I'm a new builder and this is my first post here. I have done a ton of reading and research on the subject of aircraft woodworking and seem to still have a few questions not quite answered fully. I'm ready to start on the fuselage and want to make 100% sure I am doing this right! The aircraft is a Pietenpol Air Camper, I have ordered the wood kits from ACS an will be using T-88 Epoxy.
Question 1: In all my research I have read many things about not sanding the joints before gluing. Upon inspecting the wood I have noticed that the wood is not 100% smooth on the sides(the 1x1 longerons for example). Most of it is just slight variations in levelness due to the grain and a few light saw marks here and there. My question is, if you can't sand these areas smooth where the vertical braces are glued to the longerons, what is the appropriate method to assure a good glue joint. Am I just being to particular here?
Question 2: I created a few test joints that mimic the joint between the longeron and a vertical brace. Again everything I read said the wood should break before the glue joint. This however didn't happen. On every test piece the glue stayed with the vertical brace (end grain side) and took the top "skin" of the longeron piece with it. So it doesn't appear that the glue is penetrating very far on the longeron side. I know these are simple butt joints that are not very strong and they will also have gussets on the final product. Is this the kind of failure I can expect or am I doing something wrong. On a side note I was very particular about mixing the epoxy properly and temp was 70F for the cure.
Thanks in advance for any help!
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