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Author Topic: Willy's Pit (Read 102775 times)

Red Dog Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #195 on: March 16, 2014, 05:01:50 AM »
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General
indeed great idea Willy.
I have been flying without bezels for ages because I was too lasy to try to find a solution to fit
Mike's original bezels on my AIC modded right aux console
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Have a bandit day

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Willy Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #196 on: March 16, 2014, 03:39:04 PM »
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@Moon,

Here's the details on the Anodization technique that I use. (I was going to post this anyway but I'm
glad you asked.)

MATERIALS
I use a chemical Anodization Technique that is used by the Aviation Community. I went to the local
Aviation Parts house at my nearby airport and purchased a one gallon bottle of Phosporic Acid and a
one gallon bottle of Chromic Acid (the dark liquid in the picture below) also known as "Alodine".
Join Date: Apr 2005 Additionally, I have a 11" x 7" Pyrex baking dish that I use for these chemicals since they will react
Location: Richardson, TX to any metal containers. Don't forget your Nitrile Gloves, Safety Glasses, Apron and good
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Here's a picture of the materials I use (minus the Safety Glasses and Apron) to Anodize a one of the
Bezel Rings and a Panel for my R. Aux Panel.

PREPARATION

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You need to make sure that the Aluminum is very clean before you start this process. I use a Fine
Scotchbrite pad to buff the Aluminum until it is nice and uniform in its appearance. I then clean off
all fingerprints and residue using Alcohol. The bottom line is that you don't want any film on the
Aluminum when you perform the Anodization step or your results will look "blotchy".

ETCH
Fill your Pyrex dish with enough Phosphoric Acid to completely cover the material. Then place the
Aluminum into the Phosphoric Acid Bath. (Don't forget to use your Nitrile gloves to avoid getting
fingerprints on the Aluminum. You also don't want this stuff on your skin.) Leave the material in the
Bath for about 30-60 seconds. Then remove the material and rinse it throughly with water. The
Aluminum should have a nice "whitish" appearance once you have etched it with the Phosphoric
Acid.

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ANODIZE
Now into the Chromic Acid (Alodine) Bath for only about 30-60 max! (If you leave the Aluminum
in longer than that you will get a blotchy, burned appearance. Be sure to use your gloves and
glasses as well as have good ventilation!)

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Now place in a bath full of cold water to stop the process and then run water into the bath and let it
overflow down the drain. For best results, try not to let the stream running water hit the material
directly. You just want the water to flow gently into the dish and back out and down the drain.
Otherwise you can get uneven results in the Anodization.

DRY
Remove the material from the Rinse Water and allow it to drip dry or very carefully blot away the
water. Don't wipe off the water as you can actually wipe some of the Anodization off. You can also
use a gentle blast of air to dry off the material.

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RESULTS
The end result will be that the Aluminum will have a nice uniform "Tan" or "Gold" appearance to it.
My parts came out pretty good considering I don't have the nice setup that most commercial
Anodization shops would have.

Now I can prime (Green Zinc Phosphate) and/or Paint as required and not worry about the paint
peeling off down the road.

Here's examples of some home made parts (Landing Gear Panel and L. Warning Light box) that I
Anodized and then painted.

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NOTES
1. Be very careful with these chemicals! The Chromic Acid (Alodine) will stain Stainless Steel
sinks and counter tops if you let it sit on them for vary long. A little Chorline Bleach usually
will take the stain out if you address it immediately. (Did I forget to say, Use gloves, glasses
and adequate ventilation?)
2. If you have the space, use three separate Pyrex dishes with the Phosphoric Acid, Chromic
Acid and Water Bath each. That will make the process so much easier. In my case, I have to
carefully pour the chemicals back into the bottle between each step so I can reuse the one
Pyrex disk that I have. (It's important to try to not cross-contaminate the liquids.)

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Beau "W illy" Williamson

I better go find my monkey!

Moon Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #197 on: March 16, 2014, 05:32:01 PM »
General

Thanks for the tutorial Willy. Those parts look like they came from the real aircraft!
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JJ Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #198 on: March 16, 2014, 06:28:02 PM »
Guest

@willy, you are doing a great job here ! I hope we learn a lot about this during the pitmeeting !!
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Biggles Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #199 on: March 16, 2014, 08:40:35 PM »
General

Willy, why didnt you anodize the parts black straight away instead of panting them black afterwards
?

Am i missing something ?
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Willy Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #200 on: March 16, 2014, 11:47:31 PM »
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Quote from: biggles on March 16, 2014, 08:40:35 PM

Willy, why didnt you anodize the parts black straight away instead of panting them black afterwards ?

Am i missing something ?

Regards,

Biggles.

@Biggles,
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Richardson, TX Because I don't have access to the sort of chemicals or equipment to do Black Anodization. Color
Posts: 773 Anodization requires special equipment as I understand it. Most Aviation Aluminum parts are
Country: Anodized like I did and then painted to the desired color. Atleast that's been my experience.
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Willy
« Last Edit: March 30, 2014, 04:28:27 PM by Willy » Logged

Beau "W illy" Williamson

I better go find my monkey!

