Peter Miller Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 I use a similar system but don't bother with the soap. Actually never heard of using soap but it would worry me that itmight act as a release agent. The main difference in my method is that I pin everything down without glue, leave to dry. Take the laminations up when dry and apply glue and pin them back down. I also use ali[hatic resin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Posted by Peter Miller on 31/12/2015 11:22:46: I use a similar system but don't bother with the soap. Actually never heard of using soap but it would worry me that itmight act as a release agent. The main difference in my method is that I pin everything down without glue, leave to dry. Take the laminations up when dry and apply glue and pin them back down. I also use ali[hatic resin. To be honest Peter, the person that taught me on lamination many years ago, told me to use soap, and I've used since then. I may try just water next time... BEB, I agree that lamination is a pleasure, especially the result. I apply the same skills to boat modeling, to curve the pine strips to adapt it to the hull. The only issue I have in this case is with sapele wood: I'm building a model of the Santisima Trinidad, and the upper part of the hull is ok, it's just pine, but the lower part is covered on sapele. I have left the strips up to five days in water, and even though the strips always break when I try to pin them to the stern. Finally, I decided to replace the sapele with more pine, and maybe I will cover the bottom half of the hull with cupper sheet. Sorry, a bit out of topic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Anther way of holding the laminations is to make the former narrower and simply use normal clamps. I also have a problem with soaking the wood - we don't have a bath any longer We replaced it with a shower cubicle last year. The old bath is still in the garden, perhaps I could use it there what with all the rain Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levanter Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 I would worry about soap like Peter and I don't like the smell of ammonia. I have never used anything other than hot water and a maximum 2mm laminate. An easy soaking tube can be made from a suitable length of 40mm PVC waste pipe blocked off at one end. Top up with hot water as necessary and about ten minutes required depending on hardness of the balsa. For other harder woods such as spruce around wingtips etc and certainly for boat building a galvanised steel gas pipe can be used. Again closed off at the lower end but this time fitted with a vented cap as the water will be heated to boil with a gas torch or similar and the steam does the work. To prevent the bottom of the planks / strip lying in the water, drop in a stainless steel scouring pad to hold them up. If you get the wood nice and flexible and can work quickly, with everything needed to hand, there is no need to pre-bend and this save a fair bit of time. Using aliphatic means the glue dries along with the wood. A really good effect can be obtain by staining alternate layers before lamination. Laminating does not have to be for just for curves. I use them a lot for making up larger sections from small pieces. If you alternate the grain you get a very stable job with good properties. Of course the obvious one is making your own ply (even from balsa) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Levanter Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Found a photo to illustrate alternating the grain. On the right is a test fitting piece for the plate for the wing bolt on a Super Sytky. Four pieces of 8 x 5mm glued with epoxy. Clean surface with acetone first to remove natural resin from the surfaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Very fine work Levanter 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kc Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 Some really great info on laminating ....... but what's the weight! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted December 31, 2015 Author Share Posted December 31, 2015 Hi Kc, Ill weight it tonight and let you know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanN Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 A great start, watching this build with interest Another +1 for laminating. Light, and very strong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 To say goodbye to 2015, I wanted to finish the tail, so yesterday before getting too drunk, I worked on the stab and elevator, here some pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 The LE unpinned of the jig, and pinned to the plan. I then cut the excess, just before the stab TE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Then I added the TE, the central piece (enlarged from my original, thanks again to PM's advices), and the braces, vertical first and diagonal later on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 For the marginal, initially I though on inserting a solid piece, but then I changed with braces again. In this case, as my intention was to sand the marginal to 1/8, what I did was to cut these braces to length and then cut one end to 1/8 while keeping the other end to 1/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 The braces were then glued to the marginal, using a little piece of 1/16 as gauge to center them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Finally, I added the 1/8 reinforces behind the LE and between the braces, same as I did in the fin/rudder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Then was the turn for the elevator. I started by making the elev joiner, followed by a triangular 1/8 pieces. These pieces would make a sandwich with the elevator joiner, to ensure that both halves are correctly aligned. I also made a cut (1/16) in these pieces to receive the ends of the elevators TE (1/8). The process can be seen in the next photos Edited By AVC on 02/01/2016 01:30:11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Next I made the elev LE, which has a slot to accommodate the joiner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 The assembly sequence is: 1) triangular pieces (lower), 2) elev TE, 3) joiner (epoxied), 4) triangular pieces (upper), 5) LE and 6) braces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVC Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 The vertical braces are slotted so that they embrace the TE when in place (same as I did for the rudder) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.