by eamarquardt » Fri Jun 11, 2010 7:20 pm
I"m not sure I have the right picture/idea of what trim you are working on. However, when I made my frame, I bent the side rails. I'm not sure if I was firing on all cylinders that day or not (although I hadn't been on drugs for several years) but my first cuts just didn't work out and the piece bent too much. I thought you just remove a pie shaped piece from the angle iron/tubing the same number of degrees (and an equal number of degrees on each side of the perpendicular) you wanted to bend the angle iron/tubing. After screwing it up, scratching my head (to no availl), I made some cardboard patterns first to determine how much to remove. Then, after I had "proof of concept" with the cardboard, I cut a wedge out of the tubing per the cardboard patterns and I was right on. Moral of story: cardboard is cheaper than steel tubing and aluminum!
I think it would be slicker to cut a notch out of the aluminum angle, aneal it a bit, and then bend it at the notch so the metal is continous as you face the back side of your hatch. This will leave a nice smooth piece of trim versus sharp edges (that you'd have if you cut it all the way on a miter saw). You'd have slits on the side of your hatch. A hack saw or saber saw will do a nice job of cutting the wedges out.
One thing I've learned when bending is that the distance on the inside of the angle or tubing is the measurement you determine where to notch. The outside of the material will stretch as required and your fit will be determined by the inside measurements.
Hope this helps, if not, post more pics, ask more questions.
Cheers,
Gus
The opinions in this post are my own. My comments are directed to those that might like an alternative approach to those already espoused.There is the right way,the wrong way,the USMC way, your way, my way, and the highway.
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