Brief Description: Bend Upper and Lower Left Skin Tabs
This is a simple operation. All you have to do is mark a bend line, clamp the skin between two boards either 1/64 in. or 1/32 in. offset from the bend line, then do the bend. The instructions recommend using a rivet gun with a mushroom set and very low pressure to tap the tab over.
Well of course I found a way to mess everything up. First part was the upper skin. I positioned the boards incorrectly and got far more than the 1/64 in. offset from the bend line. It was more like 1/8 in. To make matters worse, I pounded a bunch of half moon shaped dents into the skin because I didn't adjust the angle of the rivet gun as the tab bent over.
Maybe I'll do a better job on the lower skin. I did have better results with the rivet gun this time. I pounded the tab to about a 45 degree angle and finished the bend with a hand seamer. It looks pretty good until I realized I got the bend offset wrong. I should've offset it by 1/32 in. and instead I made a 1/64 in. offset. The upper tab is supposed to fold over the lower tab to keep water from getting inside the elevator. With the offsets I put in it was going to be the exact opposite.
After thinking about it for a while I decided I'm just going to buy a new left upper and lower skin. I still have to buy new rudder components, so I'll combine this with the rudder so I can save on shipping.
Did a bang up job on the upper skin tab, literally! Half moon dents everywhere. Note the bend offset.
The lower skin tab looks a lot better, but the bend line is wrong.
