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Building Tips and technical articles. => Building techniques => Topic started by: Rob Killick on August 18, 2008, 09:16:19 PM

Title: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Rob Killick on August 18, 2008, 09:16:19 PM: Hi ,

I'm sure this has been asked before , but ...

I'm currently using a "Shop Mate" type work stand , with a piece of 3/8 X 48 inch square piece of glass , covered with a 1/2 inch X 48 inch square piece of sheet rock .
For the majority of my wings I use an Adjusto Jig , but for I-Beamers , I'm wondering if the glass / sheet rock work station would be acceptable ?

Any suggestions ?

Thanks ,

Rob Killick
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Clint Ormosen on August 18, 2008, 10:00:25 PM: At 48", it sure doesn't leave you much extra room, does it? But if it's enough area for your wingspan, and you're sure it's FLAT, it should be fine.

BTW, your post reads like you have the sheetrock over the glass. Is that right? I would have the glass on top.
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Rob Killick on August 19, 2008, 09:43:24 PM: Hi,

Ty , the next I-beam will be my second ...

I built an Ares (Brodak)about two years ago and it flew well with an Enya .40 . It suffered "hanger damage" and is still waiting in the garage , for some "surgery" . She was built on glass .
So ...

What do I do if I need to pin or secure pieces to the building board , if I'm using glass ?

Thanks ,

Rob Killick
PS , the second I-beam will be an RSM Neptune II , all in good time ;)
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Ralph Wenzel (d) on August 19, 2008, 11:11:30 PM: If you need to fix jigs to the building surface, like tip formers on an I-Beam wing, just stick 'em on with CyA. When you're done, cut them loose and peel off the residue with a razor blade. Don't use pins. Use tape and weights. I generally use Tom Morris "building weights", which are 3" sections of 1/2" steel bar.

Ralph
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Clint Ormosen on August 20, 2008, 01:00:16 AM: Yup, Ralph's got it. CYA sticks to glass but cleans right off when your done. Tape and weights are the ticket instead of pins where possible.
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: don Burke on August 20, 2008, 07:54:15 AM: Cyano works, would hot melt glue also work on glass?
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Tom Perry on August 20, 2008, 05:35:15 PM: Quote from: don Burke on August 20, 2008, 07:54:15 AM
Cyano works, would hot melt glue also work on glass?

It would work but you would have a heck of a time because it would be next to impossible to do an accurate job as the glue layer would be a different thickness for each joint. Another problem is keeping all your fixtures square.
y1
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Rob Killick on August 20, 2008, 07:48:40 PM: Hi ,

Thanks for the advice .

One thing , though ...

I used CA to glue rod jigs (ply with the proper rod hole sizes) onto my glass and when I removed them , small (1/2inch round , concave) pieces of glass lifted with them when I used a hardened steel scraper to remove the ply jigs .
Maybe the glass is a type of safety glass or something ?

I work in a macchine shop , so I'll fab some various sized and shaped steel blocks for weighting and alignment .

Thanks for the help gentlemen

Rob Killick
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Ralph Wenzel (d) on August 20, 2008, 10:18:25 PM: I'm not sure the scraper is a good idea, Ron. The idea is to slice the residue off the glass with a razor blade. Now if the glass chipped when removing the jigs themselves, that's a different problem, and I have no good answer.

Ralph
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Bill Little on August 27, 2008, 10:36:38 AM: I had a chunk of glass come up with a fuselage side when building an I-Beam a couple years ago. It *broke* when I tapped the side to free it. Too much CA was the culprit. Kinda annoying, but it isn't a major problem. I have one of the windshield scrapers that uses a razor blade to do all my cleanup on the glass, and if you just tack the parts, everything is ok. I just put too much in that one spot for some reason.......

Glass is the most perfect surface I have recently used as long as it is totally flat. My building table (old rejected billiards table) is completely covered (well all most! LOL!!) with 3/8th" glass and I shimmed it flat.

Mongo
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Bill Heher on September 04, 2008, 01:28:05 AM: For removing rod blocks, jigs, etc without damage to the glass you can dribble a bit of acetone or Fingernail Polish remover on the CA, it will soften it so you can remove it easier. Acetone is cheaper than polish remover- but ou usually end up buying at least a quart. I just sneak in and take my daughters polish remover from the bathroom.

Don't try it on places where the actual model structure is glued to the glass, you may weaken the glue joint if the acetone wicks up into the area. You might get away with with it if you ar very careful- but I would only do it as a last resort - i.e. structure would be damaged if you try to slice / scrape / pry part from glass.
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Lauri Malila on September 04, 2008, 04:47:11 AM: Hi.

Nail polish remover usually has some oils in it, so it's not necessarily good for every place.
Even better solvent for cyano is nitromethane. Also, it does not evaporate as quickly as acetone. L
Title: Re: Building surfaces and boards ?
Post by: Lauri Malila on September 04, 2008, 01:03:35 PM: Debonder is mostly Nitromethane. L