Flutes and fluting pliars ?

[fairchild]

I am about to need fluting pliers. I have a home made set but not sure I like them. I have googled to find about 4 or 5 types.
The home made set I have used a 3/16 brass rod on one jaw and a polished steel cup on other side. It kind of works--- But I am concerned that its so
narrow that I wont get enough "shrink" near the top front of the nose rib where the curvature is the most severe.

I found what I think are fluting pliers on an RV builders page. They are stainless and have blue rubber covers on the handles. They have special looking
cast jaws which hold fairly large nylon jaws. The male half of the jaw is kind of bullet shaped and looks like -if fully depressed- could make an flute maybe
about an inch wide and 1/2 inch deep. They have lasered on the side of them "made in pakistan". The page also shows an RV wing rib - and it APEARS
that the flutes might have been made with these wider pliers. I note in the picture that instead of his flutes being narrow (like 1/4 inch-) little things- they appear
to be wide..... I see that the bent areas all most touch the rivet holes ! yet the ammount of bend is pretty shallow--- the surface is kind of sine wave shaped.
Where as the narrower flute (i would think) would leave a much flatter "land" between the flutes. Here is the pic of his ribs..... I can all most see the outlines of those
wide nylon jaws in the nearest rib.

Here are the nylon jawed pliers----- and then his ribs-----

There seem to be at least 3 different types of fluting pliers by this same manufacturer. These appear nicely made----

Is everybody using the pliars that make a little 1/4 or 3/16 wide fluit ? or a wider unit like this ?

From experimenting with my home made narrow one- I think they would "eat" enough material for the less curved areas like the middle ribs--

AND---- do I want to only make 1 fluit between each rivet hole ? or Have yall been making 2 or 3 between the holes in the steeper curved areas ?
OR- do you use something like these pliers shown in the pic which can take up more linear inches of the flange material ?

I am guessing that once yall have made 70 or 80 ribs --- you have a definate opinion of what worked best (or would have if you had it- )

Tim

[Chris In Milwaukee]

I used a set of fluting pliers that had a big head like that and didn’t care for it much, personally. It didn’t leave much of a “flat” for rivet room flexibility. So I went with the skinnier type. It “ate” plenty of metal, I found, and left plenty of flat space.

https://www.aircraft-tool.com/shop/detail.aspx?id=FP21

EFADF7F2-BB95-4E89-A587-CD18CF62F169.jpeg

[sjt]

The general technique that I found helpful is seen in this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIvFpVV6kIQ

It would not be unusual for you to find that the first rib takes an hour to flute.
You should expect to be able to do it in 1 minute by the tenth rib.

The above video helps with understanding how aluminum moves.


n3uw also posted a video, even if you do not use the air hammer you will need to make the 13 degree angle set- the longer the handle the better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYHzPskP7fc

stan

[fairchild]

Thanks to both of ya !
I see dreambuildfly made his pair too. He used linesmans pliers where i used just junk gas pliers. I also see his rod is more like 1/4 or 5/16. Mine is about 3/16 and
I think that is just too small. i will start over with a pair like his or just order some from spruce on monday (depending on their selection)
Tim

[bergy]

I too used an old pair of linesman's pliers. I drilled a longitudinal hole approx 3/16" diameter in the nose of the pliers about 50% into each jaw of the pliers. I then used JBWeld to glue a short 3/16 rod into the half-hole on one jaw of the pliers. When the JBWeld had set up I then coated the other jaw of the pliers with a layer of fresh JBWeld, placed a piece of a plastic-bag between the jaws of the pliers and clamped the jaws togethe until the JB cured. I there-by created a perfectly matching male/female pair of jaws that created beautiful flutes. I experimented a bit with the orientation of the 3/16 rod such that the flute produced would be deeper on the outer edge of the rib-flanges in quite shallow near the root of the flange. Using a thin layer of lube on the plier's surface while fluting helps to prevent scuff-marks on the finished ribs. I ground my plier's jaws narrow enough so that I can make two flutes very close together if I wish, which I did on the very sharp curves of the nose ribs.

[fairchild]

bergy---
Thats a neat idea you had---
Also I was wondering if it was commonly needed - when using the tool that makes small fluts-- to make several in series to get enough shrink in the highly curved areas....
maybe yes ?

[Chris In Milwaukee]

I tried lineman’s pliers to make my own, but the temper of the jaws didn’t allow me to drill through them very well. I guess that’s what I get for using good pliers instead of cheap ones.

[bergy]

My cheapy camera does not focus well for this operator, but I think you can see what I did with my "Expensive" lineman's pliers. Also see what I did on nose-rib
FlutingPliersMale.jpg

FlutingPliersFemale.jpg

NoseRibFlutes.jpg

[fairchild]

making a pair now- will post pics when done in a day or so.....
Tim