Tightening fabric

[NorthIdahoAvidflyer 374]

There is some slack in the fabric back by the Main Fuselage Rudder upright. I’d like to tighten it up. Has anyone done this after the plane is flying? If so what process did you use?

 

 

 

[TJay 1041]

i would play with a heat gun first just don't over do it.

[NorthIdahoAvidflyer 374]

Would a hair dryer work? I have an model iron. Never used it. Been packing that thing around for years. 

[1avidflyer 1983]

I was just pondering your question, and here are some of my thoughts, (and they are worth every penny you paid for them).  ,:-) .If you heat the fabric up much more than 375 degrees, you run the risk of melting and ruining the fabric.  If you use an iron, you will melt the paint and make a mess of the paint.  If you could use a heat gun that kept the temp under 350, it might not make such a mess of the paint.  Another way that might work is to use MEK, remove the finishes in that area, tighten if you can with an iron, and then refinish that area.  It would be interesting to try a heat gun on a finished surface that you didn't care about to see what will happen.  I have some Kitfoxes tailfeathers that I'm going to recover when I get home, but that will still be a few weeks away.  I think the oratex people have heat guns you can calibrate.  One you would buy at a hardware store puts out something like 600 degrees on the low setting.  Course further away from the tip you go, the cooler you get.  Maybe you could aim at a meat thermometer to find the right temp.?  JImChuk

Edited 4 Mar 2018 by 1avidflyer

[Geoffrey Thorpe 31]

A generic hardware store heat gun is going to be hard to control - The Polyfiber people go so far as to declare that the STC (for a type certificated aircraft) would be void if you use one. Oretex has a digitally controlled gun (as mentioned above) that they recommend for their fabric - I wouldn't have any qualms about using that.

Alternately, using a regular iron with some parchment paper on the fabric will work, but it will damage the finish somewhat (assuming polytone) - I've done this after repair work that required cutting a fairly large flap.

But... That be a big wrinkle - where did it come from? Are you sure there isn't some damage underneath? That would worry me more than the wrinkle.

[NorthIdahoAvidflyer 374]

I had the tail up on a stand trying the level the prop blade for setting the pitch. It slipped off the blocks, the stand hit the lower longeron between the back and the first bend. (Picture). It was already a little loose but this made it looser. I checked all the inner tubes with a light and mirror. No damage.

[TJay 1041]

Another thing that works is get some crock pot plastic liners lay them over the wrinkle and iron the wrinkle out. let the liners cool before removal because they do melt into the soft paint. But once cool they pull off easy and don't look to bad.

Heat gun is still the easiest just lightly blow on the fabric back and fourth till something happens

[sioux201 84]

 Definitely use the heat gun, take all the time you can using it, in your case work parallel with the wrinkle, give me a call and I'll walk you through the procedure 252-923-5145, snaps 

[wypaul 448]

The heat gun works fine, I've done just that several times.  Take your time starting a foot and a half away from the fabric and keep the gun moving did I mention take your time, go slow and presto it's almost like magic.  Don't even try the iron if you don't want to be painting.  

[NorthIdahoAvidflyer 374]

The heat gun works fine, I've done just that several times.  Take your time starting a foot and a half away from the fabric and keep the gun moving did I mention take your time, go slow and presto it's almost like magic.  Don't even try the iron if you don't want to be painting.  

From the sounds of it I should take my time.... lol. Thank you. The wife just told me she has a heat gun in her mountain of craft stuff. Finally I got some use out of something other than her good scissors......lol!

[NorthIdahoAvidflyer 374]

I want to thank all who spoke up and gave me advice on this. The results are amazing. 

The wife’s heat gun was a small pencil type. I took a candy thermometer and held it at different distances to see what kind of heat it would put out. Four inches gave me 150. Three inches gave me 250. Two inches gave me 350. One inch gave me 450. I figure this was a great progression. I decided to do four passes at each inch distance working perpendicular to the ripple in the skin. I ended up making more passes the closer I got as I had a good light and I figured I would be able to see the skin start to tighten. Sure enough it worked out just like that. I could see when the skin started to move. It was amazing. Once I saw the wrinkle start to leave I worked it side to side and down. It was gone literally in  seconds once it started.  Here is a before and after. 

Thanks again guys. You Rock! 

Edited 5 Mar 2018 by NorthIdahoAvidflyer
Spelling

[Dusty 126]

Well done

NEVER EVER touch the good scissors 

[dholly 718]

Well that worked pretty slick. Fabric to me is magical. Immense sense of satisfaction when you tighten the skin.

[akflyer 1427]

I use the heat gun all the time, just be smart about it.  start with the heat gun out away from the fabric and slowly bring it in closer till it starts to shrink it.  If you put the tip too close to it right off the bat yes you can melt it but you truly have to be a bit umm, challenged, to just hold it in one place really close to the fabric  

The fabric loosening is a sign that the tail post is no longer straight.  Keep an eye on it as once it starts bending it can bend more and more easily.

 

[NorthIdahoAvidflyer 374]

I will. I don’t understand why they didn’t build the tail stronger. It’s a taildragger for shit sakes. 

[akflyer 1427]

When I rebuilt mine I put in a heavier tube for the rudder post and added a few braces to box in the tail like the cub guys do.  I know what I do to mine and I have not been able to bend it yet.  I think if mine bends there will be some physical pain going with it