One of my future projects calls for the built up wing to be sheeted in 1/16 balsa. What precautions should I take in doing this ? Should I buy wing skins, or 3 or 4" and join them myself ? Is ambroid or sigment prefered or Sig bond glues ? Do you join the panels on the center line of the wing or angled ? I just want to obtain all the info I can before I get into this, so all help is appreciated.  Thanks

I do them just like a foam wing.  Make up the skins, then orientate the grain to the sweep of the LE.  I user combinations of 3" and 4", usually, and glue them together with CA from "the inside" while they are taped together and on waxed paper.  Then I throughly sand them on both sides.

Bill <><

I am lazy and simply call Lone Star for the wide wing skins. 

The edge gluing is done and they are sanded and ready to go. Orient them with the LE sweep and trim at the TE.

Ron

Doc,

I do a variant on your technique. I use Elmer's Yellow Carpenters' instead. It's an aliphatic resin glue.

That type of glue cures over several days to waterproof final strength, or as soon as you hear the sizzle from pressing heat through the sheeting with a MonoKote iron.

Also, I run a thin line of the glue on the structure to be sheeted, wipe off most of it, align the sheeting on the wetted pieces and press just enough to mark the glue side where the structure is.

The another thin line of aliphatic on the sheeting, mostly wiped off, to fill any voids or gaps where it was marked. Let dry to the touch before ironing over it. You can still move it around a bit until you apply heat, then it goes off like a contact cement. Contact cements don't allow movement when they touch; aliphatic resin glues do, until heat cures the two preglued pieces together.

I like it for the strength, speed and light weight - you wipe off almost all the glue, except what soaked into the balsa, before you join the pieces.

Thanks to everyone I'm picking up a lot of great info keep it up.