Author Topic: Building board (Read 3161 times)

Michael Gill · « **on:** December 04, 2012, 02:05:07 PM »

I'm in the process of building a new Brodak kit which has balsa ribs and fuselage requiring pining to the building board. My building bench is a 48 X 80 X 2" laminated bench with a piece of 1" granite on top set on a heavy duty steel frame to insure everything is straight and flat for building large R/C aircraft and foam wings. The granite "WILL NOT BE MOVED". I would like to build this wing and fuse and find the granite hard to pin to (lol)

. I remember in the old days their was a soft material that you could use on a flat surface to pin your models to and have a reasonable straight plane when you were done. Can anyone recommend a material to use? I looked at some different plywood but, thought it might be to hard to pin to. Any help would be appreciated.

Rafael Gonzalez · « **Reply #1 on:** December 04, 2012, 02:26:26 PM »

Best I've found, is sheet rock if left flat for a while. Can check it with a straight edge...

Tim Wescott · « **Reply #2 on:** December 04, 2012, 02:51:09 PM »

Ceiling tiles, cork. There are some high-zoot building boards for rubber power that use end-grain balsa.

I use regular plywood (I couldn't tell you what wood -- fir?). It's at about the limit of being able to stick a pin into it (I use needle-nose pliers) and sometimes I have to hunt around to find a spot that'll accept a pin. On the other hand, I don't have pins coming out unexpectedly.

Go over the building instructions carefully -- you may be able to substitute weights and other holding methods where the instructions call out pins now.

Jim Fruit · « **Reply #3 on:** December 04, 2012, 04:32:19 PM »

Michael:

Get yourself a 2' by 4' lay-in acoustical ceiling tile. Tape it to the top of your granite. All Big Box stores carry them. Takes pins very readily.

Jim Fruit

Michael Gill · « **Reply #4 on:** December 04, 2012, 04:55:45 PM »

Thanks for all your inputs. I'm going to try the ceiling tile as recommend.

MarcusCordeiro · « **Reply #5 on:** December 04, 2012, 05:40:53 PM »

You could try a piece of dry-wall...

Marcus

larry borden · « **Reply #6 on:** December 08, 2012, 09:07:04 PM »

I used the ceiling tile when I first started in this hobby. I know have two of the Great Planes building boards.

Andrew Hathaway · « **Reply #7 on:** December 08, 2012, 10:18:43 PM »

Ceiling tiles don't hold the pins as tightly as a piece of drywall.

dennis lipsett · « **Reply #8 on:** December 08, 2012, 10:34:23 PM »

I still use a 50 year old Magna jig.

dave siegler · « **Reply #9 on:** December 10, 2012, 07:33:04 PM »

get this stuff, it is the best. Menards has it.

A lot better than tile or drywall.

http://www.homasote.com/TypesOfUsers/Homeowners.aspx

or just a dab of hot glue on the slab?

Scott Bauman · « **Reply #10 on:** December 12, 2012, 09:24:26 PM »

My friend Dave Platt turned me to using "step blocks" and weights instead of pins. I now do not ever use pins and don't know how I built with pins in the past. I do use pins on occasion for sheeted type structures but haven't done that in 2 years.
-Scott

Glenn (Gravitywell) Reach · « **Reply #11 on:** December 13, 2012, 12:17:15 AM »

I have always used homosote sheet. I buy a peice of 3/4" MDF and a peice of the homosote. Simply glue or nail one to the other and you have a perfect building board that holds pins exceptionally and is easily replaced. Best of all the backer (MDF) can be reused so fixing it is way cheap.

Sheldon Hartwell · « **Reply #12 on:** December 30, 2012, 07:14:11 PM »

Hi Mike,
I'm just getting back into the forums so sorry for the late response. What I found works really great for pinning any of your builds down, is your typical exterior foam house insulation available from Lowes or Home Depot. It's dense, you can cut it into any size that you need, and it's cheap. And should there be any slight curviture to the sheet, just throw a weight on it to take that out of the equation. The pins go in solid, and hold the parts where they should be. Hope that this helps.
Sheldon

Avaiojet · « **Reply #13 on:** December 30, 2012, 07:19:24 PM »

Quote from: Scott Bauman on December 12, 2012, 09:24:26 PM

My friend Dave Platt turned me to using "step blocks" and weights instead of pins. I now do not ever use pins and don't know how I built with pins in the past. I do use pins on occasion for sheeted type structures but haven't done that in 2 years.
-Scott

Scott,

Interesting build. What model is it?

Charles

Randy Powell · « **Reply #14 on:** December 30, 2012, 08:51:46 PM »

I would simple CA the tabs to the granite, but that's just me.

Howard Rush · « **Reply #15 on:** December 30, 2012, 10:14:16 PM »

Quote from: Randy Powell on December 30, 2012, 08:51:46 PM

I would simple CA the tabs to the granite, but that's just me.

I would, too, but not intentionally.

Howard Rush · « **Reply #16 on:** December 30, 2012, 10:15:12 PM »

Quote from: Avaiojet on December 30, 2012, 07:19:24 PM

Interesting build. What model is it?

It is. Looks like Scott's a real modeler.

MarcusCordeiro · « **Reply #17 on:** December 31, 2012, 04:04:51 AM »

Quote from: Howard Rush on December 30, 2012, 10:14:16 PM

I would, too, but not intentionally.

Marcus

adam collver · « **Reply #18 on:** December 31, 2012, 08:48:47 AM »

what about using the 2 inch thick foam bourd stuff.

Avaiojet · « **Reply #19 on:** December 31, 2012, 10:22:37 AM »

I haven't used a building board in years. Probably why my models aren't straight.

Just kidding.

Didn't use one for my Gee Bee Z , the New American, or The LOSER, and plenty others.

I just use flat surfaces, like the granite counter top in the kitchen, but no real board with attached jigs and fittings.

Certainly, when I was building pattern ships for R/C, I would use a simple ceiling tile, 24" X 48". We would just glue the fuselage formers to the tile on a center line. All wings were foam, so again, just a flat surface is all that was needed.

I sometimes use tape to hold everything together, including wings, but do place them on something flat before gluing.

I placed The LOSER's wing halves on granite a few times before gluing and joined the halves on granite also. I just used straight edges and weight.

The LOSER's wing is as straight as a CF arrow!

Works for me, but you may not want to try this at home!

Charles

Author Topic: Building board (Read 3161 times)

larry borden