• Welcome aboard HomebuiltAirplanes.com, your destination for connecting with a thriving community of more than 10,000 active members, all passionate about home-built aviation. Dive into our comprehensive repository of knowledge, exchange technical insights, arrange get-togethers, and trade aircrafts/parts with like-minded enthusiasts. Unearth a wide-ranging collection of general and kit plane aviation subjects, enriched with engaging imagery, in-depth technical manuals, and rare archives.

    For a nominal fee of $99.99/year or $12.99/month, you can immerse yourself in this dynamic community and unparalleled treasure-trove of aviation knowledge.

    Embark on your journey now!

    Click Here to Become a Premium Member and Experience Homebuilt Airplanes to the Fullest!

Merry Christmas to All

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

danieldorgan

Active Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2015
Messages
32
Location
Grapevine, Texas
Steal a man's wallet and he will be broke for a day. Teach a man to fly and he will be broke for the rest of his life. There's some truth to that as building a Sonerai has turned into an adventure.

So far it has consisted of organizing the garage (buying shelving), building the workbenches and purchasing tools. Speaking fo the garage - it turns out there's only a single outlet hidden among the mess. I am soliciting bids from electricians to upgrade the main house panel and outlets. Can't run any decent work lighting or tools off a single outlet when the FIOS Internet box and watering system share the circuit.

I chose to use TIG welding in spite of the cost as I have wanted to learn TIG/MIG for some time - why not now? Going much slower than anticipated as my funding for my wife's job at TWU was not included in the new budget. Started a side gig to make my airplane money and have a quarterly stock share vestiture coming up. Keeping an eye on Youtube videos and this forum are keeping me motivated.

I should start the actual build process this summer with a purchase of the fuselage tubing.
 
Daniel,

I mounted a couple of duplex outlets on the side of my bench, and a sturdy full length storage shelf underneath.

Larry
 

Attachments

  • DSCF5693.JPG
    DSCF5693.JPG
    993.9 KB · Views: 63
I am having the electrical outlets mounted to the walls and use the braided steel lines which should meet code without having to go the full expense of recessed outlets and lighting.
 
There are lots of ways to skin a cat, but I think the primary concern is to get lots of power available, and then devise the actual distribution down to the heavier tools (drill presses, welder(s), air-compressor. etc., and then to outlets hand tools. I had the shop wired with its own 200amp panel (but feeding through the house pane, so it will trip its own breaker long before I get that much). Individual outlets and breakers were 20amp and I use a bunch of 48" long power-strips from Harbor Freight to make (literally) several dozen outlets grinders, hand-drills, sanders and the like -- My rolling workbench is my primary distribution for hand-tools... it has two 48" strips, that way I don't have to plug and unplug. The thing has grown into an obese behemoth with a heavier drill press on one side and a table sander on the other, with everything else in the middle and has become too heavy to move willy-nilly, so I just move it when I need, but with the vice and bench grinder (as well as several angle grinders and drills all plugged in, everything is ready to go much of the time). The HF strips are now at least five years old and haven't had a single hiccup (yet...). The very real danger is that equipping the shop can become a pastime in itself (as I've discovered) and gives the illusion of aircraft building without actually building anything that will fly -- YMMV. ;D ;D ;D

Steve Wittman was once asked it was true that the only tools he used to build an airplane would fit in a shoebox, he apparently replied "what else do you need besides tin snips, hacksaw, file hammer and welding torch?" At his 90th birthday party an acquaintance was kidding him about that -- claiming he was the only man in the world who could build a race plane in one year just from the tools in a shoebox. Probably a lesson there somewhere...
 
Dan,
I built my RV4 empennage in my base housing shed while stationed in Japan. Craftsman battery drill, B&D workmate bench, tinkertoy dimple die, tin snips, two small bucking bars and a leather man did 90% of the work.

It is amazing what you can do when you can do without... 8)
V/R
Smokey

And a very Merry Christmas back atcha...
 
Back
Top