Shop Talk

This article covers what you should have learned in your high school shop class, but didn't, and more. It discusses safety glasses, proper treatment of chisels, gloves, jewelry, shop coats, hand tools, urban myths, safe shoes, hardware, biomechanics, capturing wayward chips, machinery placement in the shop, air-powered tools, cleanup, pneumatic cutting tools, and other common sense advice; by Bob Fritz.

Author Jim Weir explains his preparation for the installation of an energy-efficient power system for a hangar or building shed-all on a shoestring budget. He explains how to choose equipment, calculate power needs, the right light fixtures, power generation, equipment suppliers and prices, and the basic legality of such systems;

Paying attention to the working environment and maintaining machining tools in tip-top shape can yield a more polished finished product, while also making the fabrication process easier.

Exhaust systems do more than just get air into and out of aircraft engines. Exhaust system design, in terms of exhaust pipe length, diameter and tuning, affect the efficiency and performance of the engine, for better or worse.

In Part 3 of this series about building an aircraft strobe, the author beefs up the project using off-the-shelf parts to provide a brighter, more frequent flash without running down the planes electrical system.

Now the exceedingly popular and extraordinarily useful 11-part Build YourSkills: Metal Series is available as a single PDF. This must-have additionto your library was written by RV-7 builder Dan Checkoway and carefullyillustrated for first-time metal-workers and old hands alike. Mosteverything you need to now, from material handling and cutting to deburring,drilling and riveting is in this series.

Mating a prop to an engine requires more than a big wrench and some safety wire. Follow along on a real propeller vibration test.

How to meld with metal and bash rivets without blood or tears; by Dan Checkoway.

Tackling weight-and-balance calculations is a task we have all faced with some trepidation, but it is so vital, so important, so fundamental to flight...

An RV builder begins our journey through the gritty details of working with metal.