Need helping setting up a building table

It's been a while, so I could use some suggestions. Brodak calls for a hunk of glass with dry wall on top. Is this a resonible approach? I'm not looking to create a masterpiece by any means, but I want to do as well as I might. I've only built 5 "real" airplanes and that was a while ago. A couple of RMs, a Twister, a foam wing profile and a Fancy Pants from Brodak.

Also, any advice on critical tools to have at hand? I know I'll need good epoxy and CS, and sharp blades. Do I need a drill press thingy for my dremel?

I'm looking to build an Oriental (full fuse) from a Brodak kit.

Sorry for the deluge of questions but this seems to be the source.

I can only say that one of the finest Scale builders on the planet (Dave Platt) builds all his masterpieces on plate glass. It needs to be thick too- which means HEAVY.
Buy yourself a decent drillpress and save the Dremel for other work.

You can get a really nice drill press from Harbor Freight for about $40.00, just right for the kind of work we do. I used a Dremel drill press for a while but found it very flexible and hard to drill a straight hole with.

Do you have a link as to where to find that press?

Harbor Freight:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=42307

Is that a sw a press or both????

For first and current table I went to a second hand building supply store and bought a door. I did look at the sheet rock but opted for a 2'x4' ceiling tile to build on (almost self-healing, not kid proof though). The on cavet to that is that I haven't built a full fuse plane yet, all of my experiance has been with profiles. Buy the real drill press, you will find that there are numerous other things that you'll use it for besides modeling.

I built my first kit three years ago with nothing more than CA, #11 Exacto knife, Epoxy, a wood door, Monokote sealing iron, sand paper and a good straight edge. Oh yeah and a regular drill with no press. I've been buying stuff here and there so the better half doesn't realize how much I've actually been spending . And I ALWAYS justify it with some other project that she wants me to do.

Good luck with the build.

A great way (starting from scratch) to do a bench is to start with a used, cheap (auction, maybe?) steel desk. Stable and doesn't warp. Top with a solid core door. Damaged ones are cheap at the lumber yard and last for years. Top with the glass. The glass guys I know say to get tempered, not plate, glass. The plate can shatter. I've seen glass tops approaching one inch in thickness. You can do the sheetrock, or I've spot glued jig blocks directly to the glass with CA. Be sure to get a wide scraper to get the glue dots off before starting something new. There are lots of ways to skin this cat.

All of the above suggestions are fine. As you go along, you'll find that the more accurate you want to be, the better tools you have to have. I've accumulated stuff a little at a time and each plane gets better as I improve the quality of my tools (and gain experience, of course). Started out with a metal desk as suggested. I've since built several benches with heavy tops, sheet glass (1/2" thick) and recently aquired a chunk of 2" thick, laser cut stone for a benchtop (never mind how I got that sucker up a flight of stairs an into the shop). I also built a sanding table with vacuum attached (very cool). I started off with a cheap Alltrade drill press. It worked OK for most stuff, but have since traded up to a higher end Delta DP. Also picked up a nice Delta bandsaw and jigsaw, a mill and am currently lusting over a lathe. Of course now, I don't know how I got along without these. But you do and build nice planes anyway.

It's just easier with the right tools.

Hello Tom,

Randy is right about the tool situation..the more good tools you have the easier the building process..The one tool or tools that I find indespensable are good steel straight edges or "rulers". I have many from 6" pocket scales up to four feet stainless..almost every time I step into my shop to build I use one or more...they are very useful tools.

Tools are tools and hand tools do most of our work, power tools make it easier and (sometimes) more accurate.

What you need most of all, especially as you are building from a kit, is a nice, flat surface upon which to build.

While I have a decent shop in size, it is also quite multi-purpose. (At present, model stuff has been shoved aside so I can get tomato plants transplanted into larger containers, for example.) So I have a bench or two, but neither of them are flat and I have no intention of creating a dedicated building surface which stays flat throughout the year.

