Tip: Bending RV-7 longerons using dies

[bill v]

I read the posts and decided to use the longeron dies by larry bueller. if you choose to do it this way this is what i found, go over the longeron in several passes because you can overbend the longeron if you squeeze to hard but this is easy to do and you get a very controlable bend with great results.the directions are very good also that come with the dies. I used the dies to put in the sharp downward bend by turning the longerons 90 degrees and bending the angle sideways instead of down by clamping the die in the vice and hitting the longeron with a hammer like vans shows but the die formed the bend on both legs of the angle. this bend would be good to practice with a piece of scrap so you know what you will get. for the twist i followed vans but i taped the die to the end of the angle and put my cresent wrench on the die so the twist pressure was on both legs of the angle instead of only one. also on the blue print for the longerons is the canopy rail that matches most of the large curve i used it for my templet with a piece of sheet and and angle for ridgidity clecoed to the end of it for the rest of the curve gave me a nice stiff templet. I would use the dies again good product.