Matt's RV-8 Project



Matt Dralle's RV-8 Project
' style=
Date:  4-28-2013
Number of Hours:  1.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Plexiglass Canopy Initial Cut & Fit - Part 01

The dreaded process has begun! Today I started cutting the new Plexiglass canopy for Ruby 2.0. I am very happy to report that phase one is complete and there were no catastrophes. The first step is cutting the bubble out of the molding frame. This went smoothly mostly thanks to an awesome tool called a "Roto-Zip" that is available from a local Lowes hardware store. I have a right-angle cut-off wheel attachment for it. I can't remember if this came with it or if I bought it separately as an accessory. In either case, it is a must have for this Plexi cutting. I got some 3.5" "metal cutting wheels" for it and I have to say it is the cat's meow when it comes to cutting the canopies out. The tool has plenty of power and doesn't bog down, yet it is very controllable and accurate cutting is pretty easy. Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a manly tool and it requires a fair amount of respect. But it has just the right weight and fits nicely in your hand. The right-angle attachment can be unlatched and spun in any direction in relation to the handle and cord, which is really nice. Highly recommend!

After the initial cut, I put the bubble up on the fuselage and got an idea of how it fit. Not bad. But there was a lot of extra that was going to have to come off each of the sides. The catch is that you can't just do it all at once. You have to cut a little, fit it, mark it, cut a little bit more, repeat. All the while making sure that the canopy is fitting nicely over the front frame bow as well as the rollbar. It's quite a tedious and, frankly, stressful process since at any time, something - anything - could go wrong causing a crack or scratch and costing a cool $1k to get a new one delivered.

Cont Next Log...
' style=

Virgin Canopy

Virgin Canopy

' style=

Initial Cutting - Roto-Zip

Initial Cutting - Roto-Zip

' style=

Initial Cutting - Roto-Zip

Initial Cutting - Roto-Zip

' style=










Copyright © 2008-2024 Matt Dralle. All Rights Reserved.