Attaching LE sheeting on built up wings

[Dennis Toth]

Guys,
For years I've built wings and always struggled when it came to gluing on the leading edge sheeting. What glue do you guys use that gives good working time and a solid glue joint?

Best,     DennisT

[Mike Griffin]

Hi Dennis

I use Elmers white glue.  I posted how I did this in another thread on here that had to do with glue. Let me see if I can give you a link to it and how to apply it...

MIke

[Mike Griffin]

I posted it under THOSE DREADED WARPS  title.  scroll down until you find it.  Basically the way I do it is that I spray the leading edge sheeting with Windex and pin it to the wing from the spar forward to the leading edge.  I let it dry thourghly and then apply the Elmers in dots.  I then place the sheeting over the front of the wing and pin or weight the sheeting down until it dries.  I have never had the sheeting turn loose.

Mike

[Motorman]

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[Randy Cuberly]

I use SIG Bond (aliphatic resin) because it gives ample time to carefully attach the sheeting and sands easily and cleanly at the leading edge.
I attach it with the glue then hold it in place with masking tape and let it dry thoroughly.  I build in a jig in a lot of cases and it works perfectly for that application.
However I often use Bob Hunts "Lost foam method" and in that case of course the leading edge sheeting is molded and I use thin CA with a long narrow nozzle to apply the CA with the molded sheeting in place in the foam structure.

Randy Cuberly

[Tim Wescott]

SigBond or CA, depending on my mood and whether or not I can reach in with a long nozzled CA applicator.

[Bootlegger]

  Something that have found that works is to look at the end of the sheet and see where the curve goes up or down then coat the inside curve with a coat of dope (about 75% dope) and wet the outside of the sheet so that it stretches let it dry to help make the curve more pronounced then using aliphatic resin glue to the L/E letting it set then pull it down and put drops of glue on the wing ribs and  the spars then tape it down in place.

  Hope that this make sense..

[john e. holliday]

A side note that works for me when needed,  a hot iron will set the sheeting to the glue if there is a gap.  Heat the area one time and put pressure on it til it cools.

[FLOYD CARTER]

No one has mentioned SIGMENT or DUCO.  (Or Ambroid, if you can find it).  I first glue the sheeting on the spar.  Wet the top of the sheeting with a wet paper towel to get a curve into it. 

Floyd

[Brett Buck]

No one has mentioned SIGMENT or DUCO.  (Or Ambroid, if you can find it).  I first glue the sheeting on the spar.  Wet the top of the sheeting with a wet paper towel to get a curve into it. 

Floyd

  You don't want to use model cement, because when it shrinks, it pulls the wood down on either side of the rib, causing the "starved horse" look.

    Brett

[Steve Helmick]

One way to do it is to use a pin to punch a hole through the sheeting at the rib location and apply a drop of thin CA. If you want a clear finish, the pin holes will show, so keep that in mind. I've done this.

Another way is to use Aliphatic (Tite-Bond or SIG-Bond), apply to spar, ribs and LE. While it's still wet, lay the sheet balsa on the wing and press it into contact at all those locations, then remove the sheet. Let dry! Then you iron the sheet balsa onto the wing at all locations. A buddy has done this, and he recommends it. I believe him. Might want to do a test panel?  Steve

[Chuck_Smith]

Aliphatic, usually Titebond. Great tack to it, it sands well as previously mentioned, and gives you just enough time to react if something doesn't look right. I'll sheet the top and add cap strips in one session, then flip it over, re-jig it up and then do the bottom the next session. For me, building a wing is not a good place to be in a hurry.

[Dennis Toth]

OK, I saw an approach on YouTube that uses Titebond and CA, it was pretty straight forward. Start with getting the sheeting to a good fit (my LE is shaped so the sheeting butts up against it), position the sheeting at the leading edge, roll it up to expose the bottom of the sheet and apply a line of titebond along the bottom edge at the LE. Roll the sheet down and push it tight to the LE and pin in place along the LE at each rib. Once dry add a line of titebond along the spar, roll the sheeting down onto the ribs/spar (use your fingers to feel that the sheeting is down along each rib) and pin as you go to each rib (I started from the center and worked out). Once dry take thin CA and run along each rib. This worked great, reasonably quick and kept the wing straight.

Best,   Dennist

[Chuck_Smith]

Not really sure what the CA does for you. I just run a small bead of Titebond on the ribs. You want your wing to be STIFF. CA into a blind area is a guessing game. If you have any gap you're done. Nothing sucks more than starting to sand and finding the sheeting is coming loose - especially after the shear webs are in place. I take that back, once the dope goes on and the sheeting puckers, that's worse. Why risk it?  If you use a CA you need an absolutely perfect fit between the sheeting and the ribs. A .010 gap can ruin your day. Plus, once you sheet the second side how do you get the applicator in there and really know you have it secure?

All IMHO, YMMV

[Motorman]

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[Dennis Toth]

The way I did it was to pull down from the sheeting from the LE over the rib as I pinned it to the spar. The CA went on the sheeting/ribs before the shear webbing was installed using a short CA tube applicator. I thought about using just the titebond but decided to pull and pin as it felt tighter this way for this ship (I have full span sheeting) . When I have done the full titebond in the past it got messy, seemed like the TB skinned over (similar to using Sigmend or Ambroid) before I got everything in place the way I wanted it.

I agree you need to have tight contact with the sheeting and rib but with ribs that are clean cut it isn't a problem (hand cut could be an issue). To your point I will go back and make sure they are all down tight and could touch up any place there is a gap with TB.

Best,   DennisT

[john e. holliday]

An aside to using white glue is I don't use pins 90% of the time.   A roll of masking tape does wonders when you are pulling the sheet down against the ribs.  Also no pin holes to fill.

[Dave Harmon]

I have been using Elmer's Carpenter glue. It looks like the old Titebond but from what I remember about Titebond from decades ago was I didn't like it much but right now I don't remember exactly why....mebby it didn't sand clean...don't remember.
But....the Carpenters glue does sand clean so I have been using that for quite awhile.
I use a syringe to apply the glue...the bottle is too big to use...plenty of vet stores around heah....get them syringes for $1.25...5 in a bag..Atwoods.

What I do on the sheeting is mark a line on the inside of the sheeting where it will contact the ribs.
Then...I put a small bead of glue on the line then run a finger along it to spread it out a bit.
Put glue on the sheeting wherever it comes in contact with the ribs, spar l/e etc.

Next...I put glue on each rib, spar, l/e etc that comes in contact with the sheeting....and smooth it out a bit with a finger.
Be accurate when positioning the sheeting because that glue grips pretty quick.
Put the sheeting in place and use masking tape to ensure the sheeting is in contact with the ribs etc.
I try to use a minimum of pins.

Also....I have had shrinkage problems if I get the sheet too wet.
It is a real bummer to come back the next day and have a huge gap somewhere because the sheet shrunk as it dried.
Mike....I never tried Windex....might have to give that a shot but I try to use good contest wood to avoid wetting it.