chopper man

Does anyone have a technique for doing Z bends without the pliers?
Thanks
chopper man

onepern

yup I dont use them. its pain to bend them with out the pliers

lshadow2005

My Feedback: (5)

Most hobby sell z bend tools
they a cheap way to make great bends without the frustration of pliers ,vieces etc.
Bob

Buck Rogers

i dont have the Z BEND plyers...but find that just a normal set of plyers will work fine.
most of the time the instruction book that came with your plane kit will tell you how to bend the wire just yousing normal plyers

chopper man

I figured as much. Trying to get things done after hours. I guess I'll have to wait until the hobby shop opens up.
Thanks

AERORICH73

Hi there Chopper man. Harry Higley sells a great tool for making these bends. The "U" shaped
bends do very well for non straight line connections from servo to flight controls. I started using
them lately for the aileron connection at the servo with adjustable clevises at the flight control
linkage. The "Z" bends seem to bind in the servo arm holes unless enough clearance is there
which can sometimes lead to a very loose fit. I use to make "Z" bends recomended by an author which cause one of my bends to crack and break. When making the last twisting of the
"Z" bend, the wire fractured right in my hand. Since then, I have gone in a different direction
as I did not want one of these bends to break while the plane was in flight. If you have any
questions to ask me, send me an e-mail, and I will share all of the info I have on making connections to flight controls. My series of Higley books really cover a great deal about making
safe connections to flight and engine controls.

Rich S.

Dr1Driver

Get some type of commercial Z-bender to make proper bends. It's a lifetime investment.

Dr.1

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Using Z-bend pliers is the easiest way to get them made. Like DR1driver said, they are a lifetime investment. But Z-bends can be made without the pliers. See attached diagram for instructions.

Ken

chopper man

Thanks for the instuctions. I'll give it a try since my local hobby shop is out of z bend pliers. Who wants to wait for mail order!!
Thanks
chopper man

AERORICH73

I have purchase Z bend plies twice, and in both cases they would not work on any wire larger
than 1/16". It would be a good idea to take the wire you want to make a Z bend in with you
and test the pliers to make sure they work on your wire section. Also, take a servo arm that
has a hole your wire fits through, and see if the finished Z bend does not bind in the arm. The
first pliers I returned thinking that I purchased the wrong size, and mail order the second one
which did not mention the sizes it bent. The ad made me think it worked on larger wires, and now is used as a weight. I hope you are able to find ones that will work for you.

Rich S.

Stickbuilder

Better idea, Learn to solder, and use 1 solder type clevis on the servo end, and use a threaded clevis on the control surface end. I have seen several models lost due to using the Z bend method of attaching pushrods. The clevises don't fail, and they fit the horns and arms far better. If weight is that much of an issue, you might rethink the power, or the size of the model.

Bill, AMA 4720

GoMike

A big Amen for Bill's suggestion -

I recently noticed on a couple of older models that my Z-bends are gradually "wallowing" out the hole in the servo arm. I make very clean Z-bends without a bender, but there's always that little radius on the inside of each bend that rests on the edge of the hole in the servo arm. That bend radius, over time, has been gradually opening up the hole, slowly introducing a bit of slop into the setup. Like Bill suggests, I've switched one particularly sloppy pushrod to a solder clevis which fits a new servo arm very well and I expect that to allevaite the problem on that control. I've decided that I'll do the same to all the pushrods on the GP Ultimate 40 I'm building, and I plan to no longer use Z-bends on future models. I might even retrofit my two presently-active planes.

I guess I'm "graduating" from Z-bending. :-)

==Mike==

AERORICH73

I second Bill's suggestion as that is what I have been doing for sometime now. I was using
ball joint pivots on my aileron servo wheel until recently when reviewing one of Higley's manuals
which discussed the "U" bend in connecting up the aileron servo. I am probably stepping in a
cow pile when mentioning using set screw wire connections on flight controls at servos. While
using the better kind with longer thread holes, it still gives me goose bumps when looking in
a fuselage and see these kind of connections. As a retired aircraft mechanic, I do not think
the public would want to fly in a full size plane with these kinds of connections to the flight
controls. It surprises me that there is not some restrictions on where they are used on our
models. Steering and throttle controls seem ok.

Rich S.

tonywayne

I have epoxied or CA glued clevises on the ends of push rods befor (I used a fair mount of CA or epoxy). And i have flown for hours like this, occasionally checking the bonds and have never had one come loose. Just roughen up the end of the pushrod with sand paper to insure a good bond. If u dont mind on waiting for it to dry its alot easier and faster than soldering, and i just dont trust solder on anything other than electrical connections cause u never now when u have a good bond.

tonywayne

Can anyone second this? Iv been modeling for some years now and used this method alot. I have never lost a model from lose or malfunction of flight controls and im a sport flyer that puts my planes through alot of torment.

tonywayne

Oh yah i doen this with only nylon clevises and course sand paper and made shure the parts where very clean befor i glued.

pt19 flyer

My Feedback: (1)

hi

higley makes a neat little tool you put in a vice and make terrific z bends. small but works great. they make several for different size wire.

good luck and happy flying

pt19 flyer

chopper man

Thanks. I'll take a look.
chopper man

super tigre

Solidering is the method I use most it is quick and easy,and I have never had a failure.Just make sure both parts are clean,apply flux clamp both parts solider and don't unclamp the parts untill they are cool.
Steve
AMA#511248

ArCeeFlyer

My Feedback: (1)

Soldering is great. When done properly, it's about as strong as it gets and it only takes a few minutes to solder several rods and they're ready to go when cool. Now I only use Z-bends when it's necessary for close in on the servo arm and where space is tight. The pictures are of a .25 size pylon racer and I wanted the most secure method for something like that.

Check out the neat way a continuous U-bend works for a split elevator. Although, to do that, it has to be soldered after it's in place. Just have to push it back all the way to give room to work. Also, rotating it vertical eliminates the tiny amount of asynchronous travel between the two elevators that horizontal rotation in a split push-rod will induce.

john_s3

My Feedback: (1)

I like Treaded Rod And A Dubro 121 Screw Conector On The Arm.

joesabido

Do as Ken said, it won't get any easier

Here's with pictures

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

I make z bends using a vise and some hardwood blocks. I clamp the rod between the blocks in the vise and do the first bend by tapping with a mallet or hammer. Then reposition the rod and do the second bend the same way. It's a little tricky - you have to do the bends in a certain sequence. You will get the hang of it with a little practice. The blocks allow the bend to form a small radius - without them there would be a sharp corner that would be weak.

Rate1

Good stuff

Ectomorph26

I've used Z-bends but I prefer to solder on metal clevises. I just clamp the clevis onto the wire and heat with a little butane torch lighter. Then put the solder where the flame is not and it naturally melts and fills in the clevis.

The trick to a good soldering joint is simple. You heat the parts to be soldered but never the solder. Solder will melt and run towards the heat. I like to heat the wire and clevis right at the base, and then hold the solder on the other side kind of between the fingers of the clevis when the part gets hot enough to solder will melt and run all the way through the clevis towards the iron or torch. Then you know you have a good solder joint.