(page 10-11) Tail cone finished.........
                                              

The side skins and upper side skins fit well with the initial edge brake (break, in Oregonian) of about 2 degrees.  No gap in the seams of the lap joints.  The top skin was another animal entirely.  Near the aft end of the fuselage, a much greater brake angle was needed.  Happily, the device I showed a few posts back worked like a charm once again.  This tool is worth every penny.  I advised leaving the blue plastic on while braking the edges to prevent scratching.  I had removed the plastic, however, before final clecoing.  Clear packing tape was applied to the edges before using the tool (repeatedly, in order to get the desired angle).  This worked quite well.  No scrathes on the alclad.

 

Speaking of scratching the alclad, I think builders worry way too much about this.  All that pristine aluminum is going to get scuffed with ScotchBrite before priming, so why worry?  Deep scratches should be avoided, of course, but I don't sweat the small stuff.

On an unrelated topic, I think way too much metal is removed in the name of deburring.  A chamfer should not be put on the holes.  At most, burrs protruding above the surface should be removed.  Quoting from page 87 of the sixth edition of Standard Aircraft Handbook, which ships with every Van's kit, "Burrs under either head of a rivet do not, in general, result in unacceptable riveting.  The burrs do not have to be removed......<snip>......care must be taken to limit the amount of metal removed when deburring.  Removel of any appreciable amount of metal from the edge of the rivet hole will result in a riveted joint of lower strength."  The punched holes in the aluminum really don't have to be deburred at all.  For the sheared edges of the sheets, the sharp edge should be deburred.  These, like all the opinions expressed here, are my own.  Other builders should make their own decisions.