John;
I've made wing ribs using rock maple forms. I cut out a form slightly
undersized to allow for the thickness of the aluminum on the flanges and
cut out two lightening holes with rounded edges for hole stiffeners. The
edges of the form were radiused so that the bends would have an
appropriate radius when formed. Another identical form was cut and the
two were laid on top of each other and two locating holes were then
drilled.
A rough- cut piece of aluminum was drilled with one hole in the
approximate location of one of the location holes in the forms. The
aluminum was placed between the maple forms and a bolt was used to
sandwich everything together; then the second hole in the aluminum was
drilled using the holes in the form and a bolt was placed here, too.
This way everything is located accurately. Excess aluminum is trimmed
off the edges that stick out of the forms and then the flanges are
formed around the maple using a plastic- faced hammer.
Where the curvature of the form was severe, I filed v-shaped grooves in
the form to accommodate the shrinkage of the flanges in those areas. The
wing ribs came out very well-- using this also method gives you
identical ribs. Aluminum "bubbles" can be formed using similar methods.
Maple is hard and durable; it withstands lots of hammering.
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-land-speed@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-land-speed@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of John Burk
Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2005 8:03 AM
To: land-speed
Subject: Fun
Had fun playing with the english wheel today . The most recent body
panels for
the streamliner that I picked up from my C minus aluminum man made
needed help
and I got them looking passable . Decided to try making the blisters
that'll
cover the Dana hubs that stick through the body . C-clamped a scrap
piece of
.050" 3003 between two pieces of 3/4" plywood with the right shape
teardrop
cutout and hammered it with my plastic hammer till it had the right
bulge .
Then wheeled it smooth which took some screwing around to roll in near
the
flange . Was considering cutting a piece of maple to the shape of the
inside
of the blister and hammering the aluminum over it to get the shape
closer .
Has anybody used that method ?
John Burk
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