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I decided to build a rotisserie after rolling the canoe to save my back and make it easier to work the fuse innards. I used my old wings stands and modified them with pipe and flanges which bolt to a sandwiched plug in the firewall recess hole up front and to an offset board attached to the rear bulkhead. I estimated the center of balance, attached the front, then used a level on the longerons and set the rear attachment. Worked perfectly - the whole fuse rotates smoothly all the way around with minimal input and no swinging. The fuse is set relatively high compared to others I have seen - it is positioned so I can sit comfortably in my adjustable office/shop chair and have good access, and it gives plenty of clearance for the steps that will be attached soon.
Here is the completed setup minus a connecting bar I still need to attach between the two rigs:




Below is the front - a wood plug fits the firewall recess and is sandwiched, a flange and pipe fit to this, the pipe rotates in the copper pipe pieces, which in turn are hose clamped to a wood saddle that sits on an L-angle attached to the vertical post. The other end of the pipe is attached to another flange that bolts to the oak handle. This handle rotates along the circular plate that is bolted to the post. I have a hole in the handle that matches holes in the plate every 22.5 degrees so a bolt can lock everything, or I can clamp the handle and plate in any position.


Here is another view with the fuse tilted:


Close -up of the pipe and flange. Flanges were bolted to handle and other end to the workbench to tighten as much as possible. High strength Locktite was also applied to threads, and to give a visual gauge of any slippage I applied torque-seal:


The rear pipe detail below - I offset vertically the attachment to match the center of roll, and set it so the longerons are level.


Last pic is of the legs - all on casters - one that locks. I will put two of the wheels in caster cups as I did for the wings - this was enough to prevent inadvertent rolling. I will attach a 2x4 between the two stands soon.


Anyway, nothing fancy, but it works great and represents another way of making a rotisserie in case anyone is interested.

cnpeters wrote:Anyway, nothing fancy, but it works great and represents another way of making a rotisserie in case anyone is interested.

AHEM! Yeah, nothing fancy here. Dude, that looks freakin' AWESOME!!

I've been wondering what you've been up to over there!

You may not think it's all that fancy, but it seems to me it is a lot more engineered than most, nice work

Nice job Carl! I put mine on one also and it makes it easy to get to stuff. Now if I could just find some time.

I'm liking it...nice work.

I'm into the fuel tanks now on my 9A, and I'm already thinking about how to modify my wing stand for the fuse. I like what you did with the rotation points, I think I'll do something similar. I thought like you did about running a 2x4 on centerline between the two stands, or even a couple 1x4's about 2 feet apart for added stability, but they will be in the way everytime I need directly under the fuse.

'Course, the whole point of the rotisserie is so that you don't need to GET directly under the fuse - right?

I turn the 'bottom' to me, so no, I don't see any need. Only mod I still need to do is the center 2X4 that connects the two stands will have to be cut and then a connector plate added along the bottom, as the steps interfere at about 45 degrees. I don't want to raise the fuse any higher, so will just do the cut (the step currently rotates to within an inch of the bottom of the beam).

That's a valid point - can you give a measurement for absolute clearance from the center of rotation on your stand as built to the end of the step? That way anyone else could build it high enough or with the crossbeam configured to avoid interference.

airguy wrote:That's a valid point - can you give a measurement for absolute clearance from the center of rotation on your stand as built to the end of the step? That way anyone else could build it high enough or with the crossbeam configured to avoid interference.

OK - I was just out measuring - you will also need to know where I mounted the pivot point in relation to the firewall. The bottom of the fuselage/firewall is 13" below the center of pivot, and at that point, you will need 35 inches clearance from center of pivot to the beam to clear the step. The rear pivot center is only 1/2 " below the rear bulkhead bottom. BTW, these pivot point distances happened to work out well as very balanced when the top aft skins are on. When off, the fuse will pendulum bottom down.

Excellent - the pendulum effect would be just what you want, I would think. To get it to hang upside down you could either lock the rotator in position or spin it and hang some weights from the canopy edges.

I'll keep your measurements in my "Things to Remember" file for when that time comes.

Thanks!