All wood cabin interior

Can't believe it's been two weeks already since my last post.  I got all my cabin interior panels built and have started on the finishing process.  Here's the details in photos and text.

Since I completed the rear cabin woody panels, I decided to continue them forward just like Dave Miller did on his Stinson rebuild where he documented and published drawings.  Unfortunately, Dave did not have drawings and measurements for the door panels, and I contacted him about it, but he is out of the country until April and I couldn't wait any longer.  With my confidence high on the results of the rear cabin panels I started on the co-pilot (right) side and moved forward.

Here is the passenger door panel cut to fit and the trim pieces cut and clamped. 

 

This photo shows that I finished the edges of the door panel the same as the edges of the rear cabin walls by wrapping the trim around the edge of the panel so it wouldn't be exposed and have a finished look.  This photo also shows that I relieved the backside of the plywood in several areas because of screws and such so that the plywood would be as flat as possible on the inside curve of the door.  I used the door itself as a clamp mold so that when the glue dried, the door panel would be curved and hold it's shape.

Here's the door panel clamped off for the night.  I used Gorilla wood glue this time instead so that I could wipe off with a damp rag the excess that squeezed out during clamping.  It seemed to work fine.  Before the glue up of this panel, I flipped it and traced it out with pencil on another piece of mahogany plywood for the pilot side door panel.

 

Here's the door panel all dried up and clamped in the door and mounted on the plane to see how the top trim lines up with the trim line from the rear cabin side wall.  Looks good I think.  The door handle will go right about in the center of the upper trim piece and the plywood above that will be covered by a piece of vinyl trim seen lying on the cabin floor carpet in the bottom of the photo.  These panels will look really different with the stain.

I laid the completed panel on the flat bench to show that it truly did dry curved in box X and Y directions to follow the shape of the door.

I also worked on the door panel sample and add a new coat of varnish each day and sanding in-between.  Hard to tell in the photo, but the grain is filling in nicely where I did the paste stain while the unstained right panel still has lots of low spots (?) where the varnish is trying to fill in the wood grain.   There is a slight color difference between the center and left panels that I did stain because I wiped the center panel before varnishing with a tack cloth damped with thinner that removed some of the stain.  I will not do that when I do the real panels.  I am glad I made this sample/practice panel to learn the limits of the staining finishing process.

Before I could tackle the pilot side door, I had to take it apart first.  Here's the pilot door handle and the old interior panel on the door.  The escutcheon around the door handle is kind of rusty and I'll have to see if we can get a newer one eventually and I'll polish up the handles like I did on the co-pilot side.  Dave Miller who designed and posted the how-to on the cabin interior panels who said he had a friend do a 108-1 like ours and the door handles and locks had to be specially relieved.  I will eventually experiment on the test panel I made to how it/if it will work.

Here's the side panel, door panel, and kick panel all in place.  I like the look and this will work and look really good on our airplane when it's all done.

Here's a close-up of the  joint between the kick panel and the door hinge side.  You can see that I wrapped the light-colored trim around the plywood panels.

Satisfied with my test panel finishing so far, I decided to start taping off a couple of panels.  The green tape is frog tape that comes in it's own plastic storage container to prevent it from humidity exposure.  Apparently, the tape absorbs moisture which then helps it make a cleaner line on the item you are painting.  Normally, this happens when using latex based paint, but since we're using oil and solvent based stains and finishes, I wiped a damp rag around each panel and trim taped are so that it would seal before I started staining.

Here's a panel with the first coat of the stain paste filler on it.  I need to wipe off the excess paste so the grain is exposed.  Not bothering to stain the lower part of the panel because it will be covered by carpeting there.

 

Here I'm putting on the second coat of stain paste filler the next day after reading as much as I can about this product and how stain paste filler videos on Youtube.  You can see that the left panel still needs more wiping.  At the top left of the photo is an old plastic credit card as a squeegee which I squeegee 90 degrees to the grain right after I apply the product, then a paper cup and stir stick and application rag, some red rags, flat razor blade cutter (to cut rags into smaller pieces), the thinner from Petit for the stain paste filler and the Captain's Varnish, a burlap piece to scrape off excess paste filler and work it into the grain more, putty knife for hard to get corners, and my right-hand glove I had to take off to get my iPhone out to take a photo.

 

Here is one of the panels 24 hours after the second coat.  Most of the mahogany grain is now filled and will be easier to get a smoother, mirror like, finish with the varnish.  I really like the color contrast of the trim wood and the red stained mahogany.  This will get more golden colored with the application of the varnish.

 Close up of the poplar trim and the mahogany.  Pretty nice clean line from the masking.

 The frog tape worked great but there was a couple of areas the stain leaked onto the trim wood.  I will need to see if I can bleach this out or sand it down to diminish it.  This is the worst stain leak from the my masking.

