FFS. I need a new hobby.

Zeldman said:
Hope you have better luck with contacting a lawyer than I have had.

Word is out in the small lawyer world here in town that I don't have money that they can suck out of me. Not one lawyer will answer my phone calls or even return email.

At least the FBI is listening to me and my problem.
Click to expand...
Every time I send mine an email i get billed for 30 minutes at 300 an hour. For a judgement that already went in my favor. But the guy won't pay. So I found out he was on another job and wanted to lien it. They claim he was paid before work was completed. Uh huh.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
Am I seeing things, or is that a drilled head? Was yours not safetied? How does is back out with a mechanical lock?
Click to expand...
No. Yes. It was. First time it literally wore the entire threaded portion off the plug and left the head hanging by the wire. Second time it spun it out enough to leak, but the wire held it in.

See post one...
 
Send-Cut-Send order came. Apparently I did a good job on the drawings as everything fit. Pretty cool.

Torque Plates:

IMG_20241107_144346802.jpg

Pusher/Puller plates, and a third draft of my 3D printed painting mask:

IMG_20241107_144504984.jpg

I need to learn a real CAD program. I use Tinkercad for my 3D modeling, but it's pretty limited and can be very frustrating, and it can't export in a filetype Send-Cut-Send will use. I used QCad Free to draw the steel parts for them. It was WAY easier as it is pretty close to the AutoCAD software I learned back in highschool. Of course it can't export anything in 3D that I can get into the 3D printer software.

So...if anyone wants to suggest a cheap or free CAD program, that's fairly easy to learn and can export STL and DXF files...
 
Solid edge is a free 2 d drafting software. I think fusion 360 is free for hobby use. Also eaa members have have a discount on solidworks
 
I use freecad. Free open source, so it has some quirks... Version 1.0 should be out reasonably soon - fixes the really big bug.

www.freecad.org

FreeCAD: Your own 3D parametric modeler

FreeCAD, the open source 3D parametric modeler
www.freecad.org www.freecad.org

And, you don't have to worry about the vendor converting it to not free once they have a big enough base.
 
Jim K said:
So...if anyone wants to suggest a cheap or free CAD program, that's fairly easy to learn and can export STL and DXF files...
Click to expand...
If your an EAA member they get like 50% of a subscription to Solidworks...like $50 a year that way.
 
I use Autocad LT for the plasma table. Looking to get something for stp or iges files as I'm about to buy a rotary cnc plasma for pipe, tube, angle, and channel.

Really hate how Autodesk like everyone went to the saas model. I bought the physical copy years ago and it's done everything I needed until now.
 
Second vote for freecad. It isn't all that intuitive all the time, but lots of good info on it on the Internet. I use it solely for designing parts to be sliced and printed with a Prusa printer. That paint mask you built looks great, and would be pretty quick to put together with freecad. Start with a rectangular plate, cut the corners by subtracting 4 other flat plates, make a bunch of cylinders and subtract for the holes, and then radius the corners.
 
Albany Tom said:
Second vote for freecad. It isn't all that intuitive all the time, but lots of good info on it on the Internet. I use it solely for designing parts to be sliced and printed with a Prusa printer. That paint mask you built looks great, and would be pretty quick to put together with freecad. Start with a rectangular plate, cut the corners by subtracting 4 other flat plates, make a bunch of cylinders and subtract for the holes, and then radius the corners.
Click to expand...
That's pretty much how I did it in tinkercad. It's just way harder because you can't put layout lines or angles to help find the centers. I wind up doing a lot of drawing and math on paper to find the edges and transfer that to the program. Took me a couple tries to get the holes just right. Once I got it perfect, I increased the thickness to .25" so it's nice & rigid. The thick ones are about a 3.5 hour print, so I was making them thin while I was iterating. The stuff I drew for S-C-S I did in about 1/4 the time and was perfect on the first shot (which it had to be as I had no way to prototype it).

