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Is it possible that I don't have to flute that much?

N

N5916R

Active Member
I am at the steps of preparing the ribs for the HS. I am puttying the ribs on my back rivet plate, which is very flat and pressing on them to see if they are bowed. Several of the ribs seem very straight already. Is that normal? I guess being programmed to thing everything needs some work is messing with my mind.

Also, there are two ribs with litening holes in them. How do you flute those since there is a flange on hold that makes holding the rib flat?

Thanks in advance.
 
Fluting

N5916R said:
I am at the steps of preparing the ribs for the HS. I am puttying the ribs on my back rivet plate, which is very flat and pressing on them to see if they are bowed. Several of the ribs seem very straight already. Is that normal? I guess being programmed to thing everything needs some work is messing with my mind.

Also, there are two ribs with litening holes in them. How do you flute those since there is a flange on hold that makes holding the rib flat?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Totally possible. Every rib is different. I prefer fluting so the holes are in a perfectly straight line. Sometimes they don't lay perfectly flat but the holes line up with a straight edge.
I recommend putting some shrink tube on the ends of the fluting plier pins. No need to sand out scratches.
Wait till you build wings!:D
 
The ribs can lay flat and still need a ton of fluting, make sense? It is confusing.

If your flange is open to 135 degrees it may lay flat but would take a lot of fluting to get it flat at the 92 or whatever degrees you need.
 
Flange straightener

Deuelly said:
The ribs can lay flat and still need a ton of fluting, make sense? It is confusing.

If your flange is open to 135 degrees it may lay flat but would take a lot of fluting to get it flat at the 92 or whatever degrees you need.
Click to expand...

Consider building one of these.
http://www.rv7-factory.com/?p=1096
The rib flanges are usually way off from the factory. Straighten them first, then flute. The result will be holes perfectly aligned and flanges at the correct angle.
Just make sure the rib flange is not intended to be at an angle.
 
Terry,

Just as a data point, I didn't have to flute much (maybe at all) during my empennage build until the tailcone. It was a little bit of a black art to me initially. Eventually, after doing it a while (wings!) it becomes fairly intuitive.
 
Upon much closer inspection, it appears my flanges need some work. I don't have a table saw so putting that 11 degree cut in a flange tool could be problematic but it looks like a good device to have.
 
For the sake of simplicity right now, I am going to go with a little simpler version. Check out this guy's video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTXqw-YVQWM




The question I have is it looks like he put a mortise tip on the lever. Is there a reason why you would have to do that? Others I have seen leave it flat, or do you need to put the 11 degree bevel in to allow it to "nest" when you move it?
 
Tool

N5916R said:
For the sake of simplicity right now, I am going to go with a little simpler version. Check out this guy's video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTXqw-YVQWM

The question I have is it looks like he put a mortise tip on the lever. Is there a reason why you would have to do that? Others I have seen leave it flat, or do you need to put the 11 degree bevel in to allow it to "nest" when you move it?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't cut the end like that. You want as much wood in contact as possible. A small contact point could make a dent. The bevel on the anvil is doing the job. Basically it bends the flange past 90 degrees then the part reflexes back to 90. It's not that critical. I would get a hand miter saw and eye ball it with a protractor. Fine tune the bevel on the bench with some sandpaper.
 
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A few seconds per rib with a hand seamer and your done. Don't make too much of it. They don't need to be perfect. You just need to be able to Cleko things together without any undue loading of the flange/skin joint.
Same goes for the fluting. Get them reasonably flat and straight. After you have done a few, you will find it goes very quickly. In the time I took to type this, I could have banged out half a dozen ribs..... ;)
 
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