The Great Waldo Pepper is one of my very favorite movies though inexplicitly underrated. I once worked on a movie set (An Unfinished Life) and was only a few feet from Robert Redford. As he was busy preparing I didn't get a chance to speak to him. If I had I would have told him that of all his movies - most better known- The Great Waldo Pepper meant the most to me. I'd like to build a flying model of a Curtiss J-1 "Jenny". You best believe it'll be painted in Waldo's colours, name and all!
This. Was. Wonderful. Start to finish. Word for word." In that plane where it's supposed to be..." Ya think? Ha! I got it..." Spice of life..."...Indeed.
I am a retired UK wooden boatbuilder. A useful formulae when steaming timber is 20 minutes per square inch of the timbers cross section plus 40 minutes. ie a 4x2 would be 8 times 20 plus 40. If you steam too long the timber can become brittle, same goes for re-steaming. Hope this helps. Mike.
I hope the artwork and craftsmanship that goes into these ol' birds never disappears. Most A&P Mechanic programs have quit teaching the fabric and wood courses. Thank you so much for sharing this footage with us fellow Aviation enthusiasts. Keep up the GREAT work my friend. I can't wait to see more video's from ya. 👍👍
With the great vintage construction and in some ways a forgiving structure of wood. I often wonder what a modern aircraft designer would create if they could only build from wood primarily. I know many of the classic small pylon racers were and some are still made of primarily wood but it would be fun to think of what private or even multi passenger aircraft could be made today with the lightweight powerplants. Great video as always and soo informative. Those brackets would be interesting to make today.
That jig is a work of art in itself,what a wonderful dream of a workshop you have there at Fantasy of Flight and not only great skilled vintage aircraft workers but people who can describe the work being done so well,the seasons greetings to everyone at this unique aerodrome with so many rarebirds truly cherished,thank you.
The technical name for your steamer is an autoclave, the autoclave will work much better if it is insulated, rockwool is a good insulator, but a metal tube will survive much longer than pvc which may sag when insulated.
Interesting to see the incorporation of condensed steam drain tubes. The wallpaper steamers are a bright idea, better than a length of water well casing and a campfire! I helped replace some canoe gunwales, and being the 'helper', I was told to hussle with the clamping because as soon as our white ash cooled they lost their ability to set. I've got to bend up some more ash into a U-shape for the restoration of a 1940s car utility trailer top. I''ll remember the wallpaper steamers! ps- Kermit's "spice of life", no relation to Naked in Jamaica rum 'Splice the main brace'?
Thanks Ken, good to see you working on the J1. The curve does not look that tight but I guess that steaming the wood is like stress relieving a steel frame....you don't want any of the joints popping under load lol Great video and as always ....keep up the good work guys!
Hi Kermit and the team at Fantasy of Flight, It is Christmas day here in Aus, I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year, look forward to loads more great videos. A Fan from Aus.
I built the Proctor Jenny in 1/6th scale for an RC plane. That graceful arc of the lower longerons was done using ammonia and water in a pvc tube like yours. After they were soaked for a couple of hours I used nails to hold them in their final form. There was some springback toward the front. If I had the chance to do it ovr I would make the arc about 15% tighter to compensate for the springback.
If I remember correctly, steaming has to be done for (at least) some 7 hours (and I'm guessing, but unsure those weren't spliced). Unsure where I know this from; Being documentaries about large boat, small boat, canoe or aircraft building. Just know I had to remember it! Any how, I hope the longerons turn out great! :-)
I watched the movie last night (Christmas Night) for the first time in 4K and the detail was amazing as if it was made today. But the age of the actors kinda gave that away...lol. Would love to see a feature on how they made it as in most of the scenes the actual actors are doing some of the stunts whilst airborne. The films Ernst Kessler character is based on the famous barnstormer and WWI ace Ernst Udet.
