aircav82

I have heard of scratchbuilders using 1/8 ply mahogney doorskins for building. I have looked around at my local lumber and hardware stores, but have not found any.

Where can I find, and has anyone used it for there projects?

TrueScale

My Feedback: (47)

Well I get mine from Home Depot in the plywood section. If you don't see them just ask someone.

I use them for my plug work as they are kinda heavy for our ac. I have heard of people using them but again I think they are heavy but maybe thats just me

snsmith

My Feedback: (5)

Ick.

Luaun (doorskin) is much more heavy than poplar lite-ply...unless you really don't have to worry about weight or if you are planning on some serious lightening, I wouldn't do it. It also splinters easily and is not finished as smoothly as lite-ply, requiring a lot of sanding to get smooth enough to cover nicely.

I say again, ick.

aircav82

Thanks for the info guys, I think I will stick to lite ply for my projects.

ProfLooney

I use doorskin exclusively for my giant scale warbirds and once the parts are cut there really isnt that much weight difference. the only time i would think about the lite ply which is 40% more expensive is if a person was doing an aerobatic and was obsessed with getting as light as he could.

snsmith

My Feedback: (5)

ProfLooney (good handle, BTW), my experience with doorskins is very poor. They are used on some (all?) Lanier kits and I found them to be quite a bit heavier and wouldn't take glue well at all...the wood seemed semi-oily, probably the nature of the wood and/or processes used in the doorskins.

As an example, I took a full pound out of a fuselage by rebuilding it from scratch with lite-ply compared to the supplied doorskin version, which is a significant percentage of a 10lb plane. The weight penalty of doorskins is more severe than I would attribute to simply being obsessed with being as light as possible.

If I were truly obsessed, I'd make balsa plywood and use that (now *that* costs some money!).

ProfLooney

I dunno all I know is I have been using it on my giant scale warbirds fopr almost 12 yrs wioth no problem. Also as it is a true ply it is structurally stronger so I can cut more of it out to lighten without losing any strength. I am in the middle of building the Ziroli 118" B-25 and have the wing left to frame then will give a weight just framed and try to find someone with one done with lite ply for a comparison. right now it seems the balsa I have in it is heavire than the ply as it takes some major laminating. I dont replace the 1/4 inch and all the other ply but just the 1/8" and on a large model it saves me at least a hundred bucks which I can use elsewhere but everyone has their own preference and experiences. I find that my glues hold better with it as it has a courser texture. I dont use epoxy so I couldnt say on that as I use probond in its place because the probond will wick and expand into the grooves in the doorskin and hold better. as far as CA glue it has always been advised against for ply because it doesnt hold as well to ply so thats my experiences between mine and yours at least people have a couple experiences and can experiment. I for one dont worry about weight until i get close to the 55 lb max as most the warbirds I do weigh and average of 45- 53 lbs as stated on the plans and as long as I am in that range i am happy.


My 2 Cents
Joe

flyingcubby

My Feedback: (35)

As I am known in my part of the woods as being MISTER CHEAP. I go along with ProfLooney. I have used dooskins with out any problems what so ever. I use regular wood glue and it holds solid and tight. There has been times that I have drilled several lightning hole to reduce weight for the fuse but again it will not weaken the structure. I feel in my experiance the for the cost reduction and ability to have so many more toys for the price of light ply, I will stay with the cheap and good door skins...Just my $.02 but I'm happy with what I can do to reduce the cost of giant planes and have the confidence that it will fly and still have fun.