stunthanger.com

Building Tips and technical articles. => Building techniques => Topic started by: Larry Renger on January 17, 2016, 08:34:39 PM

Title: Leather Fillets
Post by: Larry Renger on January 17, 2016, 08:34:39 PM: Quick, easy, smooth, takes paint like a sponge! Never any separation. ;D

I did the vertical and horizontal tails in about 5 minutes. Spread a line of Sigment or Amberoid into the joint, lay the fillet on and smooth it down with a rounded dowel. Done! #^

Fillets available in a wide variety of radii. They are extremely consistent in radius. Soft and able to follow contours easily. What's not to like? Well, they do have to be ordered, your LHS no longer carries them. Also, they are a bit on the expensive side, but not, say, compared to a state of the art stunt engine! H^^
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Mark Mc on January 26, 2016, 01:37:51 PM: Never tried this. Maybe I'll try it on my next build. What are sources for these fillets? Any good tutorials on how not to mess up good leather while in the learning phase?

Mark
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: dennis lipsett on January 26, 2016, 05:34:30 PM: Walt Umland was a good source and he might have some stock left. Send him an E Mail and ask.

Dennis
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Larry Renger on January 27, 2016, 07:30:43 AM: Freemansupply.com is the source I used. H^^
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Phil Krankowski on January 27, 2016, 03:33:20 PM: Quote from: Larry Renger on January 27, 2016, 07:30:43 AM
Freemansupply.com is the source I used. H^^
What size(s) would you recommend?
Phil
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Mark Mc on January 27, 2016, 09:30:07 PM: Quote from: Larry Renger on January 27, 2016, 07:30:43 AM
Freemansupply.com is the source I used. H^^

100 foot minimum?!? That'd last me three or four lifetimes. Any idea how much a 100 foot bundle is? I don't see an order page on their site to pre-look.

Mark
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Jack Pitcher on January 27, 2016, 09:49:00 PM: Also take a look at http://www.leatherfilletscincinnati.com/
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Fredvon4 on January 28, 2016, 08:02:00 AM: I build mostly 1/2a and 36" to 44" wing span planes mostly profile fuselages, none of them for competition or static judging and would like to try my hand with leather fillets

What sizes should I consider? My usual micro balloon / epoxy fillets are shaped with cove shaped broken blade and wet finger

Another question is on pre monocoated surfaces will the method work on top of the covering or do I need to peel back to bare wood using the leather?
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Larry Renger on January 28, 2016, 08:09:46 AM: I suppose you could put the fillets over film covering if you used contact cement, but I would just strip back the covering.

Purchasing the fillets could be a club activity. Or sell the excess in the classified section here and do everyone a favor.
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Larry Renger on February 01, 2016, 08:51:42 AM: Here is how I fillet around a sharp leading edge. I use a separate piece of the material, trim it as shown in the photo, and soak it in water to get it really pliable. H^^
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Larry Renger on February 27, 2016, 10:53:45 AM: The model finished up great with a transparent blue epoxy finish and Microlite film over lightweight polyspan on the wings. Photo in the Ringmaster thread in the main forum.
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: M Spencer on February 27, 2016, 06:37:16 PM: How much does a foot weigh ??
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Larry Renger on February 29, 2016, 08:14:29 AM: The large fillet material comes in at .112 ounce per foot.
Title: Re: Leather Fillets
Post by: Larry Renger on March 09, 2016, 09:51:36 PM: The leather fillets worked perfectly. Not a hint of separation, smooth surface transition. Light weight added to the structure, what's not to like?