Ok, the rough circles are cut out. Notice how I cut about a 1/16” from the line. There’s a reason for this…
Time to drill the center holes in the circles (I know exactly where the center is since I used the indention for the compass). Walk over to my drill press… FRICK! The circles are too large to fit in my drill press by about a 1/2″.
Keep in mind the circles are no particular size. I didn’t even measure them out. I just made them as large as possible with the wood I bought. The important thing is that they are exactly the same. The dimension is not important since they are just a spinning platform for the swift arms.
OK, no drill press so we have to drill the center holes the old fashion way.
You might have noticed that my work bench is a slab of steel. Actually it’s a slab of steel glued to a plate of ¾” glass. This is not because I’m crazy, it’s to ensure the surface remains perfectly flat. This is important because normally I build flying model airplanes (when I’m not doing some kind of side project like a swift). As you can imagine straight planes fly better than crooked ones.
The steel surface comes into play with a system of magnetic clamps and presses. Here one is holding the circle steady while I drill.
With the center hole drilled in both circles I can now “clap” them together with a screw and nut. A few fender washers protect the wood.
Look at those rough edges. YUK!
Time to attack those nasty edges with my disc sander. Since I’m starting about 1/16” away from my line, (remember how I cut a 1/16” away from the line with my jig saw?) I’ll be sanding down to the line and squaring off the edges at the same time. And since the circles are clamped together they will turn out exactly the same.
I start the sanding with coarse grit sand paper since there is a good amount of material to remove.
After some time and lots of dust the edges are cleaned up and perfectly square. Next I’ll switch to fine grit sand paper on the disc sander to remove the scratches that the coarse sand paper leaves behind. But that will have to wait for another night…
