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Old 06-06-2008, 11:34 AM   #14 (permalink)
Otto
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris D. View Post
I donno, your probably right, but this design was simple and cost effective..
I figured out my plan of attack and its only temporary anyways..

An elliptical nose would be optimum, but what you have is just fine behind the truck.

Regarding bending the PVC pipe: Consider stuffing the pipe with dry sand, then heat it and bend around a mandrel. The sand will keep it from collapsing or buckling during the bend. You don't need to stuff the whole pipe, just the section to be bent, +/- ~10" either side of the bend point. Use a cork or similar stopper in the pipe to keep the sand in proper place.

Another idea would be to use longerons made of spruce strips, ripped into thickness about like a yardstick. This like the inner railing of rowboats at the gunwales, with spacers between inner and outer strips. A couple of 2X4s ripped lengthwise on a table saw into ~1/4" thickness, would do the trick and be cheap and durable. You could use some of that 3M foam adhesive construction tape to hold the skin to the longerons.
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