 So far it looks pretty spectacular.  I'm waiting for a badger hair brush I ordered that will make the varnish process better and get the bubbles out of the varnish when I apply it.  I can put the first coats of varnish down tomorrow with foam brushes that I purchased for this project.  Note the old Terra portable aircraft radio on the bench I got with the project.  I have it plugged in and listen to it in the background.  I have it tuned to Palo Alto (PAO) tower frequency and hear all the activity which is about 1 mile from here.  At the same time I can hear many planes fly overhead as they depart or enter the pattern over Palo Alto.

Cabin woody panels and more

Steady working on the Stinson lately and getting a lot done.   I installed the first cabin heating ducts using SCAT tubing and the aluminum 2" diameter tubing, the long one which I painted in my recent post.  With 2" OD aluminum tubing and 2" ID SCAT tubing, it is tough to get attached, but I did it and clamped it with hose clamps.

I made these little kick panels for the back of the oleo strut cover.  Cannot attach them yet until I finish paint the oleo strut cover.  Need to do a small aluminum patch job on a spot Mike cut to install the tow hook handle system.

Next I started working on the rear cabin wood panels.  Even though our Stinson 108-1 is a Voyager model, I really like the wood interior siding of the Flying Station Wagon model so that is what I am making.  I am using the woody panel drawings from Dave Miller who posted them on his Stinson website.  I am making them out of 1/8" thick mahogany plywood paneling and 1/4" thick poplar.  First I check of rear cabin woody panel cut to size and with pencil markings for where trim goes. 

Rear cabin woody panel with trim pieces rough cut to size.  Have to cut these outside on table saw and chop saw to rough size during the day, and then can do finish cuts in the evening inside the shop.  I think it looks terrific!  I am going to attach with T-88 epoxy adhesive since these materials are so thin it doesn't leave much room to mechanically join them together.  T-88 is a structural adhesive which should give plenty of hold.  Besides, the hardware screwing these to the frame will hold it all together anyway.  My goal is to apply a varnish material made for wooden boats by brush or spray for a high gloss transparent, smooth finish that will be unbelievable.  

To set up the adhesive, I used some weights, bricks, paint cans and an aircraft repair book to hold down the trim while it sets up.  I leave it in the "press" for about 24 hours.

Dave Miller's rear cabin side panel dimensions is where I started, but found there were a few different dimensions.  I like having a template too, so I made one from cardboard using photos for reference.  Then I cut out the mahogany panels, check fit them, draw the trim on the panels and start to use my table saw and chop saw to cut the trim to fit.  I used T-88 adhesive for the trim except this piece on the back of the side panels that acts as an attach surface for the rear panel.  I used wood glue and air stapler for that piece.

For the trim piece next to the door frame, I was not sure how to make this piece until I remember a ramp queen 108-2 we found in Payette, ID when we were there in May of 2011 for a family reunion.  It was unlocked and I used the opportunity to take some photos.  It had woody panels and I happened to take a photo of the leading edge near the door frame so I found my answer in my own photo collection of Stinson 108s.   I bought a thicker piece of poplar and ripped it down to 3/8" thick and ripped a 1/8" thick part out of it to fit or wrap around the end of the plywood.  I also used a router to make a nice round edge.  Another note on special pieces, the middle vertical trim pieces I planed down to 3/6" thickness according to the original design.  Before glueing I sanded off blade burns and spots with 150 grit and then 220 grit sandpaper.

In one hour's work, I made the hardware attach points for the control column cover in the front floorboards using flat tinnerman nuts and rivets.  I also attached the small wooden pieces to the firewall frame that the front of the cover attaches to also.

I also got a lens cover for the cabin ceiling light from Mike Benoit.  It fit perfect right out of the box.  Thanks, Mike.

With the rear cabin walls, I couldn't resist trying out a rear seat sling.  I got out one of the old seats and set it up to see how it looked and felt.  I will use these as samples to make new ones.  This sling seat is comfortable (my first time sitting in the back seat of any Stinson 108).  

I am anxious to install the headliner soon so I got out the old one and removed the aluminum bows from it and really got out the headliner I got from John Baker when he parted out his 108-3.  I decided to dry-fit the headliner.  Even though it is written on it for a 108-3, it seems to fit pretty good.  A couple of the sleeves the aluminum tubing goes through are too long (longer than the aluminum tubes) so I don't know the difference between a -3 and a -1 or -2 headliner (if any).   I had it clamped at the front to hold it up.  I still need a couple more pieces of wood trim to attach the headliner to above the door, install the shoulder harness brackets, and install the windshield wooden brackets.  I'm not sure what kind of staples to use and I am studying the Yahoo Stinson group and Int'l Stinson club websites for clues how to attach the headliner.  

The old headliner.

I have more hardware and wood on order from Aircraft Spruce.  I also have some varnish, stain, and thinner designed for wooden boats coming which I will use on the woody panels to make them a mirror finish and stain the mahogany a little redder to go with the color scheme of the airplane.  I need to get more paneling and poplar trim to do the doors and maybe the kick panels near the instrument panel.