"Dick" wrote in message ...
Dan,
Thanks for reply. I was at Sun 'n Fun today and after talking with the
"metal fab" guys, was giving up on a domed metal spinner (at least fabbed by
me G).

If you could answer a couple of more question....

Tomorrow I'll check those 172 spinner backplate but don't understand how you
handled the "point" of the spinner?? Approximately what was your base
diameter and length?
Do I understand that instead of a front bulkhead, you used those steel
brackets connected to the prop?

Thanks again, Dick Ripper

The metal was rolled up so that the top of the cone came to a
point, and gentle tapping with a hammer formed a very small dome on
the tip. Base diameter was around 12", same as the cowling face at the
prop, and length was about the same, which would give the length of
the metal of the side of about 14". The airplane's not here anymore so
I can't measure it. Rolling the two pieces in a way that the radius
was constant was the hardest part; I worked them by hand over a rod
clamped in a vise. You don't want any bend lines appearing along the
curve.
And yes, those steel brackets acted as the front bulkhead.

Have fun working out the segments, and don't forget to allow for
overlap at one end of each piece for riveting.

Dan
Dan




----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan Thomas"
Newsgroups: rec.aviation.homebuilt
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 7:21 PM
Subject: spinner fab


(JDupre5762) wrote in message
...
anyone have any experience with fabbing a large spinner; say 16" od and
18 "
long?

I made one for a Soob in a Glastar, using 5052H32 and cutting two
circle segments that I rolled and riveted together. Could have done it
with one piece but a single rivet line would have imbalanced it. The
aft bulkhead was formed from the same stuff over a plywood template,
with notches to allow the compounding (see a 172's spinner backplate)
and the front mounts were welded steel brackets that bolted to the
blade bolts of the Warp Drive prop. It ran fine, still does.

Dan