well, i spose i should bestow my technique to you fellas, huh?
1) measure the hole, and add an inch to the widest part (including any extraneous holes you'll need to cover up)
2) with a fresh piece of aluminum, scribe a circle with a compass of the desired circle. i then coat it with a fast drying dye/paint and scribe it again so i can see the line clearly as a bright white line.
3) with a metal shear, i make a series of straight cuts just up to the line, but not touching it. you could probably do this with hand shears, too if you don't have access to a big shear.
4) on a benchtop belt sander, rotate the piece flat, and sand away the extra material right up to the white line. then flip it over, and just touch it with the sander to get the burrs off.
5) with light sand paper, dress the edges so they're nice and smooth
6) draw a straight line across the circle, right through the small center dot left by the compass.
7) with a protractor, mark off an angle, based on how many rivets you want to install. on my smaller patches, i wanted 6, so i drew the first line at 60 degrees (60 X 6 =360). on the larger patch i'm putting in tomorrow, i used 30 degrees (12 rivets). stay tuned for pics of that!
8) once all the tick marks are drawn around the edges, come in an even 1/4" on each one, and punch a small dimple. Now clean the piece with MEK, and revel in your work.
the patch i made tonight took 20 minutes, and should take another hour tomorrow to install on the trailer. i'll post pics when it's done!
remember kids, you heard it here first! good luck!
Looks beautiful. Thanks for the step by step, I'm not there yet but I have a few holes I'd like to patch up eventually. Using a circle or oval pattern makes it look like it's not a patch, especially if you put something on there, like a bottle opener or some other useful gadget that attaches to the wall; a hook for towels, a metal sign of some kind, etc.
__________________
ingrid
1967 24' Tradewind #19104 ~ Forums #4449
I can't take credit for that one! I saw someone on here had put a wall-mounted bottle opener in the middle of a patched area...one of those things I filed away to do eventually on mine. Even a connection for some kind of outdoor shower makes sense, somewhere, or a foot rinse for days on the beach...
Onward!
__________________
ingrid
1967 24' Tradewind #19104 ~ Forums #4449
i may have to finish stripping that side tomorrow, just for fun... IF the weather warms back up, that is!
the BIG Q now is... grab handle or not... i think i'm leaning not. it didn't originally have one, and if i put one in, it would fall between 2 ribs, so there wouldn't be much structure to it... unlike the handle on my other project, which falls right on a rib, and you can tell! it feels like i could lift the whole trailer with just the handle! ha!
can't wait to get this one caught up to the other, then, once both outter skins are done, i'll start on the 2 interiors at the same time.
well, i have made a little more progress on ol #51 (aka "Stinky"). now that the patches are done, i decided to see how she'll shine up, starting with the curb side. since i'll be replacing the skins on both rear corners, i'm leaving that all nasty and original. i should be ready for the skin work in april (hopefully!)
i've also made the curb-side wheel trim from some left over material from the '59... oh, and most importantly, my porch lite is in! looks REALLY good, i think. MUCH better than a hole. i still don't get why this globe trotter has neither a porch lite NOR a grab handle. i'll probably be leaving the handle off as well, as she comes back together.
That light looks really great in the middle of that patch. I may have to go back and do the same to mine - mine was originally a 4-screw light that was a touch bigger then the 3-screw replacement I put in (original was badly corroded and had a broken lens), so I'm not entirely happy about how it looks. But I love the way it looks in the middle of a round patch.
i thought about patching the holes from teh tail lights with round surrounds like those... bit i think moving them inboard is a better idea. plus, one of the rear quarter panels has a sizeable dent. best replace em while i can, i spose!
i almost with there was another thing to patch on this girl. i've gotten so good at the circular patches, it's a shame to stop now! haha!
i just finished removing all the trim around the windows, in prep for paint (once everything else is done, i know...). while i was at it, i checked the wiring, and amazingly, NO shorts! everything works just as it should (and will!) amazing luck, on that.
i do need to run a 12v line up to the roof for the upcoming fantastic fan addition. for some reason, this trailer doesn't have 12v OR 120v run to the vent. maybe it wasn't standard to do so in '62, i dunno.
Quick Links
how did you cut the aluminum into a perfect circle? Hmm?
Linear Mode
