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1. 10:01 PM - Bending Trailing Edge of a "One" Piece Rudder Skin (Garey Wittich)
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| Subject: | Bending Trailing Edge of a "One" Piece Rudder Skin |
Greetings:
A note that might help you. With the 1/8" dowel rod
taped to the inside of the trailing edge of the Rudder
Skin, I placed a towel inside the Skin covering the
Skin Stiffeners. Using Vans recommended wood bending
brake I was able to bend the Skin so it just touched
the Rudder's Spar. It took about 9 compressions of
the Skin to accomplish this - each time it got closer
to touching the Spar. During the bending of the Skin
the Stiffeners did NOT do any damage to the Skin
because of the towel - even though they came in
contact with the Skin during the last 2 or 3
compressions.
The Skin came out flat until the last 1/8" (as
desired) of the trailing edge near the bottom and top
Ribs and the worst was 3/8" along the trailing edge.
To get the desired 1/8" radius, I took my Hand Seamer
(about 2" wide) and put 6 layers of masking tape on
each jaw surface for padding - so as not to dent the
Skin. Placed the Hand Seamer's rear edge about 1/2"
from the trailing edge and gave a gentle squeeze (a
few times as required) where the radius needed to be
better - making sure the Squeezer was applying EQUAL
pressure on both sides of the Skin. This worked well
- no dented Skin.
The Wooden Brake I made was made out of a straight (in
length) 2" X 8" that had been sawed in half to make 2,
2" X 4"s. The bending surfaces were "plained" with a
carpenters adjustable electrical plainer to make them
absolutely "smooth" and covered with Duct Tape.
Hope this helps someone, Garey (Santa Monica, CA)
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