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roll the edges on fuse skins?

scottw

Member
On overlapping fuse skins are you guys finding you need to roll the edges to get a tight fit or don't worry about it. I have found that when I do roll, the edge is tight but the joint is unsightly - the roll is visible between the rivets and flat looking at the rivet, any comments?
 
I neglected to roll the edges of the fuse skins on my 9-A, however, once riveted they were tight and flush. My experience only here.
 
Perhaps you're putting too much roll in it, or the tool isn't working well. I used one of those round disk's with the two roller wheels from Avery's. All my rolled overlaps look good!

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
you may want to try this

Instead of using a rolling tool that actually puts a bend in the metal, just hang the skin sheet over the edge of a table by about 3/8 of an inch. Then take a scrap block of wood in your hand and put significant pressure downward on the edge of the skin, and then draw the block of wood along the edge. This will result in putting a slight bend on the edge, that really isn't visible. But this is all you really need.

steve ciha
 
Edge treatment

As I looked closely at a friend's RV-8 QB, it appeared that the skin edges were actually bevelled or chamfered slightly. While edge rolling may be advisable in other areas, i.e. control surfaces, I was hesitant to roll the fuselage skin edges. I found bevelling with a vixen file along a supported edge prior to assembly to be fairly quick and easy to do. My skins were flat and tight upon riveting.

Just make sure you double check which edge to bevel :)
 
Rolled edges

On overlapping fuse skins are you guys finding you need to roll the edges to get a tight fit or don't worry about it. I have found that when I do roll, the edge is tight but the joint is unsightly - the roll is visible between the rivets and flat looking at the rivet, any comments?

Scott....It is probably better that you do roll the edge. Like anything though (deburring as an example) we tend to overdo it by a factor of 10 or more.....After running the tool over the sheet take a straightedge and lay it across.....you should barely see the bend.....that's all that's needed.
 
Since you are building a -4 and not one of the pre-punched kits as I did, I would recommend you roll or bevel the edge, as Howard recommended. The crease from rolling looks a lot better than the pillowing I've seen on some RV-4's and -6's.

I neglected to roll the edges of the fuse skins on my 9-A, however, once riveted they were tight and flush. My experience only here.
One of my Tech Advisors saw my -9 project after the top skins were dimpled and commented that I had not rolled the skins and that it would look unsightly.

We were all surprised that after riveting it looked great. I credit Van's pre-punched kit and not my superior building skills.

YMMV
 
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