the Wasp

My Feedback: (1)

guys, I have a Worlds Models P-40 Warhawk,, the plane is rather nice and well made, the engine Cowl is beautiful, but one of the screw holes for the retracts is stripped, I glued better plywood under the Chinese wood and use a blind nut, but the blind nut just turned, so now I just want to drill the hole a bit larger and glue in a dowel,, note that I have a Lathe so I can turn my own dowel to fit as I please,

so my questions are,,
1) do you use Epoxy or CA ?
2) how tight of a fit should I have between the Dowel and Plywood ?

thanks Guys !!

Jim

Hemikiller

My Feedback: (125)

Always used epoxy for dowels in ply, and it'll absorb the shock of landing better than brittle CA.

Leave it a loose but not sloppy, fit, you need room for the epoxy.

j.duncker

My Feedback: (2)

Fuzz up the outside of the dowel too. Give the epoxy something to grip.

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

I agree. Epoxy, not CA. CA does not work well for plywood or hardwood dowels. The fit should be snug, not loose, and do roughen up the surfaces.

Pylonracr

I agree with all of the above. I will add that you should use the slowest curing resin you can get, the resin will have more time to soak deeper into the wood.

the Wasp

My Feedback: (1)

thanks guys,
I have been using Epoxy since the mid 80s for my RC boats, I just never had a need to install dowels.. I never had a problem with Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy, to add the only Epoxy I did have problems with was with 5 minutes Epoxy, it just would not hold things together, I think it was the Hobbico brand,,

this new batch of Devcon 2 Ton Epoxy I have seems to harden a bit faster and it seems to be a bit more resistant to scratches, in other words it seems to be harder,, I contribute this to the fact that it could be because it's a newer/cleaner recipe or a very fresh batch.. over the years I have found that the better you mix Epoxy the faster it drys, and I have always mix it well,, as said I never had a problem with Devcon, it's about all I have ever found up here in Vt,, I have used the Super Glue brand 2 Hour Epoxy, but I'm 100% sure it's Devcon's 2 Ton product, it worked well and it's in the same packaging

Jim

jester_s1

You may already know to do this, but if you are going to put a screw into the wood you should thread the screw in to make threads, then back it out and put a drop of CA into the hole. Let it cure and put the screw back in. The CA will harden the fragile threads in the hole and also cause them to swell, which tightens it up and won't let the screw vibrate loose.

the Wasp

My Feedback: (1)

yes thank you, I do know to do that, but you reminded me to do it LOL

Jim