Pre-bending Aircraft Wing Rib Capstrips with a "Universal Side Bender"

The first time I called Aircraft Spruce, I was trying to source spruce wood for a cello. Some years and skills later, I have moved from building musical instruments out of spruce to building aircraft out of the same lumber. There are a few differences: instruments typically use air dried wood, and tighter grain is preferred. Also, figured grain is desirable in instruments, and highly undesirable in aircraft. But its still pretty much the self safe blamed expensive can't get your hands on it without a lot or premeditation and effort stuff.

This video puts my two loves together, using a "Universal Side Bender" I built to bend musical instrument ribs as a tool to bend wing rib capstrips. Luthiers have figured out how to bend wood - and it isn't hard. The secret is a modern heating blanket, controlled by a inexpensive PID controller on a feedback loop and even pressure coupled with moisture which steams the wood from the inside.

The Dakota Hawk is an experimental plans built aircraft, and this one is being put together in the SIUC AVTech hangar, as part of SIU's Experimental Aircraft Club. We need nearly 30 of these wing ribs. The cap strips are 5/16 thick, and are just a bit too thick to bend without breaking.

The broken cap-strip shown at the beginning of the video has an area of grain run-out, and was not aviation grade even before it snapped. It was shown for illustrative purposes only. Airplane construction should only be undertaken by qualified people.