jeff naul

My Feedback: (16)

I am building a T33 from C Smith plans. I need ideas for the leading edge of the engine intake. The parts have a half moon cut out in them to make the shape. The obvious thing to do is use dowel but man that will be hard to shape. it would be nice to come up with something that would be one continuous run and easier to shape. Thanks for the ideas in advance, Jeff.

festus01

maybe you can bend a pneumatic tube or similar.
They are available in different diameter, wall thicknes and material.
Maybe bending is easyer with a hot air gun.

regards
Martin

Pylonracr

Depending on the diameter you need, find some tubing the correct size. Electrical conduit or copper come to mind. Bent them to shape, then cut in half. Wax them up and pull an epoxy mold off of them. Make your parts from fiberglass or carbon fiber in the molds. Should be fairly easy to make a one piece mold if the part is half round.

jeff naul

My Feedback: (16)

no the part needs to be round. The wooden formers are cut half round for the round part to lay in. has anyone ever seen soft round balsa? I have looked but only hardwood dowel is what I find. Thanks for the ideas keep em coming!

Pylonracr

I guell I should have looked a little more closely before I started typing. OOps.
This just got more complex. How much work do you want to put into this part? Yo can still do it with tubing, but you will need to use a divider plate and make a 2 piece mold. Then make both pieces and join them together. A lot more work, but the result will be very light.
What diameter do you need?
I will keep kicking around some ideas for a lost form mold that you could glass over and disolve out the core.

Scott

invertmast

My Feedback: (23)

Cut balsa sheet to shape, commence making balsa dust

jeff naul

My Feedback: (16)

Hey scott, weight isn't a issue. Dowel will be hard to shape and hard for glue to bond to. I like the plastic tubing idea the guy earlier had but can't shape it where needed. I guess I was hoping for some miracle foam like tubing that could be glued in then hardened with resin afterwards. Lastly I will have to do like Thomas said and start strip planking but that will be as hard as cutting dowels..I'm not home to measure but my guess is the tubing will have to be 3/8-1/2" diameter. Thanks for ya'lls interest.

fw190pilot

Get some foam backer rod at the hardware store. It is used for stuffing cracks before putting on caulking. Easy to shape and will stay mostly round also comes in a varity of sizes.

Randy M.

My Feedback: (38)

make a template of the desired shape. layup the parts as Thomas suggested or use full thickness balsa. use a router to round the edges on both sides. that's where the template comes in. the first side is easy.

jeff naul

My Feedback: (16)

Fw190, thats what I wanna hear..I'll go check the hardware store tomorrow... I guess without seeing this in person it's head to grasp what has to take shape. Thanks for all the ideas guys. Jeff

Pylonracr

I think I have a solution for you. I do a fair amount on carbon fiber work, and vacuum bag everything. The vacuum tubing I use is Polyethelyne tubing I buy at Lowes or Home Depot. I get 3/8 and 1/2 OD. It is rigid, but bends easily at room temperature or slightly higher. Sand the tubing and you can glue it or glue to it. This tubing is plenty stiff for what you need. You can get it by the foot and it is inexpensive.

For your application I would heat it slightly and shape it. Sand it well and glue it in place. A light wipe with CA or laminating resin will allow you to paint it.
If you have problems finding it let me know and I will send you some.

Scott

marc s

Maybe an option is to use bendy hair shapers, these are formable bendy pipes which might be right for your lip profile, form them and fix in place then finish with glass cloth and resin.......

marcs