"Richard" wrote in message
m...
On 9/5/2011 5:02 PM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Paul K. wrote in message
...

wrote in message
m...
Basically, how to? Rolled wire edges on thin aluminum sheet?

On the right side of the page are illustrations on how to do it on a
rotary machine.
http://www.tpub.com/content/construc...s/14251_59.htm

You can also do it with a hammer and a stake, but that takes a long
explanation.

Paul K. Dickman

If the sheet is flat you could cut an acceptably half round edge on a
piece
of steel, clamp it to the aluminum and bend the seam allowance over it.
Then
insert the wire and hammer or press the seam closed.

The 3-in-1 import sheet metal machine has grooves in the rolls for making
circular wire loops and possibly rolled wired edges. The CM manual
doesn't
tell how. It didn't work out for me because I couldn't simultaneously
hold
the metal and wire in place and turn the handle.

jsw



The latter sounds more like what I need.
It's not a flat piece though.

It a cockpit combing (surround/fairing) piece that needs a stiffened edge.

Sounds like a job for four hands?

Since you've done aircraft sheet metal work, do you have a wedge tool?
That's the hand tool that's traditionally used for starting an edge over
past 90 degrees, for things like inserting wire edges. It's also used for
shrinking metal edges over a wooden die, as when you're making a shallow
dish from a flat piece of aluminum. The wedge is used to work the bent-over
edge down the sides of the die, shrinking the metal as you go. This was
covered in a little volume titled _Aircraft Metalwork_ a few decades ago --
maybe published by the EAA? I forget. I may have a copy if it wasn't ruined
in the flood here.

Anyway, it works, but the result won't be as neat as you'll get with a
wire-edger or other type of roller that makes a channel for the wire.

--
Ed Huntress