A few quickies for future reference - where you have bar clamps having to be placed across walkways, it is helpful to place a tennis ball or similar with a slit in it on the protruding end of the clamp to make it more visible, and protect against injury as you pass by the clamp. Lignum is the material that binds all of the wood fibers together in timber and trees. Steaming softens the lignum allowing the fibers to reunite in a new configuration, rather than moisture from the steam. The purpose of the steam is to carry the heat to the timber and into it without charring or otherwise damaging the surface. Your longerons did not appear more floppy or saggy on the way out of the steamer than they did on the way in, so they may not be overly steamed. This does not mean that the work is no good, as they were obviously able to take the positions that you needed to put them in, they question is will they retain those positions without applying stresses to the rest of the airframe. When using a steam box, it is common practice to use a larger tube or box and have something to keep the material clear of the bottom of the box so that the steam surround the material completely for better heat penetration. This has an added benefit of keeping the material out of condensate in the bottom of the box, hence keeping it dryer. It is also common for the box to slope downards at a shallow angle so condensate can flow to one end of the box and drain out through a small hole to minimise accumulation. All in all a good first attempt at a difficult task given the lengths involved.
Back in the day my Dad learned to fly in a J-1. Later the law came he had to have a pilots license and took the test in his jenny. lol Moved on to an Eagle Rock and then to a Monocoupe. We flew Cessna's together. Love the old ships, Lee
There isn't one, but Kermit talks a bit about the hurricane with some still photos, in the second Kermie Q video. th-cam.com/video/KJqjmlI4wgE/w-d-xo.html
Steaming isn't just a matter of wetting the wood, the heat softens the lignin in the wood and allows it to become malleable. I worked for a while making wood strip canoes and kayaks, the process is similar.
jerrytee It seems the guy doing the steaming is not too experienced either. If the wood springs back too much just put it back in the steamer and either give it more time steaming or what I do is use a jig with a slightly tighter radius to allow for some spring back. Not rocket science but some things take a bit of trial and error.
Don Moore Yes he did say that it was “all new to me” which was obvious as anyone who has steam bent 1 1/4” ash would know that you didn’t need to leave it for a week before checking to see if your radius is set. One day, actually a couple of hours is all the time you need to check the radius and then you can clamp it back down and check the end grain with a moisture meter till dry for use. Not criticizing but if not familiar with the process and your steam box then a sample steam and bend will tell you if the actual pieces will work. If he gets too much spring back he has to steam all four lengths over again. Having over 50 yrs experience working wood I’ve learned many lessons the hard way and have to agree with jerrytee that steaming a test sample is a more than practical way to go.
Outstanding attention to detail. Glad to see this airplane come together. "Waldo Pepper" is one of the greatest aviation movies ever. One of my favorites! What is the aircraft hanging from the ceiling? Looks like a single place radial engine of some sort.
Two remarks. I used PVC tubing to soften spruce strips in model building, but switched over to aluminum tubes, because that PVC got very soft. And first gluing and after that softening and bending? Isn't that affecting the strength of the joint? I do understand, that resorcinol glue is water resistant and used in boat building, but ...
Have you looked at any acoustic guitar build videos?Steaming is used for the sides to give the shape,the technique is interesting but probably impractical for aircraft longerons.Still,an interesting and maybe inspiring method.
Very nicely done. I am a total novice, not familiar with air frames in general or this one in particular and curious as to how much "spring back" is acceptable, and how any spring back at all is accommodated - what kind of connection and possibly members are used? Are the extreme ends of the longerons fastened to each other, with cross members in between along their length?
Ken. I don't know what Kermit's feeding you guys, but it's turning you and Paul into real TV presenters :), Great explanation, and really interesting. Especially for a metal man like me. What kind of adhesive do you use for the splice. I guess it must be very waterproof, and not like the older tech glues? I know that De Haviland had a problem with wingtips coming off Mosquitoes in the Jungle during WW2, so it can't be that stuff?
I've seen lengths of heavy larch planks being steamed into a 90ft long fishing boat, they'd whip the plank out of the steam box and clamp it very quickly into position onto the frames, the shipwrights would leave it clamped overnight before fastening. I didn't know you could re-steam. It's a very interesting film and nice to see Kermit getting stuck in.
