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Bending Longerons: Method of Choice (with dies)?

txaviator

txaviator

Well Known Member
To those of you who have bent your -12 longerons, which method did you use?

Not really wanting to use the cave man method of beating the heck out of them with a hammer, I bought the special dies for bending them.

I've seen both methods (when using the dies) used in builder logs: the vise method and the hydraulic press method. If you used the dies, which did you choose: vise or press? Any words of wisdom? I can't wait to get this part behind me and trudge onward.

Thanks-
 
Longerons

Gary,

I used the die set in a vise.

I went slow and careful and had no problems.

You can take it really slow with the vise, 1/2 turn at a time.

It was no problem at all.

Good Luck.
 
Used the dies in a vise and found them quite easy to use. Two other local builders borrowed my set and also got good results.
 
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I bought the dies, did it in a vise, no problem at all. Later the same day I got the dies, I resold them to another builder.
 
I've used both the hammer and the die way. Dies are far superior! I would say that a hydraulic press with the dies might be overkill as you can go too far with them. Be especially careful at the back ends as just being off a touch could cause a significant bulge or "dimple" in the skins of the tailcone. I would check the included angle very closely, making sure it is the same as the included angle of the sides of the tailcone. Once the longerons are riveted in, it would be a LOT of work to have to rebend them.

Bob
 
I've used both the hammer and the die way. Dies are far superior! I would say that a hydraulic press with the dies might be overkill as you can go too far with them. Be especially careful at the back ends as just being off a touch could cause a significant bulge or "dimple" in the skins of the tailcone. I would check the included angle very closely, making sure it is the same as the included angle of the sides of the tailcone. Once the longerons are riveted in, it would be a LOT of work to have to rebend them. The 12 is different from the others in that the longeron does not go back to the tail.

Bob
 
Watch the video...

I bought the dies, and used them and got good results. Then I watched the GeoBeck videos, and thought "Why the heck did I do that???"

No hammers involved. Watch the GeoBeck video and you will se a very simple fast way to bend the longerons. Vice and a tape measure.

Dkb
 
Thanks, everyone! Tomorrow is 'month-end' for my business (shipments). After an all-time record month of sales, I will take Friday off from work and begin the process of bending the longerons.

I really appreciate the input.
 
txaviator said:
Thanks, everyone! Tomorrow is 'month-end' for my business (shipments). After an all-time record month of sales, I will take Friday off from work and begin the process of bending the longerons.

I really appreciate the input.
Click to expand...
I found the process of getting the front end angle opened to 5.4 degrees (or whatever - relying on again memory here) to be much more difficult that putting the bend in. The dies won't help with that, I don't think. I ended up using a chunk of pipe and a new vise:

http://www.schmetterlingaviation.com/2010/08/taking-longeron-way-around_22.html
 
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Like Dave Gamble, I used a chunk of pipe and a strong vice to open up the ends - it worked fine. I gave up using a hammer entirely. For the long bends, I just clamped the longeron in the vise and free-bent it by hand - with an occasional straightening twist with a large left-handed Crescent wrench.
 
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