RE: Sig Somethin' Extra Build
Looking good guy , A good flat surface to build on is a must to obtain the perfect straightness we all want, but to be honest a slight bow will not hurt anything. Use a long sanding bar to remove some W/O going thru the wood and cover it. You will be the only one that will know it's there. Looking forward to the finished product.
I always cut the slots before I bevel the edge of the rudder elev ect.
For cutting the hinge slots, I have a hinge slot cutter made by Great Planes that works good in most cases, but after marking the center of the wood and the length I also use a no.11 exacto blade and slowly work it to the depth needed by rocking it to depth, then rock it back and forth pulling it along to lengthen the slot a little bit past whats needed for the hinge, then go back and forth untill the blade will slide easy in the slot.
Turn the kinfe over and do the same the opposite direction. Since your new to this I strongly urge you to wear some leather gloves just in case of a misshap, it is no fun trying to build with a bunch of stitches in one's hand.
Depending on how hard the wood is determines how hard it's going to be to make the slot. Take your time and do a little at a time untill the desired depth is reached.
You will want to bevel the corners of the hinge also to make it so the sharp corner won't try to dig in when installing the hinge. I have tried several of the manual hinge cutting tools and always gone back to the exacto knife. The last thing you want with a CA hinge is for it to fit loose in the slot a snug fit is best for a super strong hinge that won't pull out during flight. Some say to drill a small hole in the center of the slot to allow the glue to wick in better I myself have not found this to be necessary. Hope this helps.