Tips and tricks for spruce capstrip?

[Kyle Boatright]

On the ribs I made for my Hatz project (the one that gathers dust in the basement), I used a piece of PVC pipe with a cap on the end, filled it with water, just soaked the capstrips for an hour or so. When they came out, I then put them in a press I'd made, clamped them in the press overnight to dry, then pulled 'em out the next day, curved and ready to go.

The press was a 2' chunk of 4"x4" that I cut into lengthwise on the bandsaw. The lengthwise cut was a top airfoil template. I put the capstrips between the two halves, then clamped them so the strips would dry into the airfoil shape.

[conodeuce]

Charlie, the Hints for Homebuilders have been very helpful to me. Thank you! The EAA has developed an excellent presence on the Web. Wel done.

[conodeuce]

The only tip I can think of is, don't sand where you will be applying glue. Otherwise spruce is very easy to work with.

So after ripping cap strip stock from rough lumber, it shouldn't be sanded a bit?

[Seerjfly]

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[Charlie Becker]

Charlie, the Hints for Homebuilders have been very helpful to me. Thank you! The EAA has developed an excellent presence on the Web. Wel done.

Thanks for the feedback conodeuce. That reminds me that I need to put up a post asking for ideas and suggestions.

[skeeter_ca]

I use kyle's method with the PVC pipe filled with water but i let it set overnight and then clamp in the bending jig overnight till it's dry. Works great. No steam box required.

skeeter

[Chad Jensen]

That's exactly what I decided to go with this week as well. Since my ribs don't have a dramatic bend, I have a four foot 3" PVC pipe that I can fit 12 sticks (as many as my bend jig block will hold) in easily. I'm working on getting one rib done, then I'm going to kit the rest of the ribs this weekend so I can make one per day or so til they are done.

[Dennis Harbin]

Chad,<BR><BR>We made a simple steamer for bending the rib cap strips on the WACO.&nbsp; The strips are 1/4" x 3/8" spruce.&nbsp; You don't need to steam the whole stick.&nbsp; You are only bending the leading edge area.&nbsp; The aft portion of the stick will bend just fine cold.&nbsp; <BR><BR>How much spring back ( overbend ) in the form block is needed depends on the dimensions of the sticks as well as which way the grain runs.&nbsp; On my cap sticks for the light (stick built) ribs thye growth rings are visible on the side of the bent stick.&nbsp; On the 1/4" x 3/4" sticks used for the solid ribs the growth rings are visible on the curved (wide) face of the sticks.&nbsp; The wide sticks needed less overbent because of this.<BR><BR>There is and easy way to do some experiments to figure out the shape of the form block to get it spot on.&nbsp; It's alway better to over bend then not bend the sticks enough.<BR><BR>Here are some of my blog posts which you might find useful.<BR><BR>Building first rib.<BR><BR><A href="http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2009/11/building-our-first-rib.html">http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2009/11/building-our-first-rib.html</A><BR><BR>Bending wide cap strips<BR><BR><A href="http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2011/01/bending-34-x-14-cap-strips.html">http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2011/01/bending-34-x-14-cap-strips.html</A><BR><BR>Nailing Gussets<BR><BR><A href="http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2009/11/great-neck-magnetic-brad-nail-driver.html">http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2009/11/great-neck-magnetic-brad-nail-driver.html</A><BR><BR>and<BR><BR><A href="http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2009/12/wing-rib-gusset-glueing-nailing.html">http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2009/12/wing-rib-gusset-glueing-nailing.html</A><BR><BR>Making Gussets<BR><BR><A href="http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2010/12/wing-rib-triangle-gussets.html">http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2010/12/wing-rib-triangle-gussets.html</A><BR><BR>and<BR><BR><A href="http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2010/02/wing-rib-nose-gussets.html">http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2010/02/wing-rib-nose-gussets.html</A><BR><BR>Trimming Gussets after glueing<BR><BR><A href="http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2009/12/trimming-wing-rib-gussets.html">http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2009/12/trimming-wing-rib-gussets.html</A><BR><BR>Trimming The Leading Edge of the Ribs<BR><BR><A href="http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2010/02/rib-leading-edge-fixture.html">http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2010/02/rib-leading-edge-fixture.html</A><BR><BR>I hope these help.<BR><BR>Good luck,<BR><BR>Dennis

[Chad Jensen]

Thanks Dennis...wonder if there is a way to clean up the blog links? They all run together on my computer...

[conodeuce]

Dennis, you include some terrific high-resolution vintage photos on your web site.

For those who haven't seen them: http://nc3397.blogspot.com/2009/11/early-pictures.html
What was your source? Would like very much to see more. Thanks.