Interesting side note....The lycoming cylinder base is defined by a 7 3/8" diameter circle with the top/bottom and sides trimmed off. The holes are arranged radially, so once you find one, you can mirror the other 3 across perpendicular lines drawn through the center of the circle.
 
I've gladly ponied up the $50/yr since Solidworks through the EAA became unfree. Export to STEP or STL, import into the slicer and print via Octoprint and done.

The online authentication annoys me, but you can put it into offline mode for 30 days at a time.

I'm bumbling along for simple work on a first or second gen i7 and very modest GTX 1050, but usually am working with wireframes.
 
Racerx said:
Every time I send mine an email i get billed for 30 minutes at 300 an hour. For a judgement that already went in my favor. But the guy won't pay. So I found out he was on another job and wanted to lien it. They claim he was paid before work was completed. Uh huh.
Click to expand...
I found your problem. Ours is $900 an hour. I'm sure he's way better. :eek2:

/sarcasm
 
ChemGuy said:
If your an EAA member they get like 50% of a subscription to Solidworks...like $50 a year that way.
Click to expand...
EAA benefit used to be Solidworks, now it's SolidEdge... Which is why I'm not gonna depend on EAA to make CAD affordable enough. I don't want to have to learn a new one when they change sponsors.

Personally, I'm learning Fusion360 (which I think they're rebranding to just "Fusion" now). It seems to be one of the most popular ones in the online 3D printing communities I'm part of, there's a ton of resources for learning it, it's parametric and cross platform... OnShape seems to be the next-most popular, but there are a lot of options out there.
 
Learning so much from just this one post.

Question about the torque plates.

Since they aren’t used in this case for cylinder honing, as the cylinder would be off engine block for that, how exactly are you using them?
 
WDD said:
Learning so much from just this one post.

Question about the torque plates.

Since they aren’t used in this case for cylinder honing, as the cylinder would be off engine block for that, how exactly are you using them?
Click to expand...
If the engine is rotated without the proper force clamping the case halves together, the bearings can shift and block the oil passages. The plates are basically stand-ins for the cylinders to maintain that pressure. Good practice to use them whenever a cylinder comes off. The shop (most shops?) use cut off cylinders.

When building the engine, they are used to torque the halves so the bearing clearances can be checked prior to installing the crank. Then they hold everything together until the cylinders go on. Also, you have to rotate the crank to install the cylinders, so again it's critical to maintain the clamping pressure.
 
frfly172 said:
Sorry for your troubles unfortunately customer service is lacking in the aviation industry. There’s always a new customer right around the corner .Good luck
Click to expand...
I find it's lacking in most areas.. sad really
 
Got my big order from Airpower today...all the little gaskets and stuff. Today's lesson is: check the parts carefully. I ordered an oil filter adapter gasket, which should be a round rubber ring. I got a bag with the correct part number on it containing what appears to be a valve cover gasket. The part number stamped on the gasket itself is completely different from that on the bag.

IMG_20241109_101731468.jpg

That's not a huge deal, mistakes happen, but this one is more interesting...

The set screw is supposed to be an AN565B1032H5. That breaks down like this:

AN565-military designation for a setscrew
B-conical point
1032-10/32"
H5-length 5/16"

What was in the bag, which according to the 8130 came from Mother Lycoming herself, is an AN565D1032H5. It's a cupped point, not a conical point, and would barely engage the hole in the idler shaft, if at all. Both the bag and 8130 label it as a "B" conical point. $5.31, BTW:

IMG_20241109_103824047_HDR.jpg

It should look like this:

AN565B1032H5__5ef260c122b97.jpg

Glad I'm figuring this stuff out now, so they aren't show stoppers during assembly.
 
Jim K said:
Got my big order from Airpower today...all the little gaskets and stuff. Today's lesson is: check the parts carefully. I ordered an oil filter adapter gasket, which should be a round rubber ring. I got a bag with the correct part number on it containing what appears to be a valve cover gasket. The part number stamped on the gasket itself is completely different from that on the bag.

