Below is Version 2 of the Canopy Strut Block hot of the pres… er, uh, 3D printer!  I went with basic tactical efficiency by simply using a Sharpie to color the lettering black.  I also did a rudimentary strength test by “jamming” the canopy shut with a good bit of force and this version held up fine.

Honestly, if it works once on a strong gust of wind but is sacrificed in the process, where I’d have to keep the canopy closed for a period… I can always rework the design and print another one in about an hour.  For less than an ounce, I think this is decent insurance against the canopy slamming shut due to strong winds or gusts.

Back on the turtledeck… yep, a few more divots and low spots on each side that needed some judicious minor micro filling —more so than what will/can get filled with epoxy wipes alone.

I’ll sand the added micro tomorrow and should be done with micro on the turtledeck proper and the shoulders… I’ll wait to epoxy wipe until I get the longerons micro’d up as well (and hopefully warmer weather!).

With the micro tasks completed on the turtledeck, I then did a final clean on the top cowling and did the first round of epoxy wipes (see below).  With the first epoxy wipe complete, I then got busy machining the canopy latch handle.

The stock I have on hand for the canopy latch handle is a little longer than I need, but the other dimensions (1.5″ x 3/4″) are exact to what is called for.  Here is the original aluminum stock (I think 6061?  It’s been a long while since I bought it), after I marked it using my original 3D printed handle mockup as the template.

Since I didn’t want to waste aluminum stock, and a lot of time machining both ends, I used both the horizontal and vertical band saws to notch a big chunk out of each end, the shorter end shown here.

I then did 2 separate rounds of machining: one for each end of the handle, with a break in between the two sessions for another round of epoxy wipes on the top cowling.

As you can see, here we have the external milling of the canopy latch handle completed, with the internal slot yet to do (planning to finish tomorrow).

Once all the milling was complete for the night, I did one more round of epoxy wiping on the top cowling… for 3 total coats of West epoxy.

I had actually planned on doing 4 coats total, mainly for the micro’d areas of the top cowling, and used the 205 fast hardener so it would cure faster in between each round. But as I MAY have mentioned, it’s still quite cold out and I’m struggling to keep the shop above 65° F (Marco is just a few hours north of me, and he’s already got about 7″ of snow… and folks 15 miles inland from me are getting snow as well).  In short, it was getting quite late, plus Jess had dinner made and waiting, so I made the call that 3 epoxy wipe coats was all she gets!

Tomorrow I plan on finishing the canopy latch handle machining, as well as getting the bottom cowling sanded and at least final prepped for epoxy wipes.