Longeron dies?

Ok, I keep reading about these, what are they?

I am just starting on fuse and suspect said tool may be useful soon?

http://www.bullerent.com/longerondies.htm

I used 'em and they made things pretty simple. That being said, plenty of people bend longerons without them. I sold mine after use, you may find someone on here done with theirs ready to pass them on.

Chris

Longeron dies

I bought the dies and they worked great.if you are interested how about $30.00 and you pay shipping? PM me if you want them

Dies

YellowJacket RV9 said:

http://www.bullerent.com/longerondies.htm

I used 'em and they made things pretty simple. That being said, plenty of people bend longerons without them. I sold mine after use, you may find someone on here done with theirs ready to pass them on.

Chris

Click to expand...

Same here. Made the big bend a non issue.
I kept mine just in case.
I documented the process I used in my builder blog.

Used them. Loved them. Also useful for other things. Perfect fit for rear spar drill guide blocks.

Longeron dies

Didn't use them. Clamped the longerons back to back, made a hardwood shoe with a slot in the middle for the down facing angle legs to fit into and used a bottle jack in a homemade press to bend the angles.

Used them

I used them but have no reference to not using them. They worked fine, but can't say that using the method described in the build manual would not work as well.

I was able to borrow a set by just posting here on VAF. You might try that or PM me and I'll try to find the members name that graciously offered to let me use them for the cost of shipping.

Cheers

Bending the longerons is a bit like building fuel tanks. Most of the "scare" is in the anticipation. Once you get into it, it's not that big of a deal.

I've never use the dies, but I've never heard anything bad about them.

I bought a used set, and sold them when I was finished using them. I think they make the process of making the curves on the fuselage sides easier. For the sharper downward bend I used a vise and a 2# dead blow hammer. You just want to be careful using them... it's not a "clamp down and it makes the bend for you" kind of thing. You can put WAY too much bend in the longeron if you get carried away. Gentle squeeze, move the longeron an inch, another gentle squeeze, repeat until it's done. The only thing I didn't like about them is that there is no ridge/step or anything to keep them in place in the vise, but it's not that big of a deal.

I purchased a set yesterday, and should be finished with them in the next few weeks, so if anyone in Australia is looking for a set to borrow or purchase, send me a PM and I'll ship them off to you.
Tom.