It's been literally two years that the plane has been in stasis without any progress. In resuming work on the tail, I had to spend a bit of time going over all my notes and plans to determine exactly where I left off and what work is remaining. The elevators were essentially done with the exception of the lead counterweights at the forward extensions. I somehow had lost the original lead blocks in the empennage kit, and had to order new ones from Vans. I remember making a feeble attempt at cutting these lead blocks with a metal blade of the band saw, which end disastrously as the lead would get so hot as to start melting, causing the blade to cease into the block and essentially be frozen in place. This is not to mention creating lead dust everywhere which always makes me nervous; definitely made sure to wear a mask and gloves.

This time around I did a bit of research on how to cut lead blocks and arrived at two solutions. First was to use a cold chisel and a hammer. I tried using this with a mushroom head of the rivet gun, which worked okay but was incredibly slow at cleaving the block. Instead, I tried putting a fast-cut wood blade on a jig saw which worked amazingly. I was skeptical the wood blade would cut metal, but it cut chips off the lead beautifully without creating a lot of dust or heat.