Frank Tallman Palm matz My 1st Hero's The WORLD owes Kermit and his crews for truly becoming our Saviors of these Aircraft , fulfilling The Greatest "World of flight" encompassing our planet's history of why we still yern and How those before us got there..Live,love,Fly..
Just curios, how was the airplane originally built? Did Standard aircraft have several jigs that they could let the wood sit for a week to keep an assembly line going?
I worked on a DH Mosquito. We often scratched our heads trying to figure out how they worked the wood. Fact is many 'company' process secrets are lost to time. The other problem facing restorers is that the end product has to last for many years. Back then, a few hundred hours was all it needed to last.
Thanks a bunch...l think the hard wood needs to be steamed about 8 hours or more. At least that is what l have found out to take the (memory) out of the wood...But no more bending than what it is in the first place the questing is does it need to be steamed...lt's kinda like...TO BE OR NOT BE that is the questing....THINYOU..!
Great info and fascinating. If I can offer some constructive criticism, when it comes to a video presentation with audio, it is far easier and less of a distraction to forgo trying to foley in voice audio as a substitute for audio which you either didn't get or wasn't up to spec. The mismatch stands out like a sore thumb. If you have to re-record audio, Better to use it over cutaways - anything but the original video of Ken talking because of the mismatch. Shooting cutaways just takes a few minutes whereas re-recording sound takes time plus trying to match it - more hassle than it's worth with a less than great result. Otherwise, this is one of my favorite channels - truly interesting and unique. I am curious about whether area humidity is being factored as the Longerons are left to dry and set - variable high humidity might suggest leaving them to dry and set longer. I'm sure it's dryer now than Summer months.
@MichaelKingsfordGray That's a fair question from someone with such a close and lifelong connection to charcoal. Because it's helpful, relevant, and offered in good faith.
Kermit standing in front of four softened ash 1”x1”s bent over a hundred 2”x4”s : “I put 25 hours on this in Miami so...”. This man builds his trainers from toothpicks.
@@chuckpatten7855 I find it odd that people are assuming he is using a method that will weaken with steam, as if he didn't do his homework. While that is possible, it seems very unlikely to me.
@@donmoore7785 his previous video showed explicitly what was used to glue the joints. Bending using steam obviously didn't weaken the bond to the point of failure so his choice was validated.
It appears you used resorcinol glue on the scarf joints which would be period correct. But I would have used a modern epoxy considering it is much stronger than the old technology.
Stronger? No, it's not. More elastic but also more prone to losing strength under heat. Also more prone to delaminating than resorcinol. Check reports by FPL.
The hard wood, ash at the front where all the engine, wing and cockpit weight and stress will be. The lighter spruce at the rear, to keep the plane weight down. There's not a lot of stress towards the rear.
Think of this as nothing more than a TH-cam comment and in no way is telling you what to do. When I have steamed wood to take a performant bend there are 2 things I do differently, slightly over bend and also steam the wood under pressure not huge maybe 2~3 psi but above atmospheric pressure also using a bit of ammonia in the water to get the full section of the timber.. The process you seem to be using is more like soaking in hot water. This is an excellent video explaining a how to? th-cam.com/video/b9UPihp04xY/w-d-xo.html Cheers
If you are unsure about ash frame steaming can I suggest you connect with a bell boundary in the UK? They steam ash into round bell ringing wheels (360 degrees). taylorbells.co.uk
Watch this video on how to really steam bend wood: th-cam.com/video/p0xj7OujbwU/w-d-xo.html. BTW, the splice was wrapped with cloth and doped when installed. Hey Kermit hire me I can do all this I am an expert in wood and metal working too.
I love these technical restoration videos. Thanks Kermit and all involved. Very interesting.
I’ve wanted to watch that Waldo Pepper movie for years but it’s never played on tv, and I’ve got about every channel.
