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Building Tips and technical articles. => Building techniques => Topic started by: Dick Pacini on April 09, 2014, 07:11:12 AM
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I want to finally build my wing jig out of 1" melamine. I have read here that some builders have used it, but the thickest I have found is 3/4".
Can someone point me to a source? Neither Home Depot or Lowes list it.
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I have not found a full 1 inch thick sheet of shelving material. I believe 3/4 inch is the max. Now if you go look at counter tops or the custom shops for them you may find some.
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Mine is made of 3/4". I doubt that there would be any gain in another 1/2". It is flexible will be as flat at the surface it is sittling on. I shim mine and set it with a straight edge wvery time I set it up. A granite table would be the best. The jig will only be as good as the person using it, meanig it needs to be set up correctly. I've seen junk come from million dollar machines because of poor set ups. 3/4" is fine, just hold it still.
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As far as I know, "Melamine" is just a surface that is put onto particle board. Particle board isn't particularly rigid (as Mike mentions), and it tends to take a set if it's not stored flat. The last thing you want is a chunk that's thick enough so that you can't shim it into alignment!
Mike's a retired machinist and builds good planes -- if he says to do something to achieve precision, you should do it unless you have really good reasons for doing otherwise.
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My latest building board is a 48" long particle board stair tread. It's over an inch thick, and about 12" wide. With a scrap of drywall cut to size laid over the top it's perfect for building over plans (it takes pins). For jigged wings, I use the counter top as the base for my jig. If I wanted to make a permanent jig, I'd get a nice piece of MDF and cut it to the size needed. Both a slab of MDF and a stair tread are heavy enough they aren't going to accidentally slide around. They're generally straight for their original purpose but they can be shimmed.
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Hello Dick
I made mine out of 3/4 x 12.5 x 48 inch plywood and to keep it straight I bolted two rails of C section 1 1/4 x 1/8 inch aluminum extrusion also added some oak rails under it that way the aluminum is not scratching where I place it. I use it for wings and fuselage building. I always check it before I start building on it.Here are pics.
Juan
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I am going to set my board up with CLC jigs. I am using 6mm machine screws because they are a good sliding fit for the aluminum jigs. I am installing threaded inserts in the board to accept the 6mm screws. The inserts are 20mm long which would poke them out the bottom of a 3/4 plank. I would like to avoid having to grind .038 off each one.
I ordered the inserts based on being able to get a 1" melamine plank and they are on the way. I would like to use them rather than return and re-order shorter ones, after settling for a thinner plank.
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Or you could just glue 1/2" to the back of your melanin to make up the dimension.
In the auto industry we wasted millions of dollars over many decade trying to precision-level everything. Now they just slop it in within an inch and tweak it with a laser level. Maybe in the near future modelers will also quit leveling the world and start lasering the critical elements.
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Or you could just glue 1/2" to the back of your melanin to make up the dimension.
I would only need 1/4 to make up the difference.
Strangely enough, I have been pondering buying a sheet of 1/2" sanded hardwood plywood and cutting two pieces to size and laminating them.
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I will price it both ways. My finished board will measure 20" X 60".
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Hi Dick,
I, too, am setting up a CLC jig. I found a piece of 3/4" shelving board that sighted as straight as I could find. It is 6' long and I am going to cut off a foot leaving it 60". That will be fine for any wing I am building.
BIG Bear
RNMM/AMM
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I used a sheet of 3/4 Plywood cut 16" wide and laminated 3 layers for a work bench top ... this is 2-1/4" tough surface ... I build wings on a granite slab set on top of that because I found a piece of 25" x 66" granite cheap.
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because I found a piece of 25" x 66" granite cheap.
There's often bits and bobs of granite on Craigslist fairly cheap. It's not 4" thick super-flat machinist-quality, but it's probably better than what a lot of folks could come up with otherwise.
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Dick, if you glue two thin pieces together, you must lay them on a flat surface while the glue cures.
The row of kitchen cabinets along the back wall at my place is 3 metres and I couldn't get 32 mm thick benchtop material at the time so we bought two pieces of 16 mm. the cupboard and the two stacks of drawers beside it are actually cupboards and the bench top has a wave in it across the sides of the cabinets.
Also, the pic was taken when I first set it up. It looks a bit different now although I do clear the decks from time to time.
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Tonight I went to Home Depot and bought a 4X8 sheet of 1/2" MDF, which is the stuff they glue melamine on to make shelves. It is smooth and warp free.
I had it cut to provide two pieces 20"X60" which is the size of my bench top. Tomorrow, I will glue and screw them together to make a laminated board 20"X60". I will build this on my bench which has a glass top that has been flattened and leveled as needed by using playing cards. Once the glue is set, I will lay out the grid for the CLC jig components and drill holes for the 6MM threaded inserts that will follow. The jigs will be mounted with M6 machine screws, 25mm long. The threaded holes should never wear out. It is likely that some will never be used, but I can't think of anything more frustrating than to have to drill new jig holes for every new wing or fuselage.
I am excited about this project and plan to take pix and do a small write-up covering the build.
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There's often bits and bobs of granite on Craigslist fairly cheap. It's not 4" thick super-flat machinist-quality, but it's probably better than what a lot of folks could come up with otherwise.
Pool table repair and service places often have slabs of slate that have cracked, and welcome people to haul it off.
Brett
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Or you could just glue 1/2" plywood to the back of your melanin to make up the dimension.
In the auto industry we wasted millions of dollars over many decade trying to precision-level everything. Now they just slop it in within an inch and tweak it with a laser level. Maybe in the near future modelers will also quit leveling the world and start lasering the critical elements.