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Dinged leading edge skin

HeliCooper

Well Known Member
Hey guys,

While shoveling out the snow in a blizzard the wind blew over my leading edge that is all riveted and the edge hit my tool box...grr

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Before I screw it up any more I thought I would see what you guys recommend for straightening this out. I was thinking of just grabbing the seaming pliers and seeing if that would straight it out.
 
Don't strech it !

You only get one chance with treated aluminum. If you bring it back to far, it won't reverse well. Back up the area with a heavy bucking bar like object and bring the dent back slowly and patiently working from the edges to the middle.
 
I would make a male and female shape, from plywood, based on the shape of the undamaged wing. The two pieces would not have to be large but if shaped right they could then be squeezed together with C clamps on the damaged skin to bring it back close to the original shape.
As the other poster mentioned you only have one shot at this, as the more you work it the more the metal stretches.
Get it as close as you can to the correct shape and then fill and sand.
 
Learn on SCRAP . . .

Good results, like many things, come from practicing. Remember what Scott says, never every try something new, for the first time, on your airplane.

I suggest, if you are concerned about this, to take a piece of "scrap" bang it up a little then perfect your techniques to straighten it. Don't use a hard faced hammer and hard faced back up tool as a dolly, that WILL stretch the metal. Try it.

Try a smooth face cutting board backed up with metal for mass, and a low crown body hammer. Do a trial piece that is flat and see how hard you can hit it before it stretches, cups. You may have to remove that rib to get full access. A seaming plier is a good start, but just to clamp smooth , don't bend.

If you use wood as a backer, use a fine, even grained hard wood like oak, cherry, hard maple, or ironwood. Make the working face smooth, not a sawn face. A soft wood will give more and more likely to have to hit it harder, not recommended.

https://www.tinmantech.com Look here for inspiration. Kent is a true master.

Good luck!, I know you will get it.
 
I have had very good luck with using the pneumatic squeezer with the flat dies to flatten out the creased areas.
 
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