MichaelKingsfordGray, paraplegic
The Great Waldo Pepper is one of my very favorite movies though inexplicitly underrated. I once worked on a movie set (An Unfinished Life) and was only a few feet from Robert Redford. As he was busy preparing I didn't get a chance to speak to him. If I had I would have told him that of all his movies - most better known- The Great Waldo Pepper meant the most to me. I'd like to build a flying model of a Curtiss J-1 "Jenny". You best believe it'll be painted in Waldo's colours, name and all!
This. Was. Wonderful. Start to finish. Word for word." In that plane where it's supposed to be..." Ya think? Ha! I got it..." Spice of life..."...Indeed.
I am a retired UK wooden boatbuilder. A useful formulae when steaming timber is 20 minutes per square inch of the timbers cross section plus 40 minutes. ie a 4x2 would be 8 times 20 plus 40. If you steam too long the timber can become brittle, same goes for re-steaming. Hope this helps. Mike.
I hope the artwork and craftsmanship that goes into these ol' birds never disappears. Most A&P Mechanic programs have quit teaching the fabric and wood courses. Thank you so much for sharing this footage with us fellow Aviation enthusiasts. Keep up the GREAT work my friend. I can't wait to see more video's from ya. 👍👍
Whatever classic airplane like WW2 or whatever needs to be restored today, they are all very valuable for airshows and museums
With the great vintage construction and in some ways a forgiving structure of wood. I often wonder what a modern aircraft designer would create if they could only build from wood primarily. I know many of the classic small pylon racers were and some are still made of primarily wood but it would be fun to think of what private or even multi passenger aircraft could be made today with the lightweight powerplants. Great video as always and soo informative. Those brackets would be interesting to make today.
Google DH Albatross, one of the most beautiful passenger planes built. Four engines. Made from ply/balsa/ply, (like the Mossie).
What an amazing craftsman Ken is, lucky to have that kind of knowledge around the shop Mr. Kermit.
That jig is a work of art in itself,what a wonderful dream of a workshop you have there at Fantasy of Flight and not only great skilled vintage aircraft workers but people who can describe the work being done so well,the seasons greetings to everyone at this unique aerodrome with so many rarebirds truly cherished,thank you.
Great video with Ken. You guys are pioneering aviation reconstruction. Forgotten technology revisited. Just fantastic Kerm👍
The technical name for your steamer is an autoclave, the autoclave will work much better if it is insulated, rockwool is a good insulator, but a metal tube will survive much longer than pvc which may sag when insulated.
Waldo Pepper! Too cool! You dedicated, talented airplane children bring me no end of joy!
Excellent Job
Beautiful work and thanks again for another update on these unique projects. Please keep them coming!
I didn't know Hurricane Andrew was so devastating to your collection!
Interesting to see the incorporation of condensed steam drain tubes. The wallpaper steamers are a bright idea, better than a length of water well casing and a campfire! I helped replace some canoe gunwales, and being the 'helper', I was told to hussle with the clamping because as soon as our white ash cooled they lost their ability to set.
I've got to bend up some more ash into a U-shape for the restoration of a 1940s car utility trailer top. I''ll remember the wallpaper steamers!
ps- Kermit's "spice of life", no relation to Naked in Jamaica rum 'Splice the main brace'?
Thank you Ken - most enjoyable to follow your work.
Hello Ken, I love that movie. OH...thanks for mentioning Cole, I spent many years at the Rhinebeck Aerodrome back in the 70's.
Thanks For Bringing Back Yet Another Childhood Favorite...Can't Wait When lt Flies!
Scarf joint, my favorite joint.
Thanks Ken, good to see you working on the J1. The curve does not look that tight but I guess that steaming the wood is like stress relieving a steel frame....you don't want any of the joints popping under load lol
Great video and as always ....keep up the good work guys!
Hi Kermit and the team at Fantasy of Flight, It is Christmas day here in Aus, I hope you have a Merry Christmas and a very happy and prosperous New Year, look forward to loads more great videos. A Fan from Aus.