So each time I get ready to build a new model it is off to a local hardware store for an 8-foot chunk of that shelving material which is laminated both sides and one edge with a white plastic. (Someone who remembers the name of this product please chime in.)

It gets cut to six feet, the cut-off serving as a building board for smaller parts such as elevators, stabilizers, etc. The big piece is laid on my (solid, even if not flat) bench and then is shimmed with playing cards until it really is flat.

To check alignment, grab a single piece of 1/8" balsa. Break into five pieces about 1" square. Use thin CA to glue one piece at each corner of building board. Stretch thread in an "X" pattern between far left and near right balsa pad, far right and near left pad. Glue in place.

Using the 5th piece, slide it around under the thread. High and low spots will be obvious. Shim with playing cards to eliminate.

Can't stick pins into this stuff, but I don't build that way, haven't for many years. But you can glue all kinds of supports and alignment devices in place (think of the jig pieces from Tom Morris, what I do is similar.)

When done, the board is generally ruined. They are cheap, throw it away.

The plastic is Melamine. The core is probably OSB, chip board, or HDF (High Density Formica?). Steve

>The plastic is Melamine. The core is probably OSB, chip
>board, or HDF (High Density Formica?). Steve
>
>http://www.nwskyraiders.com/index.html

Steve,

"High Density Formica." That's very funny.

>>To check alignment, grab a single piece of 1/8" balsa. Break into five pieces about 1" square. Use thin CA to glue one piece at each corner of building board. Stretch thread in an "X" pattern between far left and near right balsa pad, far right and near left pad. Glue in place...Using the 5th piece, slide it around under the thread. High and low spots will be obvious. Shim with playing cards to eliminate.<<

I do much the same thing with my wing jig. Except I use a laser level. It's just less effort, not more effective. With the new table, I probably won't need to, but will likely check it anyway.

The accumulation of hand tools is an ongoing process. I get a lot of trick tools from Lee Valley Tool. But the stuff I use the most are:

X-acto knives with No.11 blades (though the scalpel idea appeals to me)
A razor plane (about wore the one I have out)
Straight edges as noted (I have a rather large selection)
Permagrit sanding sticks (again, a large selection)
Many, many, many sanding blocks (I don't sand much of anything without a block)
And a rotary grinder.

I use the other stuff a lot too. The bandsaw gets the most work and I have a selection of blades. The mill gets a lot of work too but that's mostly because I make a lot of my own parts that most guys buy. Like line sliders. It's easier to do things like lightening motor mounts and such with the mill. I also use it for precision drilling so the DP doesn't get as much work as it used to.

The building surfaces and hand tools make the difference between a light, straight plane and a not so sterling effort though.

For years I used a solid core door for building on. This was topped with 3/8" cork to pin to. It worked reasonably well. Recently I was advised by Warren Walker to use glass to build on. He hooked me up with a 3/8"x24"x72" slab. It works but it makes you develope new innovations in building. Warren also just built me a new table to rest this glass on. It is great! It is good to have friends that have sheet metal shops as their proffession. With the adjustable feet it was easy getting it level. I just bought a Dremmel scroll saw that I think will put a end to my band saw. Never was very happy with it anyway.

Ah..... Grasshoppa..... As mentioned, a solid core door, a sheet of 3/8th glass, and a solid table to rest it on. A freight damaged door is ok as long as it is still "flat" on one side, and check at a glass place that cuts coffee table tops, etc. for your "plate". I got a 3/8th" glass sheet 36" X 65" already edge rounded for "Cheap" due to the customer never picking it up.
A "home" duty drill press does fine, and a scroll saw is a good purchase down the road. (probably not necessary for kit building, but you will be scratch building before too long)
Good knives, and you can make all the sanding blocks you will ever need! I use double sided (2" golf grip) tape, or sticky back sandpaper, to attach to "custom" sanding blocks I make.
Call me.
Build away!
Bill <><