Progress update (summary: we're just getting started):
62C made it out of annual with no great surprises (always a good thing) and it's time to fly for a bit; frankly in no hurry to take her out of service again, so the things we're doing right now are mostly prep in nature.
First off - some good news. I ran a test with some 3M chrome polish and at first glance it appears that I will *not* need to have the yoke shafts re-chromed. There was some surface rust and staining on both shafts but with some time and elbow grease the majority of it came off. When we eventually pull the yokes out I'll spend a little more concentrated time on them to get the rest of the staining off.
(Yoke shaft condition pre-polish)
(Yoke shaft post-polish)
I initially ordered four Delrin balls from McMaster-Carr and did some test drilling on them to test out the quality and process. Our drill press is/was an old busted-up-but-functional garage-sale purchase from many, many years ago and it quickly became apparent that the quality of the table-top drill press and it's inability to drill precisely wasn't going to give a successful outcome. We purchased a new drill press from a big-box store (table-top, but of a better quality). I also turned on my engineering brain and created a drilling jig on our 3D printer that enabled me to securely hold the ball and alignment. Worked like a charm.
(3d printed drilling jig)
(Drilling in progress)
As Bill had previously mentioned, we found that each of the Delrin balls had various amounts of holes/voids within the internal structure and it was hit and miss whether the finished product would be usable. I quickly used up the four balls I had ordered, and ordered ten more. McMaster-Carr had them on my doorstep twenty-four hours later. After drilling eight of them (thus far) I have three reasonably-usable, but I'll make the final judgement call once we are able to perform the test-fits. I will also do a final fitting/sanding once I have the yokes pulled out of the plane.
(Finished product)
Next steps:
1. We are still waiting for the vinyl yoke graphics to arrive (don't get me started on the problems with USPS right now);
2. Unfortunately a late-night, bourbon-influenced troll through these Forums led me to the following post concerning fabrication of new panel overlays (
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=11751&hilit=panel+overlay) and I think we've been bitten by that bug, too. With the new drill press and a new router (did I mention that I also bought a hand-held router, too?) I'll start creating a wooden MDF form for the main overlay panel and the two smaller overlays surrounding the yoke shafts. I haven't placed any phone calls to see who can do the vacu-forming but I'm anticipating that shouldn't be a problem. Also, I have this crazy notion that I could 3d print new bezels on my 3d printer and with the proper priming, sanding and finishing come up with something that looks reasonably pleasing to the eye;
3. Still need to do the flying I mentioned earlier in the post. Over the extended Labor Day weekend, with a negative Covid19 test in hand, I felt safe enough to hop in the plane and fly the 1,500nm round-trip from Atlanta to southern Minnesota to visit my dad. With my mother in a nursing home (Alzheimer's) and my father just hitting 80, neither my wife nor I wanted to chance ANY travel - especially commercial - to see them out of the fear of inadvertently carrying something into their household. This was a wonderful trip made possible by a lovely, seventy-year-old airplane that I am head-over-heels in love with. More on that trip in a separate post. But I digress: we still need to fly some more, and we have the itch to go somewhere. Anywhere.
4. Once the yokes come out we need to do the soak-overnight-in-stripper technique suggested earlier in the thread and can hit them with a few new coats of paint and clear coat.
6. Oh, and if the yokes are out, maybe - just maybe -should we replace the plexiglass overlay in the center panel? I hear that a table-top laser cutter would make quick work out of the cutting and reverse-engraving. My wife has been talking about getting one over the past year (she's a costume designer and does a lot of intricate work with expensive leather and other fabrics) and - just maybe - we could come to some type of arrangement?
6. And, finally, I'm carefully formulating an answer to my wife's question, "how much has it cost us thus far to drill a hole in a $3.58 plastic ball? Would it have been cheaper to buy it from Aircraft Spruce?" My initial answer of "you can't buy them anymore" at first seemed sufficient - helped by a suggestion that we're getting a few new tools that she can play with - but upon further reflection I fear that this may be yet another dark, expensive hole that we are going down ...
(In all fairness, and to avoid any possible misunderstandings: it's my wife who possesses the majority of the mechanical and artistic aptitude in the family and she plays an equal role in this wonderful experiment)
More to come -