crankyklingon
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With a secure knowledge that there are a few folks out there who have a burning desire to build a biplane and the means to do it who might be slightly limited in the skills area when it comes to metal forming I have been compelled to start this thread.
The intention here is to demonstrate some techniques I have discovered over the years that make it possible to form some basic metal parts without building an airplane factory first. After all isn't that what homebuilding is all about?
If you are already an accomplished metal craftsman there is probably nothing here for you.
This is intended to ease the frustration for the guy who had never held a chunk of sheet metal in his hands until he got to the point on his flying machine project he could put it off no longer.
We will make rolled parts, straight bent parts, parts made on wood forms and parts copied from existing parts or from a male plug you could create from a digital image using a 3-D printer.
We will do all this without ever getting close to a brake or a shot bag. I do not have a brake or a shot bag in my shop. We will only be using basic tools and stuff you can get at your local big box store.
It would be silly for me to demonstrate how to use your hydraulic press brake, drop hammer or trip hammer after all if you don't have one!
The junk you see in the first picture is all stuff I made while "bashin' tin"for a major carrier. I had three press brakes, Chambersburg drop hammer, numerous slip rollers and hand brakes and all of the souvenirs you see here were formed by hand by one man with a hammer.
What we are going to engage in here is metal forming "Guerrilla style".
I hope some of you find something you can use!
The intention here is to demonstrate some techniques I have discovered over the years that make it possible to form some basic metal parts without building an airplane factory first. After all isn't that what homebuilding is all about?
If you are already an accomplished metal craftsman there is probably nothing here for you.
This is intended to ease the frustration for the guy who had never held a chunk of sheet metal in his hands until he got to the point on his flying machine project he could put it off no longer.
We will make rolled parts, straight bent parts, parts made on wood forms and parts copied from existing parts or from a male plug you could create from a digital image using a 3-D printer.
We will do all this without ever getting close to a brake or a shot bag. I do not have a brake or a shot bag in my shop. We will only be using basic tools and stuff you can get at your local big box store.
It would be silly for me to demonstrate how to use your hydraulic press brake, drop hammer or trip hammer after all if you don't have one!
The junk you see in the first picture is all stuff I made while "bashin' tin"for a major carrier. I had three press brakes, Chambersburg drop hammer, numerous slip rollers and hand brakes and all of the souvenirs you see here were formed by hand by one man with a hammer.
What we are going to engage in here is metal forming "Guerrilla style".
I hope some of you find something you can use!
