I have to replace some wire landing gear from my P47. Is it better to use music wire or stronger stuff such as stainless. The wire size is 5/32". The original snappe din 2 when I went to straighten it a bit. [X(]

The problem you run into with this is bending them. If they are soft enough to bend, they will probably be to soft to use for landing gear (bend back on every landing). Isn't there a flat stock gear that will bolt on there somehow? Heating the wire is probably ok, but that ends up removing the temper from music wire and making it either brittle or soft.

Jeech.. what a choice, eh? I've got the wire landing gear on my new Goldberg Protege, and they are real soft.. the nose gear won't take much abuse at all, and my landings are very smooth (usually.. )

The best all around wire you can use is "piano" or "music" wire from your LHS. This wire is heat treated then tempered. It's springy and semi-flexible, but doesn't break easily, eand can even be bent into a coil for a nose gear strut.

Work slowly when bending it and never heat it to bend it. Don't try to bend too tight of a radius. For 5/32" wire, a 1/4" radius is about as small as you can go.

Dr.1

Don't use heat.

Just get some 5/32" Music wire and bend it to shape.

The way I do it is:

Clamp it in a vise between 2 pieces of 1/8" plywood so that the plywood is just above the vise jaws (About 1/16" )

Then bend the wire whilst banging the hell out of it with a hammer.

Sometimes you can't get it exactly 90 degrees because it hits the top of the vise, so once you get to that point, just pull it out of the vise a little more and whack it some more.

A proper bender would help too.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXGFW4&P=ML

I have a set of the Harry Higley ones (also from Tower) that I use all the time.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXL787&P=ML

Slow, steady pressure . . . and occasionally the music wire will snap anyway.

Landing wire that bends is a mixed blessing. If it didn't bend something in the airframe would have had to . . . and glued up balsa don't bend so much as tear and crack.

I have one of those benders too, and it's great for bending coils, but it doesn't bend tightly enough for a 90 degree angle

At least... Not tightly enough for my liking

You have to overbend about 5º and then flip the bend between the pegs and work it back. That gives a good, relatively sharp, angle.

Here's a tailwheel strut I bent using them.

And if that fails . . . talk to Mr. Casing Hammer.

And here's a set I bent with a vise and hammer

Thankx for the advise. One of our LHS has a good supply of music wire so I will head over there tonight.

Does anybody actually play music on those things??[sm=bananahead.gif]

Glad I read this particular thread further. I've been playing with the vice method, and, I gotta say, Mike, it just doesn't work for me. Probably because the vice I have is one of those small vices with the suction cups to hold it in one place. It just isn't strong enough to hold the wire in place while I pound the dog doodoo out of it.

I am gonna get one of those benders. Maybe then I can put some nose gear on my Tiger 60 and Progege that is a tad bit more useful. Both of them, the new Protege and Tiger 60 nose gear, really s__k.

CGr.

Keep in mind that Stainless isn't anywhere near a tough as the music wire (Piano wire). You may as well just use soft welding rod.

Follow the good advise above on bending the music wire.

Don.

Look into a Fults nose gear. http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...FVSEARCH=fults

music wire
http://www.smallparts.com/products/d...FQGdPAod3gJWew
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_wire

Yes. Minnflier plays the Anvil Chous with his.

Dick, you will still need a good vise with the bending tool. ya might as well bite the bullet and get one that bolts to your workbench... And then bolt your workbench down too

Build a new bench while you're at it.

Why not a new shop to go around all of that other new stuff I've got to get off of here and go put the rest of the flooring down in mine

Oops, corrected post 15 link.

I've got a decent vice bolted to a good bench. And got two different style benders. And to do a 90degree have made a very simple modification to the vice to make the job very simple.

Clamping the wire directly in the vice will wind up killing it at the sharp jaws. So I chamfered one of the jaws. I basically rounded the sharp edge on the side I pull down the wire. That removes the stress riser that the edge introduces into the wire as it's being whacked with the hammer. And the wire bends down nicely.

I've also gone a step farther and drilled a groove down both jaws that orients the wire to be perfectly straight up when the jaws close on it. It's foolproof to slap the wire into the vice square and true with no aligning needed. No technique required. No pads to juggle. Just close the jaws and start whacking. BTW, I actually do most of the bend with a fairly large scrap of steel I got that levers against the vice, but that's not really needed, just convenient. To get the 90 requires a few hammer thumps.

To drill the holding groove is easy. Clamp a piece of wood that's slightly thinner than the wire diameter. Center the drill in the wood and drill straight down. Each jaw face gets a shallow groove. Aligns and holds the wire better and easier.

if you have problems making the bends you can get the axles for any size wire.just file a flat spot on the wire where the axle will bolt to and lock it down.

Not always true if you are building from plans or other special cases. Best to know how to do it yourself also.

I'll buy a few extra pieces... just in case. I also want to try and make the gear a bit longer to make the plane a bit less tippy. [8D]

Less tippy? Moving the CG (roll center) up would make it MORE tippy IMO. If you are talking taildragger, it may tend to nose over less. Is that what you meant?