I built the Proctor Jenny in 1/6th scale for an RC plane. That graceful arc of the lower longerons was done using ammonia and water in a pvc tube like yours. After they were soaked for a couple of hours I used nails to hold them in their final form. There was some springback toward the front. If I had the chance to do it ovr I would make the arc about 15% tighter to compensate for the springback.
Good to see Kermit being told what to do!
If I remember correctly, steaming has to be done for (at least) some 7 hours (and I'm guessing, but unsure those weren't spliced). Unsure where I know this from; Being documentaries about large boat, small boat, canoe or aircraft building. Just know I had to remember it! Any how, I hope the longerons turn out great! :-)
Another amazing video.
I always wondered how this process worked...time consuming process. Great work.
Always look forward to these updates
Keep it up please 👏👏
Very awesome video! 😊
I watched the movie last night (Christmas Night) for the first time in 4K and the detail was amazing as if it was made today. But the age of the actors kinda gave that away...lol. Would love to see a feature on how they made it as in most of the scenes the actual actors are doing some of the stunts whilst airborne. The films Ernst Kessler character is based on the famous barnstormer and WWI ace Ernst Udet.
Very nice video, thanks for sharing.
Great video, this wood work is an art and a challenge. Congratulations!
A few quickies for future reference - where you have bar clamps having to be placed across walkways, it is helpful to place a tennis ball or similar with a slit in it on the protruding end of the clamp to make it more visible, and protect against injury as you pass by the clamp.
Lignum is the material that binds all of the wood fibers together in timber and trees. Steaming softens the lignum allowing the fibers to reunite in a new configuration, rather than moisture from the steam. The purpose of the steam is to carry the heat to the timber and into it without charring or otherwise damaging the surface.
Your longerons did not appear more floppy or saggy on the way out of the steamer than they did on the way in, so they may not be overly steamed. This does not mean that the work is no good, as they were obviously able to take the positions that you needed to put them in, they question is will they retain those positions without applying stresses to the rest of the airframe.
When using a steam box, it is common practice to use a larger tube or box and have something to keep the material clear of the bottom of the box so that the steam surround the material completely for better heat penetration. This has an added benefit of keeping the material out of condensate in the bottom of the box, hence keeping it dryer. It is also common for the box to slope downards at a shallow angle so condensate can flow to one end of the box and drain out through a small hole to minimise accumulation.
All in all a good first attempt at a difficult task given the lengths involved.
Using tennis balls is a great tip, so good I was going to suggest it as well!
Back in the day my Dad learned to fly in a J-1. Later the law came he had to have a pilots license and took the test in his jenny. lol Moved on to an Eagle Rock and then to a Monocoupe. We flew Cessna's together.
Love the old ships,
Lee
Neat.
I wouldn't have thought longerons need steaming over such a shallow bend.
Excellent Job I m waiting For Part 2
Splice of life indeed! Sloniger of American Airlines fame first made his living flying payrolls over bandito country in a Hisso Standard.
HI ! LOVE THIS CHANEL !! IS there a video that I can find on the home page ,maybe, that was made about the damage done by Hurricane Andrew ??
There isn't one, but Kermit talks a bit about the hurricane with some still photos, in the second Kermie Q video.
th-cam.com/video/KJqjmlI4wgE/w-d-xo.html
@@KermitWeeks444 THANKS ALOT !!
Steaming isn't just a matter of wetting the wood, the heat softens the lignin in the wood and allows it to become malleable. I worked for a while making wood strip canoes and kayaks, the process is similar.
I'm not experienced in steaming wood, but wouldn't it be practical to do a test sample rather than waiting and have to redo the process over?
jerrytee It seems the guy doing the steaming is not too experienced either. If the wood springs back too much just put it back in the steamer and either give it more time steaming or what I do is use a jig with a slightly tighter radius to allow for some spring back. Not rocket science but some things take a bit of trial and error.
@@apenza4304 "The guy doing the steaming" stated that he is a beginner, as I recall.
