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Gary's RV8 Construction Log
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Date:  11-12-2007
Number of Hours:  1.50
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  RD: Rolling the Leading Edge

I started by clamping the entire rudder down onto the worksurface by placing plank along the spar and clamping it down on either side. Crank down enough to stop anything from moving but take care not to distort the rudder/spar in any way,

Rather than using one long pipe, I used a 1" galvanised pipe cut slightly longer than each of the leading edge "tabs". I also cut a short piece just long enough for the topmost tab which is much shorter than the others and right up against the top rib.

I started trying to use a monkey wrench on one side and a vise-grip pleirs on the other side of the pipe but in the end, I gave up on the monkey wrench. The vise-grip pliers gave me much more freedom of movement and I did almost all the bending with just these clamped to one side of the pipe. I would grab the pliers pretty close the the pipe and push down on the handle with my right forearm. This allowed me to exert a "lifting force" together with the rotational torque which helped the roll tremendously. With my left hand I steadied the other end of the pipe and lifted it as required to get the required "tightness" to the roll.

I rolled as best I could with the second side being much more tricky as the tabs which are already rolled get in the way. Whilst I got a fairly decent roll with the pipe, I still needed to "coerce" the leading edge a fair amount after the roll by hand. By far some of the more challenging cleco's to get in thus far.

In the end though, I think it went well and I'm happy with the results. I still need to match drill the leading edge, deburr and rivet. I'll be out of town for a few days on business so, unless I get to it tonight, I'll only be able to continue next week sometime.
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Entire rudder clamped down to workbench - keeps it still and steady

Entire rudder clamped down to workbench - keeps it still and steady

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Vice grip worked *much* better than a monkey wrench

Vice grip worked *much* better than a monkey wrench

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Leading edge rolled and cleco'd

Leading edge rolled and cleco'd

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