Just by feel, the larger ones are much heavier. Of course I had to quantify that observation...yep, 4 3/4 ounces for both large ones...
...and 1 7/8 ounces for both small ones. A factor of almost three.
Ok, while I'm on the topic of getting cool stuff in the mail, this order came from Sacramento Sky Ranch with my oil filter (CH48110) and electrical terminal boots (MS25171-1S and -2S). I couldn't find these terminal boots in any of my other "go-to" spots, but Sac had 'em. They're smaller for stuff like the alternator field connection, fuse block connections, etc. I wanted to order like half a dozen oil filters, but they're 15 bucks a pop. I ordered just one for now, which I'll use when I first replace the preservative oil with mineral oil before first flight.
Something I wanted to do tonight was tinker with the West Systems resin and hardener, since I'll need to make a resin paste when riveting the hinges on the cowl (something I'll be doing shortly). Here's all the crap I had acquired earlier.
Notice that the resin/hardener come in "group sizes" that correspond to each other so that if you use the pump kit you don't need to worry about proper mixing...just give it one full pump of hardener for each full pump of resin.
This picture is mostly useless, but I had wondered how much comes out with one full pump. This is one pump of resin, maybe 3/8" in a small paper dixie cup.
I experimented with various consistencies, starting with just a pure resin/hardener mixture, which I brushed onto some scrap to see how it cures, sands, etc. Bit by bit, I added some microballoons and mixed it in. I wanted to see how much it takes to get different consistencies (slurry, paste, goop, etc.). I brushed each degree of viscosity onto some wax paper and also onto some scrap aluminum.
I did learn that the 206 hardener is very slow. I had gone with 206 instead of 205 because the pot life is considerably more generous with 206. But...205 would be absolutely fine for small batches that I would apply within 30-40 minutes (I'm talking about micro paste here, a pure resin mixture would give much more time). So next time I'll probably buy 205.
Ok, let's hinge this stinkin' oil door. First I finished trimming and sanding the cutout in the cowl. Oh, by the way, I had settled on using the smaller hinges. If you want the big ones, make me an offer.
I placed the door precisely where I wanted it and taped that puppy down.
After flipping the cowl over I started positioning the hinges. I had already decided that I would install .032" reinforcement strips under (or above, as the case is) the hinges. The reason is that with only four 3/32" rivets holding the door to the hinges, I'm just picturing the door breaking off when somebody (me) clumsily pushes too hard or elbows the thing.
Ok, cut ahead a few minutes, and this thing is done (minus riveting). Works GREAT. You can see the .032" x 1/2" reinforcement strip. The idea here is that in order for the door to pull away from the hinge, it's going to have to rip seven rivets out, not just the ones on the hinge. I believe this will add a fair degree of durability.
Here's the hinged edge in the closed position. You can see the profile of the strips I'm talking about. Oh yeah, and you can't see any hinge here...mission accomplished. Looks beautiful.
