"CNC" english wheeling of aluminum plates

[aktxyz123]

All the wheeling info I have found online for large aluminum/steel plates use very large english wheels (with a powered anvil wheel) ... but also look like they are manually controlled (ie an "art").

I am wondering if there is such a thing as plug your shape into a CNC controller have the wheeling happen automatically?

Here is a pick of the wheeling process for an FPB boat ... and looks fairly manual.

SetSail FPB » Blog Archive » Let The Plating Begin https://setsail.com/let-the-plating-begin/

Here is a video of a wheeled plate done for Mobius (1m 30s if the link does not take you to the right spot) ... the lines/marks are from wheeling and they look soooo linear it makes me think there may have been some automation here.

 

[KeithO]

Building an english wheel and then making hull plates using it. Some skilled workers.

 

[aktxyz123]

Great link ! I had not found that one.

For the plates in the mobius link I sent earlier ... those are large/thick enough to not really be moved around by hand ... would love to find a video that shows how to deal with these super large plates.

In the FPB/Circa picture, you can see the giant plate is hung from a gantry (or something) and is likely moved around by the gantry I would think.

 

[Jeff in Boston]

I know one of the automakers built something like that as a proof of concept, but can't find a video of it. Not something that you could so without a huge budget though.

 

[gonzo]

Try these, they are not cheap
Machine Shop Services - Tri-State Aviation https://www.tri-stateaviation.com/services/machine-shop-services/