Dan & I have been cleaning up the wing ribs. Have been working on them on and off since mid January. The outsides have a “ever so slight bumpy” (that’s a technical term) edge after the router. The process we have been using is:
- Smooth the edge with the vixen file. (Don’t have to worry about taking off too much material since we are on the outside of the pen line and this will end up being the outside edge of rib flange.)
- Go over the edges with a finishing file. This is not a bastard file, it is a first or second cut file.
- 180 sand paper
- Final with 240 sand paper or Scotchbrite pad.
The real time sink is in the radiused corners bewteen the flanges. I want a nice transition for the straight edge of the flange to the radius. Looking at the light reflection on the edge you can really see the quality of the surface.
The lightening holes also need to be de-burred and smoothed.
So all this take a bit of time.