Warbird Information Exchange

Former #2, sorry for repetition but this one is pretty cool. Usual patterns, templates, form blocks, etc. This one is getting longer, 29".



Starting with flow forming the straight edges



These are tighter radii so there are reliefs cut into the flanges per the originals



Nicely formed with my little "friend"



The opposite side has both stretching and shrinking needs



Here come the "shrinkles"





They work out very easily with some care



Here is a tough one but there is stock on the flange width that makes it worse. I rough it in then trim and come back to finish



Mark and trim excess



The rough point worked out well but can use a little more finish trim

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Stunning work mate..Shrinkles LOL yup gotta hate them suckers.

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Those who think it,s impossible should leave the ones doing it alone..
http://www.spitfireprojecta58-27.com/

Glad you didn't omit this "exciting episode" because it seemed repetitious. You're right, it is pretty cool -- and I wouldn't have missed picking up the term "shrinkles" for anything, lol.

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Cheers,
Kurt Maurer
League City, Texas

PIC, Ford 6600 pulling Rhino batwing up and down the runway

Fitting #2 to the fixture



The doubler was made earlier in this thread. .125" T3 with the former #2 out of .050" -0. #3 is .062 and doubled with the same.



Still have to add the beads to former #2

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

So awesome. Thanks again for sharing, Scott!

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Taylor Stevenson

Great work Scott, always a pleasure to check into this thread. Send me a mailing address one of these days if you would.

M

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[Thread title is ridiculous btw]

Hi,
Great thread. Lots of useful info! Thanks very much. Quick question if that is ok. With regards to jigs and fixtures, which gauge steel have you used? Obviously, the longer the piece, the heavier the gauge and/or a different section of box to maintain rigidity. Is there a good rule of thumb that you find useful when designing fixtures such as the one in the thread?
Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

You are correct in your assumption, the bigger the heavier. Luckily, mine are mostly smaller parts but I use 1/8" wall as a minimum for my fixtures. Hope that helps.

Thanks for the kind words. Questions are always welcome.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Nice tip to use a correctly sized washer to mark for the required additional flange material. I've used a divider but that's obviously less accurate since it needs to be kept perpendicular to the part to maintain a constant flange dimension.

Your craftsmanship and hand fabrication techniques are magnificent...only rivaled, never surpassed!

John

Thanks very much. Having to design some small and one large fixture. Gives me an idea where to start!

Tight radius tip. Some of the ribs have tighter outside bends and have relief cut outs. This makes the forming very easy since there is little shrinking going on. However, it is important that the size of the radius at the bottom of the cut out be such that when this shrinks and decreases, you still maintain the desired radius.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Fit up former #1 today along with its doubler.



The 1/8" doublers will be attached with three rivets to locate and then will be spot welded per original.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

So, the development of the 3D sheet metal buck continues. We have printed each station flat and with as little material as required. Then a base plate is created that locate each station with dowel pins. The best part is that if you flip the plate over, the mirror image opposite hand stations can be mounted. So, you have the LH and RH versions with one base plate. This is cool stuff. Let me know if you want more information. This is a fitting gauge only but the process can create 3D printed tooling capable of withstanding hydro forming pressures.

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

More please.

This is all great stuff. Interesting and ingenious.

Thank you Scott

Andy

Very interesting. Regarding the "shrinkles". Did you use the air gun to work them out?