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Date:  7-25-2006
Number of Hours:  1.00
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Fuselage Conduit Swaging

I decided to use 6061-T6 5/8 ID .035" wall tubing as a conduit to run the aft fuselage wiring and static lines to the front; the 12 foot length weighs 1.2 lbs, and avoids using many Adel clamps and tie wraps. 5/8 in ID gives plenty of room for more cables than is needed; an extra coaxial cable and two static lines are demonstrated. The tubing is shipped from ACS in 8 foot lengths, so I decided to swage the tube in order to couple the two tubes together. Commercial swaging machines are high dollar, so I used a Cat I tractor draw pin (diameter .75 in) to expand the tubing. It can be done in the heat treated mode (I tried it), but it's a lot more pounding. To make it with less effort, I annealed the end of the tubing by coating it with acetylene soot, and carefully heating it so that the soot just disappeared. After all the pounding, I'm sure it's adequately work hardened. To hold the tubing while pounding away (use plenty of lubricant), I lag bolted two 2x4's together, and drilled a 5/8 in hole between the two. After disassembly, I rounded off the edges with a sander, and clamped the tube between the and got at it.
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Trial Fit

Trial Fit

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Fits well

Fits well

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