Date: Fri, 06 Feb 1998 02:07:31 -0500 From: Ian Douglas Subject: COZY: Low cost Laser Building Tip Just in case anyone is interested... I bought a laser pointer for $22.00 that I am using to ensure things are straight. By using a target and aligning the laser pointer along your path, you can take very acurate measurments (just place your target anywhere in the edge you are measuring and you instantly can see high and low spots - great for TE). By using a small white scale, I can run parallel line easily as well. Just to clarify... I'm talking about the laser pointers used in giving a presentation (looks like a little pen) with enough power to shoot 200 yds. -- Best regards, Ian D.S. Douglas COZY MK0069 From: Marc J. Zeitlin Subject: COZY: Low cost Laser Building Tip (fwd) Date: Fri, 6 Feb 98 14:25:32 EST Ian D.S. Douglas wrote: >I bought a laser pointer for $22.00 that I am using to ensure things are >straight........ I'm talking about the >laser pointers used in giving a presentation (looks like a little pen) >with enough power to shoot 200 yds. We had a discussion of laser pointers last year sometime, I believe (check the archives). They can be very handy, but the concensus was that you needed to ensure that the body of the laser is, in fact, aligned with the beam. This is not necessarily a given, since for presentation purposes it's a meaningless parameter. -- Marc J. Zeitlin Email: marcz@an.hp.com Date: Fri, 06 Feb 1998 07:42:23 -0500 From: Ian Douglas Subject: Re: COZY: Low cost Laser Building Tip (fwd) > We had a discussion of laser pointers last year sometime, I believe > (check the archives). > Will do > They can be very handy, but the concensus was that you needed to ensure > that the body of the laser is, in fact, aligned with the beam. This is > not necessarily a given, since for presentation purposes it's a > meaningless parameter. Since I would never rely on the body for a datum I don't have this problem. I use a target for beam start and beam end (draw a straight line and then take a portion from the centre), takes a little longer to setup... -- Best regards, Ian D.S. Douglas MK0069 Date: Sun, 08 Feb 1998 20:18:11 -0500 From: Ian Douglas Subject: Re: COZY: Low cost Laser Building Tip -Reply > To measure accuracy of laser! > > Place on a long table...measure height from table to centre of laser, > aim to target at the end of the table measure theis height (with > vernier) if not the same you have a problem...you may have to build a > jig for it to get an exact parrallel. Rego, Thanks for the idea. I already have a jig to hold it as the light is not parallel to the case edge and I wanted to be able to aim it in any direction. I am using a camera tripod that swivels in two axis and stands next to the table. -- Best regards, Ian D.S. Douglas COZY IV 0069 From: Epplin John A Subject: RE: COZY: Low cost Laser Building Tip -Reply Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 08:21:21 -0600 I have been using a variation of this for some time for several alignment tasks. I use a laser gun sight made for handguns etc. The device I have is called a BEAMSHOT. It leaves a lot to be desired as far as a gun sight but works great otherwise. The main features are: It is in a cylindrical case that nests great in a V block and it has alignment adjustments. Just lay it in a rigid V block and rotate it, if the spot stays put it is parallel to the V ways. If not you adjust the alignment screws. If you have a block with two V's 90 deg to each other you can use it for toe-in adjustments etc. If you are going to buy a laser device I suggest looking at the sight devices, they are a lot cheaper now than when I bought mine about 3 to 4 years ago. John Epplin Mk4 #467 > -----Original Message----- > From: Ian Douglas [SMTP:douglas@ibm.net] > Sent: Sunday, February 08, 1998 7:18 PM > To: Cozy MK IV Builders; Rego Burger > Subject: Re: COZY: Low cost Laser Building Tip -Reply > > > To measure accuracy of laser! > > > > Place on a long table...measure height from table to centre of > laser, > > aim to target at the end of the table measure theis height (with > > vernier) if not the same you have a problem...you may have to build > a > > jig for it to get an exact parrallel. > > > Rego, > > Thanks for the idea. I already have a jig to hold it as the light is > not parallel to the case edge and I wanted to be able to aim it in any > direction. I am using a camera tripod that swivels in two axis and > stands next to the table. > -- > Best regards, > Ian D.S. Douglas > COZY IV 0069 From: N11TE@aol.com Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 13:27:41 EST Subject: Re: COZY: Low cost Laser Building Tip -Reply Just another thought to consider: When installing my axles on the gear I tried to use a laser but found the same problem mentioned here with the laser case not being square with the beam. I spent a lot of time trying to get it to work. Determined it was more work than worth unless beam was parallel with the case. Then light bulb went off. Remembered had an old rifle with adjustable and removeable gun sight. Took the gun sight off, mounted in fixed hole so could rotate sight and began to adjust cross hairs until centered even as turned. This worked very well. Could rest the side of the sight on the axle end (or whatever) and sight down the crosshairs for a very accurate line-up. Many ways to skin a cat. Tom Ellis N11TE@aol.com Cozy MKIV plans #25 now AeroCanard 540 From: "Nat Puffer" Subject: Re: COZY: Loud Pop??? Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 14:57:24 -0500 Michael, We have been monitoring the Canard Pusher for over 20 years now and have never heard of anything like this before, with possibly one exception. If you use too much solvent in preparing fiberglass for finishing, on the wings and canard, it can weep into pinholes and dissolve enough styrafoam underneath to cause delamination, which will eventually show up as a bubble. That could have been the cause, or it could have been due to "hard shelling", which isn't as strong a bond as a wet layup over foam as recommended in the plans. Drilling pin holes through the surface of airfoils is NOT RECOMMENDED. If fiberglassing and finishing is done correctly, there should be no air between the foam and fiberglass which could result in a later delamination. Remember, this is closed cell foam, and the open cells on the surface are supposed to be filled with micro before glassing, in which case there would be no "air" below an air-tight surface. Was this a Cozy? If so, whose? It would be most helpful to determine the cause, because it should not have happened. Regards, Nat ---------- > From: Michael Pollock > To: Cozy_Builders > Subject: COZY: Loud Pop??? > Date: Thursday, September 03, 1998 12:00 PM > > I just thought I would pass this information along to builders and > fliers. One of the builders/fliers of our airplane heard a loud pop > while flying around 13,500 feet in route back to Texas from Oshkosh. > When the builder/flier returned to Texas, it was noticed, some time > later, that the canard had obtained a bubble on the left top, just > forward of the spar. It has been determined that the bubble formed > due to the pressure differential at that altitude and the canard was > air tight. The delamination was repaired by injecting epoxy into the > bubble and placing weights over the problem surface area. No delamination > occurred over the spare area, only over the forward surface over the > foam. To eliminate any future problems, we drilled very small holes > into all surfaces that we think could be air tight. I have heard of > this problem on a Glassair, but did not think that we had airtight > construction.