Brief Description: Finishing the Forward Spar Fitting
After searching the different Sonex Internet sites, I came across Wm. Curtis Chapin's Bending Fixture at http://my.dmci.net/~wmchapin/sonex/bendfixpics.htm . This bending brake looked like it would do a good job and provide better control of the bend. After studying the pictures and discriptions I built the bending fixture using 3/4" particle board and a 1" hardwood dowel. The design can accomodate up to a 5" wide piece of metal. I ended up with a 1/16" gap between the 3/16" aluminum sheet and the dowel. This caused a little concern in getting the bend exactly where it should be. After experimenting with scrape piece the correct placement was found. The two sides of SNX-T06-03 Forward Spar Fitting were bent to the plans specified 22 degrees. The first one came out perfect. The second one had to be bent an additional 2-3 degrees, but this was accomplished easily with this fixture.