Don Moore Yes he did say that it was “all new to me” which was obvious as anyone who has steam bent 1 1/4” ash would know that you didn’t need to leave it for a week before checking to see if your radius is set. One day, actually a couple of hours is all the time you need to check the radius and then you can clamp it back down and check the end grain with a moisture meter till dry for use. Not criticizing but if not familiar with the process and your steam box then a sample steam and bend will tell you if the actual pieces will work. If he gets too much spring back he has to steam all four lengths over again. Having over 50 yrs experience working wood I’ve learned many lessons the hard way and have to agree with jerrytee that steaming a test sample is a more than practical way to go.
Outstanding attention to detail. Glad to see this airplane come together. "Waldo Pepper" is one of the greatest aviation movies ever. One of my favorites! What is the aircraft hanging from the ceiling? Looks like a single place radial engine of some sort.
Two remarks. I used PVC tubing to soften spruce strips in model building, but switched over to aluminum tubes, because that PVC got very soft.
And first gluing and after that softening and bending? Isn't that affecting the strength of the joint? I do understand, that resorcinol glue is water resistant and used in boat building, but ...
Ahhhhh! The splice of life...Merry Christmas Kermit et al :-)
Have you looked at any acoustic guitar build videos?Steaming is used for the sides to give the shape,the technique is interesting but probably impractical for aircraft longerons.Still,an interesting and maybe inspiring method.
Very nicely done. I am a total novice, not familiar with air frames in general or this one in particular and curious as to how much "spring back" is acceptable, and how any spring back at all is accommodated - what kind of connection and possibly members are used? Are the extreme ends of the longerons fastened to each other, with cross members in between along their length?
12:36 Kermit drops his first “Basically “.
Love your videos especially the p51
Nothing like a nice piece of ash!
Thanks...Super!...boy oh boy.
Great "show" and a merry xmas !
Another very interesting video. Your TH-cam channel rocks, Kermit!
Love these vlogs, good stuff!
Merry Christmas to Me Weeks and crew
Was this also the J-1 that did the great scene in It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World? Seems likely, as Mantz did the flying for that film as well.
Ken. I don't know what Kermit's feeding you guys, but it's turning you and Paul into real TV presenters :),
Great explanation, and really interesting. Especially for a metal man like me.
What kind of adhesive do you use for the splice. I guess it must be very waterproof, and not like the older tech glues?
I know that De Haviland had a problem with wingtips coming off Mosquitoes in the Jungle during WW2, so it can't be that stuff?
5:58 Is that red and white wing what I think it is?? Looks like a Der Jager....
I've seen lengths of heavy larch planks being steamed into a 90ft long fishing boat, they'd whip the plank out of the steam box and clamp it very quickly into position onto the frames, the shipwrights would leave it clamped overnight before fastening. I didn't know you could re-steam. It's a very interesting film and nice to see Kermit getting stuck in.
Frank Tallman Palm matz My 1st Hero's The WORLD owes Kermit and his crews for truly becoming our Saviors of these Aircraft , fulfilling The Greatest "World of flight" encompassing our planet's history of why we still yern and How those before us got there..Live,love,Fly..
Nice progress....... But what about the Benoist Project ?
After 2017 it all went way too silent..............
a good video!
I want to be reincarnated as Kermit Weeks. Lol
Does your steaming tube drain off the condensed water or do you just let it accumulate and fill the tube?
Just curios, how was the airplane originally built? Did Standard aircraft have several jigs that they could let the wood sit for a week to keep an assembly line going?
I worked on a DH Mosquito. We often scratched our heads trying to figure out how they worked the wood. Fact is many 'company' process secrets are lost to time. The other problem facing restorers is that the end product has to last for many years. Back then, a few hundred hours was all it needed to last.
Perfect!
Is Kermit going to test the engine on a stand or wait till the airplane is finished. I’d please like it hear it run for a bit.
Thanks a bunch...l think the hard wood needs to be steamed about 8 hours or more. At least that is what l have found out to take the (memory) out of the wood...But no more bending than what it is in the first place the questing is does it need to be steamed...lt's kinda like...TO BE OR NOT BE that is the questing....THINYOU..!
