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01-25-2011, 01:46 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Delaware, OH
Posts: 435
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How to straighten 3003 tubing?
Does anyone have any tips, tricks, or recommendations for how to straighten 3003 tubing so it's really straight? So far I've been straightening it out with my hands which gets it mostly straight, but still has some waviness over short distance (perhaps every 2 - 3 inches) and usually a gentle curve over long distance (say, a 4 ft length).
P.S. Yes, I've considered 5052 tubing. I may or may not go that route for the brake lines, but prefer to use the cheaper stuff for the fuel lines. Really just looking for recommendations on working with 3003.
Thanks,
__________________
Mike Cencula
RV-7A (fuselage)
www.our7a.com
Betcha my pile-o-scrap is bigger than your pile-o-scrap.
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01-25-2011, 02:05 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 1,565
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I used a length of 12" steel rod matching the I.D. of the tubing. Chamfer the edges, grease it up, push it through (using another piece of steel rod), and you have a reasonably straight piece of 3003. Not arrow-shaft straight, but far better than I could do by hand.
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Brad Benson, Maplewood MN.
RV-6A N164BL, Flying since Nov 2012!
If you're not making mistakes, you're probably not making anything
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01-25-2011, 02:19 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Sedro Wooley, WA
Posts: 147
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tubing lines
Have you considered replacing all of those lines with the ones that come pre-made from Bonaco?
I made all of the fuel and brake lines and then saw the ones from Bonaco and removed all of mine and replaced them. Wish I would have done it from the beginning, it would have saved a lot of time, money and scrap.
Mike Ice
Flying Rv-9
Alaska
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01-25-2011, 02:33 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Ottawa, ON
Posts: 650
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roll it on the floor
Those aluminum lines come in rolls. Roll it out on a flat floor holding the loose end firmly on the floor, then unroll as much as you need (roll it like a wheel). You will need to hold the straight section that is thus formed firmly on the floor.
I tried unraveling by hand, but it really comes out lumpy and amateurish. Hope I understood your question correctly.
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Alfio
RV-9A Ottawa, Canada
First flight Dec. 18, 2008
> 1,000 hrs tach.
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01-25-2011, 03:08 PM
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Douglas Flat, CA
Posts: 589
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mcencula
Does anyone have any tips, tricks, or recommendations for how to straighten 3003 tubing so it's really straight?...
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It's hard to say. For most of these lines, straight enough for all practical purposes can be pretty wavy and still be 100% functional. So unless you're building a show plane, what you're doing hand and by eye and it will be fine.
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Bob Kuykendall
HP-24 kit sailplane
EAA Technical Counselor
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01-25-2011, 03:08 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Posts: 2,357
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Roll it between two flat boards, or a flat board and a flat floor.
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01-25-2011, 03:30 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Kyle, TX
Posts: 566
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Horton
Roll it between two flat boards, or a flat board and a flat floor.
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Kevin's idea worked well for me. I couldn't get it perfect but I got it pretty close.
__________________
Fred Magare
GySgt, USMC (Ret.)
PP-ASEL, A&P
Frederic.magare "at" gmail.com
 RV-9A Firewall Forward
[Engine purchased]
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01-25-2011, 03:39 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: 8I3
Posts: 3,564
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On the mustang I helped redo all the plumbing in the gear wells on, we used 5052 because it is delivered straight.
Jeg's sells a tubing straightener perhaps you could get your EAA chapter to buy: http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/80082/10002/-1?CT=999
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Please don't PM me! Email only!
Bob Japundza CFI A&PIA
N9187P PA-24-260B Comanche, flying
N678X F1 Rocket, under const.
N244BJ RV-6 "victim of SNF tornado" 1200+ hrs, rebuilding
N8155F C150 flying
N7925P PA-24-250 Comanche, restoring
Not a thing I own is stock.
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01-25-2011, 03:55 PM
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Ridgeland, SC
Posts: 2,589
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3003
is soft for a reason---easy to bend by hand. Works ok for low pressures, to like 850psi for -4. If it's already bent, you may not get it "perfectly" straight. In shorter lengths, try rolling it on a flat workbench. IF you have good tubing bender, you can bend the radius the opposite way, and get it close, without constricting the ID too much. Then roll it out. Probably easier to start over, use 5052, or braided teflon. Teflon is more expensive, but easier to route. 3003 and 5052 is less expensive, but harder to work with. Just depends on what your trade off is.
Tom
__________________
Tom Swearengen, TS Flightlines LLC, AS Flightlines
Joint Venture with Aircraft Specialty
Teflon Hose Assemblies for Experimentals
Proud Vendor for RV1, Donator to VAF
RV7 Tail Kit Completed, Fuse started-Pay as I go Plan
Ridgeland, SC
www.tsflightlines.com, www.asflightlines.com
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01-26-2011, 06:13 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Asheville, NC
Posts: 2,692
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Vice
I clamped (and crushed) about an inch of the raw end in a vice bolted to a heavy table. This allowed me to put reasonable tension on the tube while unrolling it and hand straightening the roll at the tangent point of the loop. It was pretty easy to hold tension and manually uncurl the roll to get a fairly straight 6 to 8 foot piece.
__________________
Bill Pendergrass
ME/AE '82
RV-7A: Flying since April 15, 2012. 850 hrs
YIO-360-M1B, mags, CS, GRT EX and WS H1s & A/P, Navworx
Unpainted, polished....kinda'... Eyeballin' vinyl really hard.
Yeah. The boss got a Silhouette Cameo 4 Xmas 2019.
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