Stan,
I just had a powdercoat discussion with my powder coater. The thinkness of each of his coats is .002 inches.Does this sound right to you? My concern would be if you put to much construction paper, you might wind up with a gap or space.
It might be worth taking a piece of metal to the power coater now, ask him to coat it. Measure it with a micrometer before and after. See how much you will need to auctually "compensate."
Your thoughts?
Stay Safe.
Heath you sound just like me sometimes. I plead guilty to being at times obsessive with tiny details. in your line of work tiny details are everything , and in your line of work they pay off handsomely.
But as pilots we mostly want to know that the flying machine we buy is reasonably safe and reasonably well designed. If we can be reasonably assured of that , the rest is simply budgets and bankers and wives.
Those are the three hardest things that we men must overcome , if they are successful , often we survive. Great countries are built on men who survive , and women and bankers who keep us on the right track.
Back to topic , I have painted a lot of things for a lot of years , and I focus on the tiny details. Tiny details make for perfect paint jobs. There is nothing else that contributes to one perfect job but a thousand tiny details. There are no shortcuts. Never have been.
I failed a test that I was given , I had applied to Bristol Aerospace in Winnipeg Manitoba Canada, they were desperately looking for painters.
How many mils of paint meet the requirements of weight and balance on the left rear aileron of a F18 fighter jet flying at 1600 mph.
I did not know the answer and I told them so . As I walked out of the interview there were about 8 personnel managers hovering around me wanting to hire me because of my honesty. They had never seen an application like mine.
Keep focusing on the tiniest details in your line of work Heath. They are the key to your success. Do not change.
If you are successful in your line of work , you will gain credibility and folks will tend to listen to what you have to say.
Focus on what you are good at Heath , leave the mils of paint calculations to those who are qualified.
Be the husband that you are , the protector you strive to be , and the eye in the sky that we all want , and one of these days we will fund your desires.
In the meantime keep your focus on the tiny details , it will further your career. It is the game you play. Rewards are handsome.
Handsome rewards come when a law enforcement guy with impeccable credentials an walk into the airplane store and ask "how many mils of paint are between the assembled parts".