Hello from Florida
 

This is my second try at an introduction. My first never showed up or at least I can't find it. Still trying to view the posts with no success.

I'm an Aircraft sheet metal mechanic. I'm here to try to pick up some tips and information on the English Wheel. As the general aviation fleet ages the factories support fewer and fewer models. It's time I learn to fabricate those compound skins that I can't buy any more. Any help will be welcome.

Vaughn, welcome, you should be able to see everything on the site. I will delete your first introductory post. Hope you enjoy the site.

Welcome to Allmetalshaping Vaughn!:)

Welcome
 

Vaughn: Welcome to AllMetalShaping. I live in Ocala and still have a place in S. FL .
Have you been to the Sun'nFun flyin at Lakeland? I am chairman of the MetalShapers Workshop at Sun'nFun and we do hands-on instruction for a week during the airshow. Be thinking about joining us for that week as a volunteer instructor.Most of what we do is teaching the basics of metalshaping by having the students make a bowl. Stretching,shrinking and planishing.
We also do some "other" projects for ourselves and the occasional emergency repair of aircraft pieces that may be required for someone to be able to fly home. Most of what we do is have fun. That is what keeps us coming back every year.

Hi Vaughn, welcome to the site. The wheel is not very intuitive it is best to learn to shape by hand and the wheel will become less daunting.

David

Welcome to the site Vaughn :cool:

Welcome Vaughn,

I find the E-wheel ideal for aircraft parts which are generally low-crown if they're structural. These are not good candidates for shrinking or for striking with hammers and slappers. Nice and gentle makes the best parts and that's how an E-wheel does its work. I did very little hand work before using the wheel and found it very easy to use. If you're building cowlings, wheel pants, etc you can use more "normal" techniques and use alloys that respond to annealing. 2024T3 Alclad needs to worked with care to avoid scratching the surface so I'd go first to the E-wheel and avoid most of the other tools

I'm in the Fort Myers area if you want to come play with my E-wheel before you take the plunge.