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General control line discussion => Open Forum => Topic started by: Mike Griffin on February 03, 2013, 10:33:59 AM
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I buy the material for making my cloth hinges from Aircraft Spruce. What I buy is the light weight Dacron. They use this material to cover ultra light aircraft. You buy it by the yard and a yard is a lifetime supply and it does not cost much at all.
The only aggravation that I ran into was that it wants to fray on the edges. What I discovered was that if you dope the material first, when you cut it, it does not fray. The material comes folded so what I do is cut a strip while it is folded about 2" wide. That gives you a good long strip to work with. I then unfold that strip, lay it out flat and dope it with Nitrate dope by brushing the dope on and saturating the cloth and it only takes a few minutes to completely dry. I then lay the strip out and cut the desired length of hinge I want on my cutting mat using a straight edge and store them in a container or apply to the stab or flaps if I am ready to use them. I find that a sharp #11 blade and a straight edge (ruler) is much better than using scissors.
If you use cloth hinges you might already know this but thought I would put it out there for those who maybe did not. Hope this helps
Mike
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Mike, that's a useful tip that is not mentioned in the instructions I received. The instructions appear to favor nitrate, but that could be subject to interpretation. Personally, I think nitrate is stickier and I haven't had trouble with applying butyrate on a nitrate base.
I believe the material is Uncertified Lightweight http://www.ceconite.com/fabrics.htm (http://www.ceconite.com/fabrics.htm), that's based on a comparison of a the ready-made hinge and a factory sample. This material is also sold in rolls of tape of various widths of 1/2" up in increments of 1/2" or so. But, I'm not sure if the tape is supplied in the lightweight grade.
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Thanks Mike, it was a good tip for me!
Doug
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I don't use cloth hinges But I use plenty of fabric for covering. I avoid fabric fray by using cheap hair spray before I cut the cloth. Like I said cheap and real fast. I don't see why it would not work for cloth hinges, just a different application of fabric.
Ken
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Thanks Mike i was unsure wich dacron material to use after your first post this i believe 1.7oz. is what you are using great info for a struggling rookie builder
Ron
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Here is a link to what i am using
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/cs/dacron/peelply3.php
Really light weight
Mike