Are there any good sources involving the construction of rib tubes? Materials and hardware are available, but I'm interested in the gluing or heat curing, the dimensioning and cutting and the process of making really good tubes. Where do you learn this in the US?
If you find any thing let me know, At the moment I just make it up as I go along.
Seriously though, the fabric and adhesive manufacturers are usually very good at giving information on the use of their products, but learning design and cutting is hard to find out about unless you get a job with a tube maker.
My cousin is a profecional tube builder in Greece... he has built and repair all kinds of tubes pvc-strogan ,hypalon -neoprene i have helped him through summers...well belive me .. its a very dificult job...not only the gluing and cuting but the desinging too, can u imagine how difrent a tube loks with and without air ...
...later...
Making tubes seems to be more of an art than a science, and the skills are normally learned either by trial and error, or working for an exisiting RIB company.
At least it is easier to buy the materials now, as Henshaw have a comprehensive on-line shop at www.henshaw.co.uk
if you find someone that is good at doing pipe layout like a steel fabricator, he can help you. tubes are round and so is the pipe the templates work on the same princaple.
If only it was that simple. Dont forget to allow for the different ways the fabric stretches according to how it is cut, and how possibly the tubes will shrink in length when inflated, again depending on the cut.
Also consider the fact that if you look at the end of a pipe when it hes been cut on an angle, the cut surface is oval shaped. When this template is applied to flexible materials like tube fabrics the final inflated tubeshape will be very lumpy as the air pressure forces the oval into a round.
