Leather Fillets - other sources

[Douglas Ames]

According to Builditright's website, they are out of stock on leather fillets.
The only other source I found so far was Freeman Man. & Sup., consisting of 15 different radii. They also stock their own fillet cement. Haven't got a price quote on 100 ft length...I'm thinking their a wholesaler.

Any other sources?

 http://www.freemansupply.com/FreemanLeatherFill.htm.

[FLOYD CARTER]

My last leather fillet order was to Bill Sawyer's widow.  Might still possibly have some left.

Floyd

[Joshua Harel]

Just out of curiosity - what or where are these leather fillets used for? I never heard about it?

Joshua

[Andrew Tinsley]

Hello Joshua,
As far as I am aware they are used as fillets between the wing and fuselage joints. The claimed advantages are their light weightcompared to other methods of fairing in the wing / fuselage joint.
They are not very common on this side of the pond, but they have been used for a very long time in the US. I tend to crack the leather in my boots and shoes, so I look on this technique with some doubt. Mind you many people have used them for a long time, so my fears are probably groundless. Let's face it, most of my models suffer crash damage, long before any cracks might appear!

Regards,

Andrew.

[builditright]

Just out of curiosity - what or where are these leather fillets used for? I never heard about it?

Joshua

As Andrew said they are for the wing to fuse joint.

But I think the reason his shoes crack is because of the constant bending. 
glue them to the plane, seal them with dope and don't bend them and they should last a lot longer. 


I will be ordering more in the future but not right now. sorry but I need to prioritize the funds.

[Joshua Harel]

Thanks for the enlightenment. Don't they leave a "step" or a "Ridge" on both sides of the strip?

[Balsa Butcher]

On a dope finish it goes on after the clear and silkspan or polyspan. After the filler coats, (sand) primer coats (sand lightly) color coats (sand lightly) clear coats (sand and polish) it virtually disappears. Even if there is a slight trace of it it is straight and will not be noticeable or unsightly. Glad they will be available in the future-thanks Walter!  

Just thought of this: If you put them on before the silkspan or polyspan and run the covering up next to them the slight ridge would be mimimized further. Might do it this way next time. At any rate, they work well. 

[FLOYD CARTER]

As a historical note, I bought those leather fillets as far back as 1948 from a company in L.A.  They were known as "pattern maker's fillets".  Maybe some tool & die person out there will confirm this.

I've posted a few times on installing these fillets.  I use good old Ambroid or SIG glue.  I wet the leather before installing and then while the glue sets I burnish the fillet with a round tool.  This makes them nice and concave so they look much better.

Leather takes dope well, and I've never had paint pull off of the leather fillets. 

The slight edge disappears after a few coats of dope/filler.

Floyd

[builditright]

Thanks for the enlightenment. Don't they leave a "step" or a "Ridge" on both sides of the strip?

Here is the finished fillet area
no noticable edge

[Joshua Harel]

Wow! that is impressive. I am glad I asked - learned something new and useful. Would love to try it on my next build if a good new source will materialize. Thanks guys:)