298 hours on the hobbs. Rolling, rolling, rolling.........

Well, I wish I could say I was rolling. Maybe "rolling around in it" would be more appropriate....So I enlisted help from my oldest son and my neighbor, Kevin Shepard, whom I work with, and whom is also a CFII and fellow pilot, to help roll the leading edge of the rudder. The next series of pics will show my implementation of Dan Horton's solution to rolling the leading edges, and the result after performing the roll, and the ongoing dillema of trying to figure out how to get the correct dimensions to close up the leading edge without creasing the skin right next to the forward spar.

The problem is that regardless of what circumfrance bar you use as a form for the roll, you are still left with about a 1/2 inch gap in the middle and bottom sections that has to be closed off somehow. Vans instructions oin the manual even state that the roll is just a starting point, and that most people finish it by hand to get it to final form.

Anyway here are the pics:
The goal is to create a straight, consistent roll of the skin. Dan Horton basically found a no fuss, no muss way to do this, with a little preparation and careful attention to detail. This step was new and scary enough for me to take the time to create a mockup of the real thing by using a small piece of plywood adn a piece of .032 aluminum sheet from HD, which was about 18 inches long and about 10 inches wide. I cut slots and drilled holes in the board as shown, and cut slots in the aluminum to match the pearing access cutouts of the rudder skin. I used 10 inch pipe wrenches to perform the roll after the bar was all taped up with Gorilla tape. Other than some careful measuring, the only other fabrication that is needed is to turn some U bolts into J bolts by using the dremel tool to cut one side of the threads so that there is just enough of a hook to fit over the bar. You tape the bar to the aluminum, then place the ends of the bar under the j bolts, and then secure the J bolts with nuts on the bottom of the plywood. Tighten them down just enough to allow the bar to roll freely, but keep the aluminum flat on the surface of the plywood without lifting up. The action when you roll is a downward and outward movement to ensure that the skin does lift up. Others try to do this freehand and end up with less than desireable results, whereas this method using the bolts prevents the skin from lifting at all.

Next is the j bolt in place over the bar, with the skin all taped up. There is a method to the tape - 4 pieces, starting with 1/3rd on the skin, 2/3rds on the bar, then the next piece is 2/3rds on the skin, adn 1/3rd on the bar, then the last two pieces are placed at 50/50 on the bar and the skin. The mystery element to this is exactly where to place the bar in relation to the edge of the skin. I chose to place mine just past the tangent point on the bar, so that the general form of the edge of the skin wold still be somewhat curved, and not totally straight.

Shows the 1/4 inch hole I drilled to insert the J bolt, and the slot that I cut out to allow access for the pipe wrench to swing through about 180 degrees for the bend. There is always some degree of spring back. How much of this you experience is typically due to the force applied during the bend, combined with the amount of travel. Also shown is the fully taped skin to the bar. The bar I used is 1 inch water pipe. After using the same bar on the rudder, I would suggest using 1/2 inch or 3/4 inch diameter material for the bend. Mine are just a bit too fat, adn will require a lot of post-bend massaging of the skin to get the bend down to the correct dimension. I think a smaller diameter will work better to get the skin a bit closer to the needed dimension. You have to measure the location of the hole for the J bolt so that it will not be in the way of the skin as it is rolled, and then you have to cut slots that align with the ends of the pipe, and of course the pipe needs to be the right length.  

Next is removing the tape after the bend was completed. Notice the difference in the bend on the other side compared to the one I did on this side. Just shows you how different they can turn out depending on numerous factors.

And finally a shot of both practice bends....

One final piece of this process I left out earlier, you need to cut a sheet of plastic to prevent the skin from scratching on the wood while it is being rolled. the act of rolling the taped skin while secured to the wood by both J bolts cause the remaining skin to move forward. Thus the reason for the pastic. I just happened to have some lanscape plastic laying around so I used that.

And now on to the real thing. First, here are the U bolts that I purchased. I used 3/4 inch plywood remnant from the shelves that built for the garage way back when I was preparing the shop for the build.  This dimension works out quite well for 1 inch radius water pipe. If you can find the right radius for smaller sized pipe then use that. 3 inch long bolts are way too long, but you can cut them to suit your needs no problem with a dremel cutoff wheel.