aluminum stringer bending

[Mark Goldberg]

Thought you guys might like to see how I have bent these aluminum extrusion stringers so they are happy to wrap a little to the bends required. Not very precise, but it seems to work OK. The stringer wants to bend sideways also so attention is required to keep them straight. I just stand on them and use my weight. But if they bend a little sideways they can be straightened easily. Just to take some of the stress out of the stringers where they have bends. Mark

[JimParker256]

Sometimes it is the simplest ideas that are the best...

[davzLSA]

thanks for that tip Mark Im almost to that point in my build and was thinking about how I was going to do that.

[N3UW]

I saw several different posts on bending stringers. Some made of metal and some made of wood. I took ideas from others and quickly threw this together with a piece of plywood and a thin piece of poplar. I was going to put another piece of plywood on the outside to make a sandwich but I discovered it was not necessary. The stringer material did not twist at all. The bottom round piece of poplar has a 4" radius. I marked the stringer where I wanted bends and pulled the stringer down to make a bend. Very easy to work along and add a bend. You can also take a little bend out by turning the stringer around.

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