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Cabin Top Door Seal First Cuts

Lynnb

Well Known Member
So I've been reading, downloading, more reading, looking at pictures etc trying to figure out where to start or not start on the door frame. Over the weekend I cut and fit the cabin top, still need to sand a couple of areas, but I didn't cut any of the door opening, or rear window frames for that matter. Now to my questions:

Just an Edit: I intend to install the mcmaster door seals.

1. Do I make a preliminary trim of the door frame to the Van's scribe lines, knowing you will cut more off later to fit the door seals?

Or

2. Do I cut nothing until I start fitting the doors?

Just curious how others approached this.

Thanks,
Lynn
 
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I simply followed the plans and cut how much (in this case to the scribe lines) and when it said to cut. Not trying to be sarcastic or anything, but generally I just relied on the plans and the build/assembly sequence laid out by Van's and for the most part things worked out just fine.
 
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You might hear that you will end up cutting off more than you'd think. Personally, I cut off TOO much and had to rebuild things back up. So... I'd recommend the conservative approach - cut to Van's scribe line and then cut or sand back from there.
 
My scribe lines were not accurate. I used them and cut off too much material. I recommend cutting to the dimensions referenced in the plans.
 
I guess I might should have stated I'm cutting to use the mcmaster seals, not sure if that changes anyone's suggestions.
 
You might hear that you will end up cutting off more than you'd think. Personally, I cut off TOO much and had to rebuild things back up. So... I'd recommend the conservative approach - cut to Van's scribe line and then cut or sand back from there.

I did the same... if I had to do it over again I would of waited until I had the doors mounted to cut the inside. Probably requires cutting a bit off when putting the doors on to get it to fit.
 
This is the best compromise

I did the same... if I had to do it over again I would of waited until I had the doors mounted to cut the inside. Probably requires cutting a bit off when putting the doors on to get it to fit.

But if you're cutting for the McMaster seals, you will ultimately grind/sand for a 1/4" gap from the door, and that takes the curved portion of the door sill pretty much flat, parallel to the inside surface of the door. This results in a sharp edge, and necessitates building up the door sill edge to a consistent 1/4" thickness. Best done IMO as others have done, with pieces of McMaster seal used as a removable/reusable mold to hold flox in place on the door sill while it cures. Gives a perfect fit. Do other stuff while it cures. The leftover piece from a 25 foot order will do one doorway in about 5 cure sessions/nights. But be careful with it. Tears if handled roughly.
 
cut

I used Ivan K's measurements and they were almost perfect. Much easier if cabin top is not installed, and definitely easier to keep the dust out of the fuselage...
 
Umm...

I had the page bookmarked but it doesn't work any more. You might do a shout out and see if he still has his build log up...
 
But if you're cutting for the McMaster seals, you will ultimately grind/sand for a 1/4" gap from the door, and that takes the curved portion of the door sill pretty much flat, parallel to the inside surface of the door. This results in a sharp edge, and necessitates building up the door sill edge to a consistent 1/4" thickness. Best done IMO as others have done, with pieces of McMaster seal used as a removable/reusable mold to hold flox in place on the door sill while it cures. Gives a perfect fit. Do other stuff while it cures. The leftover piece from a 25 foot order will do one doorway in about 5 cure sessions/nights. But be careful with it. Tears if handled roughly.

I had issues with that approach. Ended up having to manually build everything up later and then sand it all down. Ended up turning out great but my initial cutting to the scribe line probably made the entire thing much harder.
 
McMaster Carr door seal

How can I find Ivan K's measurements? I'm getting ready to fit my cabin cover this week!

Here is a link to the section of my build for the doors which includes a number of pictures showing measurements of where to cut. The very first slide is actually a little video, which I had forgotten all about, it gives some specific measurements. Some areas get a bit thin but that is required in order to be able to close the door using the McMaster Carr seal. I built up the inside of those areas so that the seal grip was retained.

https://ivankristensen.smugmug.com/Building-an-RV-10-EXPERIMENTAL-aircraft/Cabin-doors/

Ivan
 
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I had issues with that approach. Ended up having to manually build everything up later and then sand it all down. Ended up turning out great but my initial cutting to the scribe line probably made the entire thing much harder.

What I describe is one approach to "building it up later." In my case, sanding the cabin top to a distance of 1/4" away from the inside of the doors was beyond any scribe lines I could make out.

He will have to sand some doorway material away just to get clearance for the door pieces to seat flush for initial assembly (drilling and clecoing to the outside of the cabin while the door bond cures). From there it's very straightforward to scribe the 1/4" gap line from the inner door face, and check progress as he goes with a go/no-go feeler gauge.

In my case, much of the doorway was left with a knife-edge after this final trim. What was still full thickness was checked with a 1/4" gap gauge and if necessary ground down to 1/4" thickness for the edge seal to grip to. The rest was built up with flox, cast-in-place with seal material as the female mold. I'm very happy with the results so far.
 
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