Rudder Pedals (Part 1)

It's mid September, and I'm trying to use the rest of the warm weather to get as much fiberglass done as possible. However, it's raining and cold today, so I'm working on something the weather won't affect. I stole Mark Langford's design for rudder pedals. You can steal them too, by visiting his site.  These designs call for 4" aluminum angle stock, ⅛" thick. I was unable to find anything that large any thinner than ¼", so that's what I'm using. As a result, I had to slightly adjust the templates on the smaller piece of aluminum angle so the pedals would line up correctly. I printed the templates out on full-sheet labels, cut them and stuck them right on the aluminum.

My shop is set up for cabinetry, and I work with a lot of exotic woods on a semi-regular basis. Because of this, I didn't want to use my bandsaw to cut aluminum and risk getting aluminum shavings stuck in my expensive wood the next time I work with it. So I resorted to using a sawsall with a bimetal blade. I was able to rough out the shapes that way (along with some cheating with a drill press.)

From there, I used a sander to finish shaping the pedals and round the edges. I then drilled out a number of holes (as laid out in the drawing) to save weight.

I'll use the pedal swingarms to line up the pedals with the brackets, then attach the brackets and pedals with JB Weld. I may add grip tape if I feel it'll be beneficial. I have enough material to do two sets of pedals, but I haven't decided if I'll install them both or only the pilot's side. The passenger/"copilot" won't have brakes, so pedals would really be superfluous. Once I build my brake cylinder bracket, and have my seats installed, I'll attach the pedals to (and most likely relocate) the swingarms with PVC pipe and a screw (again a la Mark Langford).