fuse covering

[darrell pralle]

I am ready to cover the sides of the fuse and cannot figure out where to stop the fabric on the aluminum door frame angles. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Darrell.

[DanB]

Darrell,
Good question. I remember doing this area so I must have been scratching my head as well. The best advice I can give you is try to mentally visulize what the fabric will do as you turn a corner with it. Leave a good amount (say at least 5") of fabric to work with as it folds over the area. I can tell you that the fabric will not cover every inch of the inside turn. You will end up with what I call darts or angle cuts as the fabric wraps around each corner or inside bend. You are dealing with compound angles here so just go slow, stretch the fabric around each corner (not too tight as remember it shrinks) and make your cuts accordingly.

If you want to get some practice before you do it on the plane, try staging a similar scenerio with a couple pieces of wood. Once you learn what the material looks like as it wraps a corner, you will be fine. Have fun with it.

[Dorsal]

I tucked it into the angles then ran a razor such that the fabric made the first 90 deg bend but did not cover the surface that will later seal to the door.
(let me know if this does not make sense to you)

[darrell pralle]

Thanks, you answered my question. I appreciate the help, Darrell

[Wiley]

We cut the fabric with a 45-ish degree angle at the bends, which left a little bit of the aluminum showing. When I taped it, I used 3 or 4 inch tape, don't remember which, and wrapped the door frame all the way around for a clean finish. Also, at the bends I cut a small tab (half inch or so) on one side of the angle, that went down under the tape on the other side of the bend that was cut precisely at the bend. Not sure if that's entirely clear, but it made for a very nice finish and covered everything nicely.

[darrell pralle]

Thanks Wiley, sound like a good idea. Darrell