View attachment 134997

That's not a huge deal, mistakes happen, but this one is more interesting...

The set screw is supposed to be an AN565B1032H5. That breaks down like this:

AN565-military designation for a setscrew
B-conical point
1032-10/32"
H5-length 5/16"

What was in the bag, which according to the 8130 came from Mother Lycoming herself, is an AN565D1032H5. It's a cupped point, not a conical point, and would barely engage the hole in the idler shaft, if at all. Both the bag and 8130 label it as a "B" conical point. $5.31, BTW:

View attachment 134998

Glad I'm figuring this stuff out now, so they aren't show stoppers during assembly.
Click to expand...
I wonder if airworx got that same style set screw.
 
WDD said:
Dang.

Is Air Power your standard “go to” supplier?
Click to expand...
Never used them before. They are significantly cheaper than anyone else I could find on Lycoming and Superior parts. They also show online whether they have the parts on stock. They had almost all of the parts I needed, and they shipped quickly. Guess we'll find out how their customer service is.
 
I ask partly because I just bought a cylinder / piston / ring set from them; just delivered yesterday.

They had this part when others were back ordered. I’ll have the mechanic double check things.
 
Jim K said:
Yeah. Me too.
It sure looks like it.
I mean, who has time to check and make sure you got the right parts?
Click to expand...
The guy who flies the thing with an engine in pieces waiting for things to come back from ndt. Apparently that’s beneath a crs. Add it to the list of things that get sent to the fsdo.

I didn’t think that shaft had enough wear for a conical point, and I have a hard time believing the tip simply broke. I’d be on the phone MF-ing Lycoming as it would be REALLY easy to overlook the B/D part number.
 
Jim K said:
So...if anyone wants to suggest a cheap or free CAD program, that's fairly easy to learn and can export STL and DXF files...
Click to expand...

I tried tinkercad for a tiny project and gave up on it. No built in fillets. All it was was a 3D printed two prism plug, but I wanted rounded edges.

Used Onshape which does brilliant internal and external fillets. It's a 3D modelling program. Free if you let your drawings be public. Expensive otherwise. Very much a beginner but it seems to be the real thing. Browser based with all the computations going on elsewhere so that it runs fine on an old computer like mine. Of course it won't work at all without Internet. For my small projects it is fine on slow internet. Seem to be many export options. Definitely dxf and I seem to recall stl but memory not clear. I did find that exporting to 2D drawings a bit fiddly as the dimensions had to be manually (re?) added. It knew what the sizes were but as I recall I had to specify what dimensions I wanted shown and where they were to go. Quite possibly doing something wrong.

The Onshape founders are old hands in the Serious CAD business.
 
Try Shapr3D for relatively cheap (about $250/yr.) CAD that has benefit of using same geometry engine as SW. Runs locally but has cloud storage for access across devices. Works on Mac, PC and iPad. Latter interface is its finest incarnation, but being old school usually use a desktop. Even having full SW prefer Shapr for many simple tasks like the plates you modeled.
 
Subscription-based software might make sense for people using it every day and making money out of it. For the rest of us, not so much.
Imagine buying an OBD reader for your car and being asked to pay a monthly subscription fee to use it. Software is a tool. I buy a certain set of features and use them. If I want to upgrade to a newer version that has more features, that should be my choice, it shouldn't be forced on me.
A typical scenario would be buying software, using it for a few years, then archiving your data and not being able to access it 10 years later because you haven't renewed your subscription. And then they wonder why software piracy is flourishing.

FreeCAD is my recommendation for occasional use. Complety offline, you know what you get and you'll be able to look at your files 10 years from now.
 
AV8R_87 said:
FreeCAD is my recommendation for occasional use. Complety offline, you know what you get and you'll be able to look at your files 10 years from now.
Click to expand...
yuppers

1731247167787.png
The belt tooth dimensions / diameters are calculated in a spreadsheet - just change the number of teeth and within 30 seconds - poof - I have a new size pulley that I can 3d print.
 
