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Destiny


EarlyBird
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Having talked about this for long enough I have made a start. I was going to build off the plan cutting my own parts but Rhapsody and it's elliptical wing, identical to Destiny, has made me pursue the idea of cut parts. To this end I have arranged for SLEC to cut the parts, print the plan and supply all of the wood. I know that cutting your own parts is cheaper but I don't have all the workshop equipment that I see others have, only hand tools and mainly DIY at that.   

 

I just need to place the order clear the backlog of builds then get on with it. ? don't hold your breath waiting for the build to start?

 

Steve

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Good luck Steve. Having witnessed Peter's original model fly, you will love it.

 

One thing though; don't be frightened of plan building. You only need hand tools to cut your own parts. I did it that way for years. I have a scrollsaw which makes ply formers a lot easier, but it's by no means the only way to stroke that particular cat*. For everything else, sharp knives, razor saws and the various sanding and abrasive tools just about covers it. I strip my own wood with the simplest possible tool (a piece of 1/8" ply, with another piece glued to it as a guide, and a scalpel blade poked through at the required width. Cost nothing and works fine!).

 

Don't talk yourself out of it Steve, take the plunge. When you realise how easy it is, you're one step closer to designing your own.

 

Graham

 

*Old phrase updated on strict instructions of my daughter...

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My tools for cutting parts out are as follows.

 

Carbon paper for transferring large parts from plan to wood.

Spray mount for sticking smaller parts to wood.

Scalpel for cutting sheet.

Scroll saw for cutting thicker balsa and ply wood. A fret saw will do but takes a lot longer

That takes care of all cutting out.

Having looked at the price of pre-cut parts from some places (£60 for a Mini Super parts only) you could buy a reasonable scroll saw and cut your own parts out.

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One more thing whilst we are talking about building from scratch - cutting ribs is easily done for parallel chord wings ( like the Minimax?) by using a 1/32 ply template with 2 drawing pins just protruding a fraction with a bit of wood glued on as a handle.  The drawing pins grip the balsa enough.  Just hold the scalpel truly vertical and run it round the template.  Then cut or just mark  the spar slots.  Simple and much easier than sanding a pack of blanks.

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49 minutes ago, Graham Davies 3 said:

I think the build experience you already have (more than many!), as long as you don't go straight for a large scale model, any plan build is well within your skills.

 

All have their unique challenges, but that's where the fun starts!

As it happens I got to thinking and remembered when I was a school boy building control line combat wings. I was building from a plan cutting out the parts with a craft knife and the ply with a junior hacksaw. I just forgot, it is 55 years ago. I guess it's like riding a bike. Nice of you to say about my skills and again this goes back to my school days and woodwork class when I liked using a plane but my favourite was the spoke shave, loved it happy days. I wanted to be a cabinet maker but that was not to be as I gained too many 'O' levels and was pushed into higher education. Instead of making cabinets I ended up helping build Cross Rail for example.

 

Steve

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18 minutes ago, kc said:

One more thing whilst we are talking about building from scratch - cutting ribs is easily done for parallel chord wings ( like the Minimax?) by using a 1/32 ply template with 2 drawing pins just protruding a fraction with a bit of wood glued on as a handle.  The drawing pins grip the balsa enough.  Just hold the scalpel truly vertical and run it round the template.  Then cut or just mark  the spar slots.  Simple and much easier than sanding a pack of blanks.

Thanks KC that's exactly what I will do as I don't like sanding. ?

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I don't like the dust from sanding either.   But I find that a Permagrit sander makes less dust or perhaps it takes off bigger particles which don't make so much mess.  Whatever it's cleaner to use indoors and worth the high cost.  Just the Permagrit wedge block is all you need - just a few strokes takes off a lot of wood.   It's probably the vigorous sanding with glasspaper which throws the dust around, while just a gentle action with Permagrit or the old Sandvik ones makes less mess.    Very good for ply too and therefore reduces ply formers to exact size in moments.   Working outdoors on a windy day is best!

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The aeromodelling equivalent of the spokeshave is the razor plane!   ( but you have one hand free hence the chance of drawing blood is much greater! )   I suppose a really sharp and fine set spokeshave could work on balsa if clamped........

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