I am not sure how to describe what I want to do. Here is a go at it!
I make a lot of aluminum access openings for experimental airplanes. They mainly consist of a backing plate, and a front plate with a hinged door and appropriate fasteners. When installed they "sandwich" the airplane fuselage skin between my front section with the door and the backing plate. Rivets are put in about every inch all around and we now have a hinged access opening into the area. This works just great for flat surfaces, as I can CNC drill the holes in the front plate and back plate in separate operations, from basically the same drawing. So, the holes in the front and back plate match precisely.
Now the real question. Lets say that I want to make a curved front and back plate, with a radius curvature of 3 feet. I think that if I make it as described above, when the two plates are bent to fit the curvature, the inner and outer plate holes will be out of alignment, if I start with a flat drawing. But, I think that if I were to draw it with a 3 foot radius, and then place the holes, about an inch apart, around the perimeter, the inner and outer surfaces and holes would now be parallel with each other and the rivets would easily slip into place. The outer skin being sandwiched between the front and back plates is only .032 thick. Am I making a fuss over something that will not even be a problem.
I guess I need to take one of my kits and bend it around a coffee can, use the outer plate as a template to drill holes in the coffee can, and then see if the inner plate would allow clecos to be put into place and hold the pieces in alignment.
I hope this makes sense! In the end, maybe it will really not even matter!
Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated.
George
I make a lot of aluminum access openings for experimental airplanes. They mainly consist of a backing plate, and a front plate with a hinged door and appropriate fasteners. When installed they "sandwich" the airplane fuselage skin between my front section with the door and the backing plate. Rivets are put in about every inch all around and we now have a hinged access opening into the area. This works just great for flat surfaces, as I can CNC drill the holes in the front plate and back plate in separate operations, from basically the same drawing. So, the holes in the front and back plate match precisely.
Now the real question. Lets say that I want to make a curved front and back plate, with a radius curvature of 3 feet. I think that if I make it as described above, when the two plates are bent to fit the curvature, the inner and outer plate holes will be out of alignment, if I start with a flat drawing. But, I think that if I were to draw it with a 3 foot radius, and then place the holes, about an inch apart, around the perimeter, the inner and outer surfaces and holes would now be parallel with each other and the rivets would easily slip into place. The outer skin being sandwiched between the front and back plates is only .032 thick. Am I making a fuss over something that will not even be a problem.
I guess I need to take one of my kits and bend it around a coffee can, use the outer plate as a template to drill holes in the coffee can, and then see if the inner plate would allow clecos to be put into place and hold the pieces in alignment.
I hope this makes sense! In the end, maybe it will really not even matter!
Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated.
George