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Conical bend on forward skin

RVdreamin

Active Member
Guys and gals... getting ready to do the conical bend and I have read a lot, but looking for any last minute advice. What I have so far is enlarge the hole slightly, ensure hole is deburred thoroughly, and try to make the bend in one movement. Do not over bend and try to bend it back because of the stress on the aluminum. Any additional tidbits of information is welcomed.
 
I curved that piece according to the plans and it turned out fine. 263 hours and no cracks. Take you time and sneak up on it to that you don't overbend it.
 
I curved that piece according to the plans and it turned out fine. 263 hours and no cracks. Take you time and sneak up on it to that you don't overbend it.

Same here, I didn't enlarge the hole, just deburred it. 760+ hours and no cracks.
 
Thanks guys...so I can stay with the plans, debur, and slowly work the aluminum. Once again....thanks.

Just make it one smooth bend, don't do it in small increments. Remember, you will have to over bend it a little to have it stay in place. If you over or under bend it, but it is close, don't worry about it. Just put it on and rivet it in place.

Good luck.
 
I just did mine last night. By the book, but oversize drilled the little hole to .128 and deburred fully.

This is all it took for bend and then just manually massaged it into place.
Bear in mind this is on a -7.

IMAG4811.jpg


My .02 worth
 
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I was super worried about mine, but I deburred fully and did it according to the plans. I seemed to work out fine. One thing I would say is that it might be helpful to have a small radius on the piece that you clamp down. You will be bending around that piece and you don't want a sharp corner. I used a large crescent wrench to get enough torque for bending. Just go a little bit at a time. This material is tougher than you might think so it does take some effort to make the bend and it's hard to do just a little more due to the material wanting to spring back. Just don't get in a rush and it will come out fine.
 
I was super worried about mine, but I deburred fully and did it according to the plans. I seemed to work out fine. One thing I would say is that it might be helpful to have a small radius on the piece that you clamp down. You will be bending around that piece and you don't want a sharp corner. I used a large crescent wrench to get enough torque for bending. Just go a little bit at a time. This material is tougher than you might think so it does take some effort to make the bend and it's hard to do just a little more due to the material wanting to spring back. Just don't get in a rush and it will come out fine.

Agreed. The 1" square tube I used has about .1875 radius, .250 or .375 would have been better. This is a close up of the tight bend point on mine.

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That looks great! Will you be vacationing in Florida anytime soon 😁

I don't think so...lol, but, I just set the crescent wrench in the middle, to begin with then moved it down to the tight side reefed on it, then moved it back up and reefed on it some more. I went past the 90 point by a good 20% to get it to settle at the 70 degree or so point I was left with.
 
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