March 18, 2007

Back in B-Town and Skins


I arrived back in Bloomington this evening with the droid. Break was productive, but didn't get as far as I had planned. The good news is that my Celebration IV committee is on the right track and I accomplished everything that had to be done in the shop. Next up are the skins.

While at home, I started working on the 4 pieces of Aluminum skins. The first step to finishing them is to remove all of the scrap panels. These are the pieces that are left over or inserts that are not part of the finished product. These panels can be identified because while they are laser cut, they have little or no space between them. The pieces that must be kept have a large gap with a few tabs holding them to the skins.

To remove these scrap pieces, I used a small chisel because a fine toothed saw is too large to fit in the gaps. Take the chisel and place it right on the tab that is still holding it on. Tap just a few times with a hammer and it should split the tab without bending the skins out of shape. I used a small board to give the skins something to lean on and positiond the tab flat on the surface of the table.