Metalworking
By Tom Richards
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Pounding metal.
Metalworking expert Kent White demonstrates a technique for forming
aluminum sheet into compound shapes using a wood mallet and a cloth
bag filled with shot. Photo by Dave Higdon |
One day this week, Kent
White hammered out a new pair of wheelpants for an airplane at EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh. He does that kind of thing all the time; a new wing
tip for a warbird, a new this or a new that.
It’s what White, of
Nevada City, California, does. He incorporates these repairs in the 35
or so classes in aluminum forming he will conduct before AirVenture
concludes.
He’s a hands-on guy who
has been doing metal work of various kinds since 1970. "I tried
physics and mechanical engineering, but I just didn’t want to spend
time at a desk," he said. He will modestly say he got into this
line of work "because I couldn’t do anything else."
He started metal work by
becoming involved in automobile restoration
for the famed
Harrah’s collection. He learned various metal techniquessteel,
chrome, brass, plating and aluminumby working beside old masters
of these crafts. "One was 75, another was 76," he said. He
worked on restoring a Ford Tri-Motor, and that introduced him to
crafting metal for airplanes. He’s been coming to AirVenture since
1994.
And he realized that
these crafts were on the verge of being lost forever. Young men weren’t
learning them and the masters were dying off. There were no books on the
subjects. So he teaches. He also produces DVDs, writes articles, and
does consulting work on airplanes. His company, Aero Metal, has a booth
in Exhibit Building A.
In addition, he has
designed and sells equipment that he uses in his demonstrations: an air
hammer and a roller for shaping otherwise shapeless pieces of aluminum.
He will teach stretching, shrinking, and welding. He holds a patent on
aluminum welding that produces an amazingly smooth joint.
White ships in 500-600
pounds of equipment each year. He has some stored on the grounds until
next year. He will use 60-80 square feet of aluminum by the time
AirVenture is over.
"I got lucky,"
he said of his entry into metal work. "I just fell into it."
His classes draw
standing-room crowds. Small wonder. It is entertaining just to watch a
piece of flat aluminum become a round part of an airplane, a faring,
wheelpants, or a tank. And White is good at what he does.
"To me, it’s just
ordinary," he said. "That’s the way God works it. He gives
you the chance, and you have to stretch it as far as you dare.
"Probably my driving
energy is the desire to solve problems."
And he has a wry sense of
humor that helps. In the middle of a hot afternoon in his tent, some of
his students might begin to drowse. A quick burst from the air hammer
puts an end to that.
You don’t have to know
White for long to know that he is his own man and does things his way.
His morning coffee is characteristic. He brings his own water, his own
coffee beans, a grinder and a special coffee pot. When it’s all ready,
he fires up the welding torch to heat the pot.
He has a low opinion of
people who merely teach what they have taken from books. "The thing
that brings people in here is they get accurate information, practical
experience and humor," he said.
"This is a
grassroots prototype, making things from scratch" he said. "We’re
making some pretty sophisticated repairs without sophisticated tools.
"To me, this
represents the heartbeat of America, this can-do spirit," he said.
"If somebody made it, we can, too." He likes EAA because that
is the organization’s spirit, too.
