3:15pm on July 31, 2016, Normand Lambert said…

Hi Damon,

I just bought a used 8 feet Sheet metal brake - condition like NEW ! Used to borrow someone else. I got mine and it works great. When I saw the plans for the trim tab I was not sure I could bend it in one shot. But I did a trail run with scrap aluminum and then did it for real.

One shot did the trick.

Regards,

Norm

 
 
 

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