dale691

Hi all, Just thought I'd open a thread for all the guys looking into getting into kit building, What do you consider to be the most important piece of equipment or tool that you use?

Also for my benefit what is the best way to bevel the LE of ailerons and the like?

cheers

DavidAgar

My Feedback: (108)

As for kit building, the list of most important tools is quite long. Razor blades, sand paper, saws, rulers, squares, the list is endless. As for your aileron question, I use a bar sander. Good Luck, Dave

SPLIT S

I like my Master razor plane and the Great Planes bar sanders for all kinds of shaping and sanding. My Zona razor saw sees quite a bit a use as well. A thin 6" machinist's rule and a couple of longer aluminum rules come in quite handy along with what Dave posted, the list is almost endless.

Dan

Campgems

To Dave's list, add clamps of several different sizes and types, the old stand by, the Xacto knife, a can each of Acitone and Acohol for clean up and a roll of paper towels. Wax paper or better yet on your second plane the backing off the Monokote or like sheet plastic, IE painters cloths. Little drills, taps, wire cutters, pliers for bending wire. A set of rullers and tape measures. A cheep digital caliper. A couple straight edges of at least 36" length, the local hardware store will have cheep door transoms, but make sure they are straight, and drill out the counter sunk holes as they are pressed in and there is a lot of flashing to screw up your wood or covering.

The cleanest way to 45 the LE of ailerons is to glue a tri stock to the front. You may need to change the stock LE stock width to accomidate it, but it gives you a perfect 45 angle. I just used this method for the first time a couple weeks back. I'll never sand in the 45 again, unless it is 1/16" stock.

I'm kind of spoiled in that I was first a machine repair machinest, the Large computer repair, and then a Jeweler. The combo of tools can't be beat. Add in a small and a large drill press, a lathe, a small mill, a band saw, a scroll saw, a sanding disk/belt, a tool grinder, and I'm sure I'm missing something. I've built up this collection over the last 55 years and there is still stuff I slober over whishing I had one. Strangely, one thing I don't have that I really miss at times is a bench vise. Actually I have a couple, but in the nine years at this house, I haven't got around to mounting one yet. I have always found another way to do what I needed, so it's one of those kick it down the road projects. Without my colection of tools and machines though it would near top of the list.

Don

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

First question: Razor Blades, Sandpaper, Razor Saw, Drill Bits, Sanding Block, Standard Hand Tools.

As for sanding a bevel, I start by laying the control surface flat on my bench. Lay a straight-sided pen on the bench as well. The ball-point of the pen should come close to the center of the hinge line, but you don't want it to be perfect - add a sheet of balsa under it if it is not close to center. It doesn't matter if the pen is higher or lower than the center, as long as it's close.

Now, keeping both the pen and the control surface flat against the bench top, draw a line on the face of the control surface.

Flip the control surface over onto its other side and repeat the process. This will give you two lines which are close to center.

Now bring the control surface to the edge of your bench, hold your sanding block at aproximately a 45 degree angle, and snad until you reach the top line.

Flip the control surface over and repeat.

dhal22

great method!! thx.

david

daveopam

My Feedback: (9)

I think a good flat building surface is the most important thing.
Balsa dust gives my sinuses fits. So I bevel like this. I mark a center line with a pen like Minn does. Then with a straight edge I mark another line 1/8" back from the LE on each side of the stock. (If you want more bevel you can do 1/4" back or whatever you need) Then with a razor plane I plane down each side to the line I drew. Then a little sanding with a T bar evens it all up. This is much faster and cleaner then sanding it all the way down. I have glued tri stock to the LE like someone else mentioned. This works fine just be careful not to get the hard tri stock. It makes it difficult to hinge.

David

outdoorhunting

The fridge for the beer !!!!!

fredsedno

Forming the leading edge:
I cheat. I glue a triangle strip of balsa to the flat "leading edge". Perfect 45 degree angles,dead central,use aliphatic glue[bond tite].
Takes about 30 seconds,haven't had one fail yet.
fredsedno

squeakalong

My Feedback: (8)

The TWO most important "tools" you can bring to the build are Patience and Perseverance. Along with the above mentioned hand tools you, then, will do well.

Soft landings.

dale691

I agree, I think the next thing should be a fridge!!!!

Nice

dbacque

My Feedback: (3)

The most important tool is an X-acto knife with lots of fresh #11 blades. Don't buy a 5 pack or even an 11 pack, spring for a box of 100 blades and toss them frequently.

The next most important tool on my bench is the one that does a perfect job of beveling aileron stock. The Master Airscrew Razor Plane. Mark a center line on the stock. Hold the razor plane at the desired bevel angle and make full length passes. Count the strokes and stop short, do the same number on the other side. Now touch up as needed. It can't be beat.

