(soarski) wrote in message . com...
will remain small, and declining.

Saying that people are "too lazy" to soar is like me saying soaring
people are too lazy to try metalworking. I just made a skid plate for
a 2-33 out of 1/4 inch AR plate, 3 1/2 hours pushing it through the
saw to cut to size. Call me lazy if you will, but I'd rather push the
steel than pay through the nose for what soaring costs, and it's just
as interesting.

BUT Lennie......You went about it the wrong way! I used to take some
stock with the corect width, had the guy where I picked it up, just
cut it with a big shear! Usually made three of them at a time.
Clamped them all together and hoped for a good drill bit in the press.
Those were the times, replacing those skids, while customers were
waiting to fly!

You aren't going to cut AR plate with a shear. Unless you want to buy
the owner a new shear, that is. Same stuff bulldozer blades have for
their cutting edge. Should need replacing sometime in about 2030,
maybe. Saw speed was 40FPM, cutting rate 8 inches per hour. Drilling
no problem, used masonry bit in the milling machine, 320 RPM, and lots
of cutting oil. Interesting, but not something I want to do again.