Preparing Wing Tip For Adjustable Leadouts?

First time installing adjustable leadouts and
my idea is to add silkspan and epoxy to the surface of the tips
so the wires don't rub on the wood. Any other suggestions?
Thanks.

LAST EDITED ON Aug-27-03 AT 10:04 PM (CDT)
 
The dope is a good idea, skip the silkspan...it would probably warp the tip. Eventually, if not right off. Banshee? I took the stock tips, made two more, put a rim of 3/16" around the edge, and slotted this for a Brodak adjustable leadout setup. Steve

Edit: OK, Jaco, you're not the only one that can edit his post. You did write dope, originally, c'mon, admit it! One of the easy ways to eliminate the wear of the leadouts on the balsa is to put the guide closer to the end of the tip. This was easy to do. Adding cap strips to the crumby die-cutting was a hassle. I shoulda chucked out the kit ribs and made some from fresh scratch.

I have cut the tips out to the width of the slot and then put a piece of balsa above and below to complete the tip once again. This leaves a slot in the exact middle of the tip that can be covered naturally. Even with your modification, I would put a balsa "lid" on the top to completely enclose the leadouts. Lining this with 1/64 plywood gives you a hard surface for them to rub against (no epoxy needed) or give it an epoxy surface as you had suggested. (The plywood looks better and lasts better).

You can laminate 1/64" plywood above and below the leadout slot..

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"Beware of any enterprise that requires new clothing." -Henry David Thoreau

Helpful suggestions, thanks.
It's a Brodak Buster.

I use the thin plywood liners. On one, I got cute and split some aluminum tubing into half-rounds that form the ends of the slot. This plane has carved block tips, and it made for a very tidy round-ended slot.

I do have trouble finding enough wood to stick the covering down thoroughly and neatly. Any thoughts on that?

I just did this very modification on the Super Clown. This plane has sheet wingtips with triangle bracing. I converted it to soild wingtips. Center section was 1/4th sheet cut out for the leadouts. The 1/64th ply lining sounds like a good idea. The top and bottom of the tips were from 1/2 inch sheet. This gives a slot about 1/4 inch by 2 inches, lots of room for the leadouts.

I prefer the solid tips for a number of reasons. You can cover them easier with monokote using the heat, stretch and lay down method. When you are cleaning the plane or adjusting things you can put the outboard wing on the ground and the solid wood will not collapse. There is a lot of meat to screw the tip weight retaining fastener into. More durable in case of those harder than desired landings.

Another tip that may save someone some fingertips (sorry.) I was using the Great Planes Power Plane the one with the sroll gear type blade. In my other hand I was holding the loose wingtip until I realized that a slip or unexpected grab could cause some serious hurts. I changed to using some 50 grit paper on a sanding block to carve the tip instead. Much safer. I believe that one of the Highley (sp) books mentioned that for unexperienced, read clumsy woodcarvers real rough sandpaper is better than a knife. I have been known to use a belt sander upside down on the bench with the trigger locked. Can get quite a bit of distance if you forget the grain direction and don't hold the piece tight enough.

John in the PRC

here's one I did