mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

HOw do you make your z-bends? I don't seem to use a z-bend enough because they usually seem to be too sloppy. Where I seem to get the slop is up and down.

I typically take my pliers and make a 90 degree bend. Then I use a needle nose and make the z. Would a special z-bend tool help?

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

DuBro sells one that does the whole Z at one shot, my buddy has one and likes it quite a bit. I bought that spiffy little chrome pliers set from Micro-Mark and there is a pair of bending pliers in it. Mine will make a little tighter bend than the DuBro job.

macdona

My Feedback: (3)

I have a handy heavy duty z- bender that works great. Had it for years and do not remember where I got it. Surely some one must still make one. DuBro would be a good place to check.

Villa

Here is an interesting alternative to using a needle nose pliers, plus it can give you a tight bend. Try it with a paperclip first. Hold the wire vertically up and stick into a vice, say 1/4 inch. Tighten vice. Bend wire 90 degrees. Open vice, remove wire, hold it vertically up again, rotate the 1/4 inch bent end so it points to the left or right and put it into the vice about 3/16 inch. Bend the top 90 degrees. Now you have something that looks like it will not work. Stick it back into the vice and rotate the long end 90 degrees so the Z bend is in the working direction.

CRFlyer

The easiest solution is to just go get yourself a z-bend pliers. Your lhs should have some.

50+AirYears

I won a Hobbico Z-Bend tool in a club monthly raffle, and liked it so much that I went out and bought myself the Great planes equivalent, which has a pin on one jaw that lets you center the bend on the servo arm hole. Both are available through Great Planes. Tower carries both.

mnrcaerobat

My Feedback: (197)

Thanks for all of the input. I did buy the Great Planes z-bend pliers and really like this tool.

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

However, the Great Planes Z-bend pliers do not do as good of a job because the Z-bends are pretty narrow and not really 90-degree. The Hobbico and Dubro Z-Bend pliers do a much better job.

SamD

Or don't use 'em.

We don't use them building full size airplanes and I see no reason to use them on our model planes. Cheap? Yes, Easy? Arguable Poor design? Absolutely. Either use a clevis or ball link or, in a pinch, the L-bend with a keeper. Heck, you can't remove them without removing the servo arm or otherwise freeing one end of the push rod. You automatically end up with a loose fit as soon as the bend is installed by forcing it through the horn due to the bulge created in the wire while bending

Then again, people have been using 'em for years and I'm sort of a snob about this type of thing.

da Rock

The damage they do forcing the bend through the horn is enough to turn off a number of builders, especially the ones who like as little slop in their control connections as possible.

There is actually a better way that's actually lots simpler. Just make a 90degree bend and use the snap-locks. It's dead simple, absolutely safe, easy to disconnect on the plane, and no real downside. Well, there is one problem with them. They don't make great big snap-locks for the great big models, but then, who'd be using connectors that aren't supported on both sides of the connection on a big bird.

Anyway, the cost of the z-bend pliers will cover a bucket full of snap-locks.

Villa

I have lost 2 planes that I know of and many that I wonder about, due to control rod connector failures. The snap lock has never looked adequate to me. It is very convenient, but I put convenience last. First is reliability. I don't care how hard it is to make the connection as long as it is reliable. A Z-bend cannot come apart in flight. That is the level of reliability I strive for. The more things you can make full proof the more flying you can get in. There are many reasons why I crash, but control rod connector failure is not one of them.

gunfighterII

I'm with SamD
Use a ball link or a clevis.

2slow2matter

My Feedback: (1)

Villa
Once again, I'll post this. I posted it in another thread a while back, but I need to say it again. Never say never. I had a Z bend break on me in flight. The top bend broke off. This was after several flights, over several days flying. I happened to find it before I flew again, but I was lucky. I still had the 90 degree part, so I just put one of the snap locks on it, and it still flies like that today. I've never had a snap lock fail. Then again, you have to be careful and get the right size. Too small, and the clamp part gets stretched over the wire too much, and can fail. They make these up to 4/40 sized, and I've used them all. I like them.

SamD

Ya' gotta' run what you feel comfortable with; Z-bends make me uncomfortable. To further condemn Z-bends (and clevis's for that matter), most of the time I see them used in situations where the axis of rotation of the control surface and the servo are 90 degrees to one another. If pushrods are used, a ball link is necessary- on both ends- to eliminate an induced binding condition. Of course with a Z-bend you really don't have that problem: the hole in the control horn is oversize and loose after pushing the Z-bend through it so there's not much binding taking place. Needless to say, 3D planes with their extreme surface deflections stand to suffer the most from this condition.