Snips put a crack in rudder brace...

danielhv · #1 05-24-2008, 03:49 PM

I was cutting away the hatched area of R-710 using my straight snips and made the mistake of closing them all the way and cutting all the way to the tip, which distorted and somewhat cracked the wrong side of the line I was cutting on.

So I come here for the official answer... will this be ok? Not sure if its big enough to jeopardize strength but here are some pics:

fstringham7a · #2 05-24-2008, 04:10 PM

Dan

As you know this is a pretty important part. It will be totally surrounded by rudder skins which will give it alot of integrity. One could clean up the affected area by filing out the effected area ...... but .....peace of mind may warrant a call to Van's. I must admit that my check book is much lighter for my peace of mind.

Frank @ 1L8 ....RV7A... last 992 details of which 900 are fiberglass / paint

LifeofReiley · #3 05-24-2008, 04:32 PM

Use it for scrap shim material... order a new one.

Rick6a · #4 05-24-2008, 05:04 PM

The damage seems very repairable to me. That said, a call to Van's is always prudent. If it were MY airplane and did
not feel comfortable I would probably e-mail this (potential) repair solution to Van's technical support for consideration.

Webb · #5 05-25-2008, 09:17 AM

If you don't have a bandsaw - get one and you'll avoid this problem. (I feel your pain). You can pick one up at Lowes or Home Depot for about a hundred bucks. Metal cutting blade is about $10 and always buy 2 at a time (you'll need the second one on Thursday night at 10:18 when you can't sleep).

Avoid cutting any metal that isn't aluminum and you'll get a lot of time out of your blade and your cut edges are a bit smoother from a sharp blade.
You'll need it later on heavier pieces anyway.

Got some good news and bad news - The bad news - Things like this are going to pop up from time to time. Good news - you can either make one or order one from Van's.

Good Luck.

Mel · #6 05-25-2008, 10:57 AM

Rick's repair solution is perfectly acceptable.
Build on!

danielhv · #7 05-25-2008, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webb

If you don't have a bandsaw - get one and you'll avoid this problem. (I feel your pain). You can pick one up at Lowes or Home Depot for about a hundred bucks. Metal cutting blade is about $10 and always buy 2 at a time (you'll need the second one on Thursday night at 10:18 when you can't sleep).

Avoid cutting any metal that isn't aluminum and you'll get a lot of time out of your blade and your cut edges are a bit smoother from a sharp blade.
You'll need it later on heavier pieces anyway.

Got some good news and bad news - The bad news - Things like this are going to pop up from time to time. Good news - you can either make one or order one from Van's.

Good Luck.

Yea, Ive got one... Couldnt use it on this piece because of the large folds...

danielhv · #8 05-25-2008, 01:13 PM

Here is my repair work guys, thanks for the help... if you see anything I missed let me know, this will be riveted in place in the next few days!

Webb · #9 05-25-2008, 05:13 PM

The repair looks great.

Question - Why didn't you just tile the table or hold the the piece at an angle to cut it on the bandsaw? Only asking because I would hesitate to use snips on a piece that thick.

danielhv · #10 05-25-2008, 10:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Webb

The repair looks great.

Question - Why didn't you just tile the table or hold the the piece at an angle to cut it on the bandsaw? Only asking because I would hesitate to use snips on a piece that thick.

I couldn't get the piece in the band saw to cut one side without the blade hitting the other side... Its kinda U shaped, and I could not find a way to cut what I needed with the band saw.