Jim K said:
Got my big order from Airpower today...all the little gaskets and stuff. Today's lesson is: check the parts carefully. I ordered an oil filter adapter gasket, which should be a round rubber ring. I got a bag with the correct part number on it containing what appears to be a valve cover gasket. The part number stamped on the gasket itself is completely different from that on the bag.

View attachment 134997

That's not a huge deal, mistakes happen, but this one is more interesting...

The set screw is supposed to be an AN565B1032H5. That breaks down like this:

AN565-military designation for a setscrew
B-conical point
1032-10/32"
H5-length 5/16"

What was in the bag, which according to the 8130 came from Mother Lycoming herself, is an AN565D1032H5. It's a cupped point, not a conical point, and would barely engage the hole in the idler shaft, if at all. Both the bag and 8130 label it as a "B" conical point. $5.31, BTW:

View attachment 134998

It should look like this:

View attachment 135001

Glad I'm figuring this stuff out now, so they aren't show stoppers during assembly.
Click to expand...
Jim, you need to write a book about this experience.
 
AV8R_87 said:
Subscription-based software might make sense for people using it every day and making money out of it. For the rest of us, not so much.
Imagine buying an OBD reader for your car and being asked to pay a monthly subscription fee to use it. Software is a tool. I buy a certain set of features and use them. If I want to upgrade to a newer version that has more features, that should be my choice, it shouldn't be forced on me.
A typical scenario would be buying software, using it for a few years, then archiving your data and not being able to access it 10 years later because you haven't renewed your subscription. And then they wonder why software piracy is flourishing.

FreeCAD is my recommendation for occasional use. Complety offline, you know what you get and you'll be able to look at your files 10 years from now.
Click to expand...
SaaS is a scourge to consumers. I love stories about some attorney still doing wills on his Apple IIe using Apple Writer II.
 
2 steps forward, one step back, it seems.

Got ahold of an actual lawyer this morning after a couple failed attempts. He was very sympathetic but basically said there's not enough there to be worth pursuing legally. So that's that. His suggestion was to make a report to the FAA.

That is my intention, although this thread: https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/filing-a-complaint-with-local-fsdo.140293/ and a very, very similar one on BT (that @SCCutler commented on) give me pause. According to the great majority of posters, making a report like this to the FSDO triggers a rectal exam for the aircraft owner as well. I'm pretty fastidious about maintaining my airplane, and I'm certain my logbooks are in order, but I also realize that they will find SOMETHING if they dig deep enough. In the end, I think it's still something I have to do as I don't want this guy to do this to someone else.

Unsure if I should call the AL FSDO directly or submit a report via the FAA reporting "hotline" website.

"New" accessory case arrived. Found a kind of ugly casting artifact where the oil filter adapter seals:

IMG_20241111_123646079_HDR.jpg

I assume this part has been in service this way for decades, but it sure looks like a leak/failure waiting to happen to me. I sent photos to DIVCO and the guy I've been working with responded within minutes offering to replace it. Not sure what the timeframe on that is though. I also sent pictures to my supervising AP/IA to see what he thinks.

Still no response from Airpower on my RMA requests. Guess I'll have to call and wake them up.

No communication from G&N, although I guess no news is good news. Or at least it's not bad news. Might call them at the end of the week.

I've got all the hardware cleaned and inspected. Intake and pushrod tubes painted. I don't think there's really anything else I can do until some more parts show up.
 
Walboy said:
Look at the bright side, at least the lawyer didn't string you along extracting fees.
Click to expand...
One of the reasons I specifically looked for one with GA experience. There are always exceptions, but I find that pilots tend to want to help fellow pilots.

WDD said:
RMA?
Click to expand...
Return Merchandise Authorization
 
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Jim K said:
...He was very sympathetic but basically said there's not enough there to be worth pursuing legally. So that's that. His suggestion was to make a report to the FAA....
Click to expand...
aka he can't make any money off it. but money wasn't your primary goal, correct? so, looks like he absolutely had his best interests in mind.
 
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