Great info and fascinating.
If I can offer some constructive criticism, when it comes to a video presentation with audio, it is far easier and less of a distraction to forgo trying to foley in voice audio as a substitute for audio which you either didn't get or wasn't up to spec.
The mismatch stands out like a sore thumb. If you have to re-record audio, Better to use it over cutaways - anything but the original video of Ken talking because of the mismatch. Shooting cutaways just takes a few minutes whereas re-recording sound takes time plus trying to match it - more hassle than it's worth with a less than great result.
Otherwise, this is one of my favorite channels - truly interesting and unique.
I am curious about whether area humidity is being factored as the Longerons are left to dry and set - variable high humidity might suggest leaving them to dry and set longer. I'm sure it's dryer now than Summer months.
@MichaelKingsfordGray That's a fair question from someone with such a close and lifelong connection to charcoal. Because it's helpful, relevant, and offered in good faith.
Having steamed the 1 MM ply leading edge across the grain of my De Havilland DH89A I can say I would rather be doing Longerons .
Barking orders at Kermit, you must think you've got some juice.😉
Kermit standing in front of four softened ash 1”x1”s bent over a hundred 2”x4”s : “I put 25 hours on this in Miami so...”. This man builds his trainers from toothpicks.
Cool but would have been nice to see the wings being done as well.
th-cam.com/video/uch7j1pBSQs/w-d-xo.html
Ah,awesome. Will have to watch.thank you.
Waldo! waldo! I think really think you should listen to me ! crash!!!!!
Kermit is Airplane Dad.
what kind of bonding agent did you use for the splice that held up during steaming?
@MichaelKingsfordGray It looked like resorcinal to me.
@MichaelKingsfordGray figured that, most epoxies i have used soften with steam, taken many bad epoxy joins apart with steam.
I believe he is using CASCOPHEN as he shows in the J1 longeron video
@@chuckpatten7855 I find it odd that people are assuming he is using a method that will weaken with steam, as if he didn't do his homework. While that is possible, it seems very unlikely to me.
@@donmoore7785 his previous video showed explicitly what was used to glue the joints. Bending using steam obviously didn't weaken the bond to the point of failure so his choice was validated.
It appears you used resorcinol glue on the scarf joints which would be period correct. But I would have used a modern epoxy considering it is much stronger than the old technology.
Stronger? No, it's not. More elastic but also more prone to losing strength under heat. Also more prone to delaminating than resorcinol. Check reports by FPL.
How do you eat an Elephant? Bit by bit!
All to a wooden boat builder. The planks are thick, wide and take severe compound curves..
Why the different wood species?
The hard wood, ash at the front where all the engine, wing and cockpit weight and stress will be. The lighter spruce at the rear, to keep the plane weight down. There's not a lot of stress towards the rear.
when i retire, i want to intern at the FoF restoration facility...who do I contact?
@MichaelKingsfordGray now you funny too!
Steaming works by heating the lignum (resin) that binds the timber together. "Saturating the fibres" NO.
Think of this as nothing more than a TH-cam comment and in no way is telling you what to do. When I have steamed wood to take a performant bend there are 2 things I do differently, slightly over bend and also steam the wood under pressure not huge maybe 2~3 psi but above atmospheric pressure also using a bit of ammonia in the water to get the full section of the timber.. The process you seem to be using is more like soaking in hot water.
This is an excellent video explaining a how to?
th-cam.com/video/b9UPihp04xY/w-d-xo.html
Cheers
If you are unsure about ash frame steaming can I suggest you connect with a bell boundary in the UK? They steam ash into round bell ringing wheels (360 degrees). taylorbells.co.uk
Sure wish I could help work on these peices of art. But being visually impaired hampers that.
Yep... splice of life. Lose the splice... lose your life.
Watch this video on how to really steam bend wood: th-cam.com/video/p0xj7OujbwU/w-d-xo.html. BTW, the splice was wrapped with cloth and doped when installed. Hey Kermit hire me I can do all this I am an expert in wood and metal working too.