I like to think of myself as a modern aircraft builder. I don?t pour linseed oil inside of my tubing ? I use primers. I don?t use zinc chromate ? I use something a little harder (and less toxic!). And I have generally used nylon zip ties to build harnesses and wire bundles because, well, they are fast and cheap?and modern! But sometimes, the old ways CAN be the best?.and lace (that is ?lacing cord?) can actually be quite nice.
I pulled the panel out of the Valkyrie to do some avionics upgrades this past week, and as is usually the case, my hands ended up with an array of scratches from the little tag ends of zip ties on the many wire bundles and service loops in the system. Even though I use a zip-tie gun and even a razor blade to finish the ties, there are always a few bad apples you don?t get to until reaching in to do maintenance. I have often wished that I had taken the time to use waxed lacing cord to build the wiring harnesses, a reversion to the old lessons I was taught decades ago as a novice airplane worker. I remember being taught lacing cord, rib stitching, doping, sanding?all the great arts. I can do without the doping and sanding these days, but perhaps the old lacing knot could be relearned!
The job I was doing this week was going to require adding one or two wires to almost every bundle behind the panel, so I figure this was a good time to change over, purge the new and go back to the old. I have a big roll of cord that I have been using since I decided to do all new work that way a year or so ago. There is something peaceful about lacing cord ? sitting their quietly making a loop and a loop, then pulling it tight ? the waxed cord holding tight so that you can finish it off with a couple of hitches. It?s so much nicer than the sharp ?snap!? you get when pulling zip ties with the gun, the tails flying around the shop like little missiles, the dog jumping every time you pop one. I sat there Friday morning in our little hangar apartment, peacefully tying cord while watching the wet snow fall heavily outside the window (yup ? in HOUSTON!!), feeling the glow of skills renewed from old. It was almost like Christmas ? little bows and ribbons making packages neat - warm inside, cold outside. Snip, snip, snip, and the modern ties were banished to the trash, the new and improved bundles sporting their smooth, soft wraps. Zip ties still have their occasional place (securing bundles to structure, holding cowl pins secure, fixing a broken key chain?), but from now on, I am going back to the past when it comes to bundles?.lace is nice!
Paul
I pulled the panel out of the Valkyrie to do some avionics upgrades this past week, and as is usually the case, my hands ended up with an array of scratches from the little tag ends of zip ties on the many wire bundles and service loops in the system. Even though I use a zip-tie gun and even a razor blade to finish the ties, there are always a few bad apples you don?t get to until reaching in to do maintenance. I have often wished that I had taken the time to use waxed lacing cord to build the wiring harnesses, a reversion to the old lessons I was taught decades ago as a novice airplane worker. I remember being taught lacing cord, rib stitching, doping, sanding?all the great arts. I can do without the doping and sanding these days, but perhaps the old lacing knot could be relearned!
The job I was doing this week was going to require adding one or two wires to almost every bundle behind the panel, so I figure this was a good time to change over, purge the new and go back to the old. I have a big roll of cord that I have been using since I decided to do all new work that way a year or so ago. There is something peaceful about lacing cord ? sitting their quietly making a loop and a loop, then pulling it tight ? the waxed cord holding tight so that you can finish it off with a couple of hitches. It?s so much nicer than the sharp ?snap!? you get when pulling zip ties with the gun, the tails flying around the shop like little missiles, the dog jumping every time you pop one. I sat there Friday morning in our little hangar apartment, peacefully tying cord while watching the wet snow fall heavily outside the window (yup ? in HOUSTON!!), feeling the glow of skills renewed from old. It was almost like Christmas ? little bows and ribbons making packages neat - warm inside, cold outside. Snip, snip, snip, and the modern ties were banished to the trash, the new and improved bundles sporting their smooth, soft wraps. Zip ties still have their occasional place (securing bundles to structure, holding cowl pins secure, fixing a broken key chain?), but from now on, I am going back to the past when it comes to bundles?.lace is nice!
Paul
