Thank you guys, great ideas all. I like the idea of the aluminum panel and I didn't think about the hassle of the foam being more of a detriment than helping for all the now obvious reasons. Aluminum it is... I like the grounding and stiffening suggestions and the fact that I already had the double knockout (can't remember why I bought it but its been sitting in my garage for years). I looked at your panels from the links that you provided and I am super impressed with the work. Lots of great ideas and believe me I will be visiting your links as I build to make sure that I pick up on some of these great ideas. I think I can put this to bed and start cutting the aluminum sheet that I had purchased and was using as a shelf in the work shop...let the cutting begin... While I am at it let me share my progress on the building of my KR2: Dismantled Revmaster 2100D and in the process of re-assembly with the new heads that Joe (from Revmaster) provided. Final stages of elevator assembly (complete rebuild) since the PO had cut the elevator with a saw. Converting from two control sticks to single stick in the center, Installing T-style throttle assembly and mixture control. completed brakes and rudder peddle installation. Completed fuel lines, electric fuel pump and selector valve installation. Mounted electrical flaps controls with actuator. work left to do: Complete firewall installation, controls to the elevator (rudder controls completed). mount tail wheel, fabricate control panel and mount instrumentation, electrical controls, complete engine assembly and install. Thanks everyone. Luis R Claudio, KR2S, Dallas, Texas On Monday, February 12, 2018 11:17:27 PM CST, Global Solutions via KRnet <krnet@list.krnet.org> wrote: Hi Mark.
How thick was the aluminum you used on the panel? I am now thinking of making mine from AL as well. Thanks Stan On 2/12/2018 1:41 PM, Mark Langford via KRnet wrote: > Luis Claudio wrote: > >> I am torturing myself with the decision to build the instrument panel out of >> aluminum or do a layup of glass and foam. > I think you'll find 1/4" plywood will be very heavy by comparison to > aluminum. It all adds up. N891JF has a seat back made of 1/4" plywood, > and I figure I could save 4.5 pounds by redoing it out of foam and glass > like N56ML's seatback. A leftover piece of 3/32" aircraft plywood with > fiberglass on both sides would be much lighter, although could lack the > "structure" to even remain flat, unless you fold the glass over at the > bottom 2"-2" to give the thing something to keep it straight. This > lower lip also helps to eliminate the cut hazard of the bottom of the > panel, as well as provides a very handy shelf on the forward side to > mount a bunch of stuff that you don't even know you need yet, like a > terminal strip for power and a ground bar for all the ground points to > connect to one place. And there may be relays, timers, etc. added on > later. > > Aluminum is a better choice though, although it is more difficult to > modify later, often requiring a redo. I had my first panel waterjet > cut, but on N891JF I started with one that I'd previously bent up, cut > it down to shape, and put a layer of carbon fiber on it to make it look > nice. I doubt that it weighs anywhere near 4 pounds....probably more > like 2 pounds. Adding a lip at the bottom is more problematic with > aluminum, as it requires a bending brake (a sharp corner may simply > break off), but a local sheet metal shop can do that in about 5 minutes, > most of which is setting up the machine with the appropriate radius > dies. Really, the more radius the better, from a crash protection > standpoint. > > See http://www.n56ml.com/n891jf/panel/ for how I made the N891JF panel > with carbon fiber covering. All holes in the aluminum were drilled or > cut with a jig saw, except the round instrument holes, which were cheap > hole saws from Home Depot (they cut aluminum just fine). If you ever > want to redo it, you can make new cutouts and recover with carbon fiber > for a new façade. Another simpler option is to just cut big square > pieces out and install new ones with a different configuration, like the > panel Herbert Furle did on his KR panel, flat panels in aluminum (see > www.krnet.org for that site). See > http://www.krnet.org/krs/hfurle/instruments.jpg. Steve Anderson did a > similar one. See http://www.krnet.org/krs/sandersen/120604_060.jpg for > that one. There's a lot of flexibility in this method, especially if > you're not going to have access to the back of the panel! > > Mark Langford, Harvest, AL > ML "at" N56ML.com > www.N56ML.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > Search the KRnet Archives at > https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. > Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. > see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change > options. > To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org > > --- > This email has been checked for viruses by AVG. > http://www.avg.com _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change options. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change options. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org
