Gussets

I managed some unexpected shop time this morning.  What with the situation with my Dad and all the social events surrounding the holidays shop time is somewhat limited. I am not complaining.  I enjoy this time of year.

I determined that I didn't have enough of the standard gussets to complete the eight ribs I have yet to build.  So, after finishing up a couple of ribs in the jig, I devoted some time to cutting more gussets.

The process is simple in the extreme:

First cut 1" wide strips.  The Ryobi table saw works very well for this kind of thing.  Eight 1" strips rendered about 240 gussets.

And then cut the strips into 2" gussets.  It actually takes two hands, but I had to hold the camera in the other hand.  I cut two strips at a time.  I tried four, but found it too difficult to control.

In order to get this done I had to do some minor reconfiguration of the workspace.  Just one of the disadvantages of a small shop is that the space has to be set up for each different operation.  In this case it just required moving the stack of ribs from the Ryobi table saw over to the Rockwell, which normally serves as the "desk" on which I keep the plans.

This is what the ribs look like so far in one big stack:

There will be twelve more ribs added to this stack before the job of fabricating ribs is all done.  There are eight more of the standard ribs to be built, with two still on the jig, and two tip ribs. 

Some more thinking...there is a marked difference between how the English identify themselves, and how we, especially males, here in the USA identify ourselves.  In Great Britain, it is all about "who you are".   Who were your parents, what schools you went to, etc.  In the US, we identify with what we do.  When two people, especially guys, meet, the first question is usually, "What do you do?".  Meaning, what do you do for a living? 

Not long ago I would have answered that question with, "My company provides management and engineering to water utilities".  That was not only what I did for a living, building that company was my primary "doing" thing.

Having turned over day-to-day affairs of that company to somebody else (I am still a shareholder and board member) I am now the general manager of a water district.  I take that job very seriously and work at it in a diligent and professional manner.  But it is not the primary focus of what I do.

Today, if you ask me what I do, I will tell you that I am building an airplane.