I finally got back out there and started to final bend the nose rib flanges to 90 degrees.
I had issues with this earlier this year due to my own ignorance. I was under the mistaken impression that one would have to really smack the flange to make it go 90. Today I realized that it should go "tap-tap-tap" and not "wham-wham-wham". Pretty much if you let the weight of the mallet do the work, it'll be just fine. It seemed to take a few taps to get the metal moving. And also keeping the face of the hammer at a slight inward angle (towards the rib) helps out too.
I did notice that when final forming the upper nose rib flange, if you start in the MIDDLE of the flange length, the material won't pucker on you. I started out going from front to rear, but the middle area would bow out the opposite way that is desired.
I ended up with just over half the nose ribs done and ready for lightening hole flanging. I was in no rush this afternoon. Just a nice day in the shop.
