Reading ahead in the plans, I discovered that the seat backs and baggage compartment will require stiffeners that have "z" bends in them. That is, bends up then down in a short distance. The large bending brake that I made a few moths ago cannot handle bends in opposite directions. So I went about looking for a small bending brake that allows room for a reversing bend, but everything I found was big and heavy. One of the problems with building in a gargage is that space is always limited. I decided to try to build something myself. Peter Carr (Australia) had previously sent me plans for a tool he designed that bends the horiz tail and wing leading edges to the specific radius needed. I decided to use that design modified to put a 40 inch straight line bend in aluminum with a .25 radius. As happens with any project, it was more work than planned, but the final product will probably work okay. It would be nice to have lots of room and all the best tools....but such is life. I attached some pictures of the bending brake.
(Note, this project was started on 12/12/10 and worked over the weekend completing on the 14th)
Completed Press Brake 40 inch capacity
Up Close View while pressing a test sheet
Results in good clean straight radius and ability to ben past 90 degrees if you want
