How to get the plan onto the wood!

[EvilC57]

I find the most accurate way is to trace the individual parts onto A3 tracing paper (stuck together to make bigger sheets if necessary). Then overlay the tracing paper onto the balsa, and prick through the lines with a modelling pin. It's a bit long winded, but it works for me, and it's accurate.

[Richard Acland]

I use the old method of placing the plan on the wood and going over the outline with a pin which then leaves an outline on the wood. Used this method for years maybe I am stuck in the past.

Edited By Richard Acland on 19/12/2019 17:31:05

[EvilC57]

Posted by Richard Acland on 19/12/2019 17:29:37:

I use the old method of placing the plan on the wood and going over the outline with a pin which then leaves an outline on the wood. Used this method for years maybe I am stuck in the past.

Edited By Richard Acland on 19/12/2019 17:31:05

The trouble that way is that you can't see the wood underneath I find. At least with tracing paper, you can accurately align the template with (for instance) the edge of the balsa sheet.

[Peter Miller]

Most fuselages have a straight line along the top of the side.

I lay the plan down over my cork covered building board with carbon paper underneath.

I then slide the sheet under the plan and carbon paper and slide it up against the pins and pin it in place. Then draw round the lines and add former locations.

Once you have done it pull the plan back out and do the second side.

Smaller parts such as formers and ribs are copied and then cut out. I use 3M spraymount which puts a sticky film on the back pf the part. It can now be paid down on the wood and cut out.

[Tim Ballinger]

Personally I photo copy the parts I want on my printer then cut them out and stick to the wood. Then cut or scroll saw round them as appropriate. I do check it is a 1 for 1 copy by placing over the original plan first.

if I have had the full plans copied or enlarged then I get an extra copy and cut that up.

Each to his own !

Tim

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

I've never found any difficulty after raiding the wife's greaseproof [baking] paper so I'm not sure that investing in an alternative medium would be worthwhile. I've also used the Pritt stuck copy method very successfully - damping the paper assists in removing it.

[Broken Prop]

I favour the 'pricking through the paper' method but to speed things up I use a dressmakers wheel.

[Geoff S]

Posted by Tim Ballinger on 19/12/2019 18:28:25:

Personally I photo copy the parts I want on my printer then cut them out and stick to the wood. Then cut or scroll saw round them as appropriate. I do check it is a 1 for 1 copy by placing over the original plan first.

if I have had the full plans copied or enlarged then I get an extra copy and cut that up.

Each to his own !

Tim

It's definitely the easiest way. I get a couple of copies of the plan and ruthlessly cut it to pieces ... in a good cause.

Geoff

[alex nicol]

All of the above methods work well and I guess it's just a matter of what works for you. With a straight edge (2 x 3ft steel rulers), set square, compass/divider I prefer to measure the plan and just transfer sizes from plan to wood.

The other thing I do which saves few pennies is reduce the size of the plan down to a size that'd fit on 4 pages of A4 and scale the sizes up and draw straight onto the wood ( saves the £10.00 for the full size plan) and let's me have a model size I want.

I have Mike Delacole's big easy on the building board just now scaled up from 66" span to 84" to suit an ASP 1.80fs which is in need of a home. Original plan from Outerzone, reduced to around 25%ish and then sizes multiplied by 3.74 gives me the size I'm looking for. The upside is a tree or two saved due to reduced paper usage .............excluding balsa trees that is !!!!!!!

I appreciate it might seem a bit over complicated but it works for me

[Peter Miller]

Posted by alex nicol on 19/12/2019 20:19:30:

The other thing I do which saves few pennies is reduce the size of the plan down to a size that'd fit on 4 pages of A4 and scale the sizes up and draw straight onto the wood ( saves the £10.00 for the full size plan) and let's me have a model size I want.

£10 to get a copy done!!!??? Rip off merchants!!!

My local Office supply shops only charge £3

[alex nicol]

I know what you mean, at least Turpin wore a mask ) Unfortunately that was the going rate from a few places, if you look at the model retailers who supply plans they're well over £10 per plan ( and that's just the .46/.50 size sports models), hence the reduce to 4 A4 pages and do it yourself. Cheap ream of A4 125 plans for a £1 plus ink works out at a few pennies per plan.

That said I'm just about to dip my toe into the world of laser cutting, no paper and hopefully simpler transfer onto wood ............. that's after much gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair going through the CAD/Laser learning curve.

Happy Building

[David Davis]

Me I'm Old School. I use carbon paper.

Ask your mum!

[Cuban8]

Posted by Tim Ballinger on 19/12/2019 18:28:25:

Personally I photo copy the parts I want on my printer then cut them out and stick to the wood. Then cut or scroll saw round them as appropriate. I do check it is a 1 for 1 copy by placing over the original plan first.

if I have had the full plans copied or enlarged then I get an extra copy and cut that up.

Each to his own !

Tim

Having been around this hobby for many, many years and have experimented with all sorts of ways to transfer parts to wood - carbon paper, tracing paper, pin pricking and so on, I have to agree that for most components a domestic printer is the best method for me. Scaling errors have never been a problem but I still check. Bearing in mind a printer & copier combination can be had for under £30, even if you don't have a computer it'll still make a very useful tool. I either cut a copied template from minimum 80 gsm paper and use that directly or prit-stick the print to cornflakes box cardboard for larger parts. Draw round the template or cut directly to the edges, it depends on the bit that's being made, but you can have a complex shape accurately cut out from plan to wood in minutes. I build up a kit of templates that I keep for future use.

Another bonus is making profile gauges/templates for fuselages so that they wind up accurate in cross section as possible when sanding or planing.

 

Edited By Cuban8 on 20/12/2019 09:43:05

[Nigel R]

I do ribs from printed templates. I use DevWing to redraw (if necessary) the wing airfoil complete with sheeting and spars and LE/TE worked out. These take a while to cut and shape but the end result certainly beats the sandwich method.

Most everything else, I just measure and mark the wood before cutting. A 1m metal straight edge works wonders here. Formers are normally rectangles, or maybe have a triangular bit. For everything else there's french curves and sanding blocks.

Fuselage sides / doublers, I peg them together to make sure they are all identical. These are usually just straight lines, barring the wing saddle area, which can be marked/cut using one of the templates from DevWing again.