Willy Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #201 on: March 30, 2014, 05:06:22 PM »
-=VP Veteran Donor=-
General
So I see a lot of discussion on the use of Martin's Warning Light boxes which appear to be more of
his awesome work.

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Unfortunately, I haven't found a source of those short Jay-El Indicators BUT . . .

As I have posted previously in my Progress Thread, I do have some of the longer versions of those
Jay-El's that I got from some old TACAN panels. So I designed a slightly longer version of some
Warning Light Boxes that would work for what I have.

Here's the drawings of the two boxes.

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These differ from Martin's as the bottom cover (when observing the boxes in their normal mounting
orientation) does not have the "ears" that are used to bolt the two halves together. The reason for
that is that I don't have a Press-Brake to get the bends as precise as you need them for the internal

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dimensions to come out EXACTLY right. So I elected to just use the 2-56 Screws to not only
position the Jay-El's inside of the box but to also hold the two sections together like you see in the
pictures below.

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(Note: In the Final Product I will use 2-56 Ny-Lock Nuts so you won't have the sharp edges of the
2-56 screws exposed.)

Here's the boxes waiting to be wired to the DB connectors after Anodizing, Priming and Painting.

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If you look closely you'll notice that I also reworked the hole/nut-plate placement in the this final
version so that the aft two sets of mounting holes and Nut-Plates align with the real Warning light
box. In that way, if I ever manage to obtain the real Warning Lights or find the short Jay-El's and
use Martin's box, the holes in my Glareshield will match up.

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(The third set of holes/Nut-Plates can be optionally used if desired. Also, since they will not
interfere with the real/Martin's box you can just install dummy screws in that third set of holes if
you do later obtain the real/Martin's boxes.)

Maybe we can persuade Martin to make a Long version of his boxes like these that will work for the
Long Jay-El's. (Note: I've attached my .dxf files and .pdf files of these for anyone that wants to use
them.)

Willy
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Beau "W illy" Williamson

I better go find my monkey!

JCook Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #202 on: March 30, 2014, 05:27:50 PM »
General

Nice work.

I'm curious about the db9 and db25 ports. I've found some specs on these that shown the distance
for the mounting holes but I'm looking for specs on the shape of the ports (for example radius of
the corners). It can certainly be estimated and a usable cutout can be made for these ports - but
wondering if there is any CAD (dxf) "template" of the actual ports size and shape - something that
could be cut and pasted into my CAD drawing. That would be useful for designing all the
connection plates in the panel.

Not particularly hard to do with some trial and error - just wondering if something already exists.
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Willy Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #203 on: March 30, 2014, 05:32:58 PM »
-=VP Veteran Donor=-
General
Quote from: JCook on March 30, 2014, 05:27:50 PM

Nice work.

I'm curious about the db9 and db25 ports. I've found some specs on these that shown the distance for the mounting holes
but I'm looking for specs on the shape of the ports (for example radius of the corners). It can certainly be estimated and a
usable cutout can be made for these ports - but wondering if there is any CAD (dxf) "template" of the actual ports size and
shape - something that could be cut and pasted into my CAD drawing. That would be useful for designing all the connection
plates in the panel.

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Not particularly hard to do with some trial and error - just wondering if something already exists.

Just download the .dxf in the attachments. It has those cutouts. Cut-and-Paste as you wish. (I
spent a bunch of hours trying to get my design of these correct. I'm not swearing that they are
perfect but they do work as I've built other boxes with them and mounted DB connectors.)

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Willy
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I better go find my monkey!

Willy Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #204 on: March 30, 2014, 05:38:03 PM »
-=VP Veteran Donor=-
General
I think I started with this. It shows the Radius.

I used outside mounting cut-outs. If you mount the DB connectors on the inside the "Standoffs"
Prevent the mating connector from pushing all the way onto the DB connector. (Maybe there's a
special Jack Screw Standoff that is shorter that I need to try. However, I'm not aware of such a
thing.)

Willy
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Richardson, TX Beau "W illy" Williamson
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JCook Re: Willy's Pit

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General « Reply #205 on: March 30, 2014, 06:05:01 PM »

Thanks - that is what I was looking for.

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JJ Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #206 on: March 30, 2014, 06:54:40 PM »
Guest

wow Willy, you are doing a great job there !!!!

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Ka-Bar03 Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #207 on: May 17, 2014, 02:21:15 PM »
- Mike -
Administrator
General Nice Work Willy, just sent a PM to clarify things. In the design Arend and I use, the bezel is simply-
epoxied, glued- to the lasered gauge face and inserted from the rear of the console. The tabs on the
gauge face are used for the mounting to the console.
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henkie Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #208 on: May 18, 2014, 05:40:27 AM »
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Excellent Willy (both thumbs up ).

I have the eyebow boxes from Martin ... if I would put yours next to his', I could not see the
difference!
(besides the difference in lenght, but underneath the glareshield that is not visible).

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Kukki Re: Willy's Pit

« Reply #209 on: June 29, 2014, 08:14:18 AM »

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Administrator
General I just went through you whole thread here Willy, and I must say you are doing a EXCELLENT work
here man.
Wow what a great pit you will end up with.

I wish I have found that shrink tube label machine you have there, it makes the wiring so proff.
man.

Keep going old chap, and see you next time

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