Dave

Live Wire

Good old #11, razor plane, straight edge and 2'x4' 1/2" dry wall and a stip cuter. I build when and where I feel like it .
On the stalk I bevel on side an just have to cut one edge.
Larry

*JCB*

My Feedback: (9)

One tool that I thought wouldn't be necessary was a drill press...then I bought one and now i couldn't live without it! You can even chuck sanding drums and it doubles as a drum sander! [&:]

bullseye000

Best way I have found to bevel leading edges. At the bottom of this [link=http://www.airfieldmodels.com/information_source/model_building_tools/sanding_blocks.htm]Airfield Models[/link]page a purpose built sanding tool. I use it on balsa and foam. It's fast an accurate.

Russ Butchart

My Feedback: (2)

Your question was singular so I would say that the most important tool is the sandpaper regardless of what form it takes. When I was a little kid building .10c comet kits I was taught to sand, sand until it was smooth and then it would be light and fly well.

horace315

My Feedback: (15)

i would have to say for building the one tool i use more than anything else would be my xacto knife set,then id say straight edge.there are too many important tools i use to say that there would be only one though.i have one of those rubber half round sanding blocks with the teeth built into it to hold the paper that i use a lot.

abufletcher

I'm shocked that no one has yet mentioned the Dremel tool. I got halfway through my first (scale) build before I bought one (about $60) and I can't imagine life without one. While it probably isn't necessary for a small, simple build, for anything more elaborate, you'll be using every single day. Beyond that, as others have said, the most used tools are an exacto knife (#11 blade) and sanding bars.

Campgems

A couple other tools I picked up over time was some stones. An Arkansas stone and an Indian stone. I keep two of the small ones on the bench and before each cut sesion with the Xacto knive, I give the blade a couple swipes. I use one or less blades per model I build. If I happen to break the tip off one, I grind the back on my tool gringer so the tip is sharp again. No need to throw them away, just dress them frequently and they will serve you well.

However, for covering work, after it has been ironed on, nothing beats a fresh razor blade. I guess that if you honed and stropped a #11, it would be OK, but a fresh razor blade is the only way to go for trimming covering. One of the guys in our club is a master at building models and he refuses to use single edge blades as they are "to thick". I have to many memories as a kid trying to cut the 10 cents commet kits with a double edge blade and how the LePages stung in the cuts. A single edge works fine for me.

Don

saramos

I would say that the single most important piece of equipment for kit building is access to the RCU forums. The quality of craftsmanship and level of enjoyment you can achieve using this tool could only be surpassed by having a master builder at your side.

Another good tool is www.airfieldmodels.com

As for tools in the more traditional sense, as stated before, the list is long. I've acquired a large selection of tools. Number one most used is the #11 xacto knife, but there are many others that are indispensable, such as sand paper and sanding blocks, straight edges and rulers, clamps, a good buildboard, and adequate lighting. Then there are tools that are specialized such as covering irons, heat guns, and soldering irons. There are tools that you can build without, but once you have them, you wouldn't want to do without, such as a dremel tool and a good selection of bits, drill press, band saw, a precision miter saw and miter sander and so forth. Finding and acquiring tools useful in model building can become a hobby all to itself. I think that if I were to add up all I've spent on tools, I would even be surprised. My biggest tool purchase to date is a lathe/mill, at about $500 (not counting what I've spent on mill ends, lathe bits, clamping and other accessories). Not normally thought of as a tool, is the workshop you set up for building too.

Scott

dale691

Thanks everyone for contributing, I am getting into kit building after a long time of putting ARF planes together, so this thread was mainly for a bit of interest and to see if anyone had tools that I hadn't heard of. My latest buy has been 2 bar sanders from great planes and a robart hinge point drill jig. My new favourite tool in the work shop is the bar sanders, and for under 10 bucks I don't know why I didn't have one years ago!

bps

My Feedback: (3)

Hands down the x-acto, sanding block, building table, pins. This is all I had as a poor kid growing up in central Indiana. I have all the toys now including a 24x36 laser! I still use my x-acto more than any other tool I own. Welcome to the few who still build.

Alex7403

clamps, small, big and a lot of them.
Also tweezers, GP hinge machine, hand drill bits and sanding files.

NM2K

My Feedback: (14)

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The "best" way to bevel the leading edges of control surfaces is with a small table saw and I mean small.

The second best and nearly as perfect, is to get some aluminum angle stock and glue some good quality 100 grit sandpaper onto it (contact cement is good, but so is CA). Then mark off your angles on the ends of the control surface stock and use a ruler and pencil to draw across the top, bottom and center of the stock. After that, you simply sand away the material that is not a beveled control surface. Just take your time and you'll be fine.

A good building surface is probably the most important tool for successfully and enjoyably building models. Good does not mean huge, or elaborate. Just something that is at a comfortable height with good lighting and, if you can arrange it, a surface that is flat and which accepts building pins easily. I've built on glass panels before using masking tape to hold down sacrificial wood pieces upon which pins were driven into in order to support wing and fuselage components. There are many, many ways to have a good building table. I do not snear at any of them and I've probably used all of them in the last fifty years.

Good luck. You'll have a ball.


Ed Cregger

outdoorhunting

Oh,yea, airtight container for pretzels !!