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Permalink Reply by Jesse Hartman on December 4, 2012 at 6:08pm

okay then.

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Permalink Reply by Randy Jensen on December 5, 2012 at 2:22pm

when i did mine i was concerned about heat treating i had read about , so i phoned the factory and they said they do it with out heat treating , i laid out the positions of radii on flat bar (fine tip felt marker) . fastend 3" round stock to  ram . marked 6 oclock on round stock . lined up marks and pressed into large v block . i made plywood angles to check bends . i know it seems a bit crude but when i was done i set the gear on level floor and put the level on top and it was level , i'm sure i got lucky . you might use a dial indicator between ram and bed to get angels (i mean angles although angels might be more appropriate since they fly and flying is good ... a little levity there and levity is good . i got to get out of these brackets) correct . any worry i had about the gear being strong enough went away when i watched a video on this sight . a large fellow demonstrating short landing came down real fast , pilot side wing real low and absolutely pancaked pilot side gear . it stood up fine

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Permalink Reply by Jesse Hartman on December 5, 2012 at 3:55pm

Thanks for the reply.  I kinda figured it would be simple. 

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Permalink Reply by Paul Bonasera on December 5, 2012 at 7:34pm

Jesse,

I was going to try to make my own main gear also. I was looking at the price of the aluminum and figured that I would have to try it twice at least to get it strait ant true. I had seen the price of the GROVE gear for My Kitfox (@ $2500.00) and figured I could do it for less. Then I looked on the Zenair site and the price was $580.00 and that is strait and true.

I ended up buying mine from Zenair. Guess I'm not a complete scratch builder, but now I know my tires wont wear out on the first taxi test. Buy the way the gear leg is marked 6061 T6 so yes it is heat treated.

Good luck and please post some pictures.

Paul

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Permalink Reply by Randy Jensen on December 7, 2012 at 3:34pm

i believe a gear manufacturer starts with 6061-t6 aneals it , forms it , and rehardens it .

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Permalink Reply by Paul Bonasera on December 8, 2012 at 3:14pm

I work for Kaiser Aluminum and can tell you that the heat treat proses to get 6061 to a T6 condition is heat to 1000 deg. F @ 2 hrs quick quench with water, stretch 3 to 5 percent that gets it to a T4 and aligns the grains, then artificial age for @ 10 to 20 hrs. 

The best way to make the gear is just to bend it in the T6 condition that its in (like we do all the rest of the metal on the 750) not a problem if you have a hydraulic press.  I made my nose gear fork that way out of 2024 T3 (much harder metal) and it turned out fine.

Well that my 1/2 cent worth, again good luck and keep on building.

Paul

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Permalink Reply by Chris Aysen on December 10, 2012 at 10:02am

Jesse - Bend the T6 cold and you must have proper grain direction. Also the radius is 3" therefore you need something 6" in diameter to do the bending.

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Permalink Reply by Jesse Hartman on December 10, 2012 at 7:00pm

Im gonna bend it in its natural form.  I can buy the aluinum for 158.00 so I can mess up 3 times and still be ahead of the game.  Thanks for all of the ideas and replys.

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