The factory supplied 3 plywood (0.8mm) pieces of about 155x51cm for the
stabilizer skins. So each stab skin has to be made from two scarf joined pieces:
one ~150cm long and one ~50cm long. I cut two 50cm pieces that would be joined
to the larger 150cm pieces. Trimmed the (future) joint ends on all plywood
pieces. Marked 10mm off the edges. Also prepared one narrow plywood strip to
serve as a sanding guide. Stacked all 4 pieces with 10mm offset, and the guide
piece with a 20mm offset over the top piece. Clamped the stack to the edge of
the work table. Manually sanded all 4 pieces at the same time using a sanding
block. Some additional sanding was needed on two plywood pieces after the bulk
sanding.
Taped each of the two plywood pieces together for gluing. Gluing was a bit of a disaster. The masking tape came off one skin as soon as the epoxy got under it. I had to scramble - cleaned up the epoxy with acetone, tried taping again - no luck at all, no tape would stick anymore. I had to quickly cut a strip of peel ply, spray it with 3M77, and use it as the holding tape. Applied more epoxy and closed the joint on this skin. I was more careful with the second skin and it survived the gluing with just the masking tape. Thinking back about the process, I believe duct tape would have been a better choice for this operation.
Taped each of the two plywood pieces together for gluing. Gluing was a bit of a disaster. The masking tape came off one skin as soon as the epoxy got under it. I had to scramble - cleaned up the epoxy with acetone, tried taping again - no luck at all, no tape would stick anymore. I had to quickly cut a strip of peel ply, spray it with 3M77, and use it as the holding tape. Applied more epoxy and closed the joint on this skin. I was more careful with the second skin and it survived the gluing with just the masking tape. Thinking back about the process, I believe duct tape would have been a better choice for this operation.
