Rib top curve

[JimG]

Hi There , just received my plans from Leonard and am looking forward to getting on with it.
I have a question , the EAA tech videos show soaking and prebending the top curved member of the ribs, is that a standard practice on this style of built up rib and is it a requirement on the LE ribs.

Thanks

JimG

[scottiniowa]

Hi There , just received my plans from Leonard and am looking forward to getting on with it.
I have a question , the EAA tech videos show soaking and prebending the top curved member of the ribs, is that a standard practice on this style of built up rib and is it a requirement on the LE ribs.

That won’t be required for your building your LE ribs. The bend is not great enough to warrant soaking/prebending of cap strips.

Best of success on your project.
Scott

[Vince Carucci]

I agree with Scott... soaking is not required. 

I would like to offer some advise based on my experience. I bought all pre-cut material from ACS. The bulk of the .25" cap strips were amazing quality. Most of them had a very tight grain running parallel to the cap strip. Take the time to select a piece like this for the top and bottom of each rib. In the material I received, there was the occasional piece of wood where the grain pattern was random or at an angle to the piece. If you bend a piece like that you might find there is a weak spot. A few of the pieces I received actually snapped. That was a good thing. It revealed possible failure points and I was still able to use those pieces for the short lengths within the rib. 

Hope that helps and good luck.

Vince