I have just finished fixing a problem with my H9 funtanaS hings by making it double beveled (thanks rcuniverse member's advise).
During this process i have exposed the hings a bit from which i have found the following :
1) the hing line was fully covered with CA glue even though i marked the hing center line with crayon and predilled a small hole at the center of each hing.
2) the whole area surrounding the hing was showing signs of glue. some sticked to the cover and even some penetrated the wood making it quite brittle.
3) it's seem to me that the hings lost some of their flexibility due the ca coat especially on those 3D rates

i have to admit. this the first time i'm installing ca hings (working according to the rcuniverse article)
it seems to me the eventually sooner then later those hings are going to fail what do you think ?

Once you use "pinned" hinges, you will never go back to CA. There is zero resistance therefore more torque from the servo goes into moving the surfaces instead of fighting the solid plastic hinge. Installed with epoxy and there is time to re-position and clean up any mess. They leave a nice hinge line too. Joe

I have had C/A hinges come apart.
I saved the plane but it is a scary situation.

I have found that Radio south CA hinges hold up really well.Of course I only use these on 40 size planes anything larger and its pinned or robart type.

I have lost a CA hinge in almost every 3D airplane in which I placed them. They just do not tolerate the extreme flexing of that kind of throw. They did well in smaller airplanes with 15-20 degrees throw one-way, but beyond that, pinned hinges all the way. I use the Tetra hinge slotting guide, strong, one piece hinging forks, and the wide, x-acto flat blade for cutting away the middle material and cutting the pin recess. Hinging is part art, part science, and done well should last the airplane's life. I stopped using CA hinges as I got tired of cutting off control surfaces to replace fractured hinges. For me, they still have uses, but not on airplanes with 3D throws or larger than a .40 size or perhaps a gentle flying trainer to .60 size.

Mark

I found a use for CA hinges. I use them to push epoxy into the slot for pinned hinge installation. Joe

No offense guys..........BUT, he asked for help with a problem and all he gets is negative crap about what he has done. Did that help him at all?

1) It sound like you might have used to much glue.It should be OK with time. You could also scrape a little of it off with a razor.
On your next plane let gravity help you. Like on the wing stand it up on it's leading edge when you drip toward the wing. Then
flip it over when you drip toward the AILE.

2) Once again you might have used to much glue. I assume you are using thin not med CA.

3) This is normal they should break in. I learned on RCU to use a Crayon to mark both sides of the hinge line before instalation.
The Crayon wax will keep the CA from soaking the center area.

Please excuse my ignorence of Italy. Do you know what a Crayon is?

David

Negative crap? I must apologise for not including some manifestation of divine truth in supplying simple common sense answers as to scraping glue and working hinges untill they break in. As far as crayons go (which he did state was part of his procedure) is hard to believe that, yes, their circulation, believe it or not , have reached countries as far away as Italy. Joe

Don't be so f***ing sensative Joe.

And answer the question. Did you help him with his problem?

David

David, Sorry to misslead you as to my sensitivity. The beauty of the forums is that it has many experienced modelers like yourself and their willingness to help. Unfortunatly the situation with his plane is after the fact. So without appearing to assume on my part that the guy is totally inept, I did not feel that offering simple, common sense solutions were in order. There are two choices. Clean it up as best he can and work the hinges to break them in, or cut them out and start over, that is where pinned hinges come in. Yes, I do believe that was helpfull. Joe

Joe, Sorry for the knee jerk reaction. But IMHO the first five post offered no help. And I kind of figured they had Crayons in Italy. I just did not know what they were called. Ask for a fag when in London. It wont be the same thing you get in the states.

David

David, there is no apology needed. I know what you mean about the language barrier. I didn't pick up on the origin of the post untill you pointed it out. There is another appealing aspect of the forums, sometimes it gets the juices flowing. Good flying, Joe

Which hinges do you guys recommend for .40-.60 sized 3D planes? I dont want to use CA hinges.

Thanks

To clarify this thread of diverse bickering, I shall clarify my statements and give assistance and offer a solution to the orignal posters problems.

First of all, he did ask opinions and experiences with CA hinges. Having built a few (90-100) airplanes and having used CA hinges with various methods, grease pencils, crayons, different brands of CA, different spacings from tight to pin-width loose, it is my experience that, especially in 3D applications, CA hinges will not perform the job adequately or for very long before they crack.

OK, solution for CA hinges.

1. Cut away your control surfaces.

2. Using a new x-acto or surgical scalpel blade remove the CA hinges.

3. Recut your slots for a flat bladed, nylon, pinned hinges (Dubro, MPJet, Great Planes make good hinges)

4. Mix up enough 30 minute or longer set time epoxy and use a little bit, perhaps 10% by volume) microballoons, slide in your hinges and allow to dry.

5. Seal your control surfaces with covering material (or tape, or silicone) to account for the gap of the pin if you did not recess the slots for the pins.

6. Adjust your linkages for centering the control surfaces.

7. Go fly without worrying about whether or not your hinges will break with 3D throw.

End of solution.

Regards,
Mark

I use hobby lobby bulk c.a. hinges in everything except g-62 stuff. had a few sig e-z hinges crack over time, and never liked the cut it yourself thick g.p. ones. Hobby lobby hinges are thinner, and laminated with a papery layer instead of the fiber stuff. I have been using those exclusively for over 3 years now (just bought another 800- I build a lot for people) and have not had one for sale. they are in my 3d bipe, omp edge- it is over a year old and been ABUSED!- my phaeton 90 w/ 31cc ryobi, my g.p. giles w/ saito 100, my 120 mph 1/2a w/ a 25 stuffed in it- I only use 3 hinges cut in half on the ailerons on those- a profile g.b.,and who remembers all the rest over the past 3 years. NEVER had any problem with those hobby lobby ones. had a g.p. decathlon, and slotted the struts where they joined and used a hinge for a joining "biscuit", and that worked well also.

as for me, I abhor pinned hinges. I don't like the way they look, kinda sloppy; or maybe it's my installation? speaking of that, I think installing them SUCKS! have used robart hinge points on my big stuff, they work well for me, and if recessed a little they will have an acceptable hinge gap. I use monokote continuous hinges on my 15 and smaller stuff.

http://www.hobby-lobby.com/bulkthree.htm is the page with the hinges, 4.30 per hundred. they don't look as pictured, though; now they have rounded corners, which insert better.

here is my 3d bipe, full fused sig ultimate. about 80 flights, plenty 3d time, got 45' elevator throw. all hobby lobby hinges.


by the way, I don't use crayons or anything, just slot and c.a.; I use only bob smith c.a.

Hi Wild Fred,
In regards to "sloppy hinges", it is not nearly as easy but extraordinary results can be obtained with pinned hinges. The right tools, the right methods, and the time are the big factors. Cutting slots for CA hinges and then gluing all together takes an hour or so for a 2 meter F3A type airplane. Flat-bladed, pinned hinges, done for professional results, takes closer to a full day in working time and must be done in steps. First making the slots, cutting out the middle, then cutting neat and clean recesses takes a couple of hours alone. After covering the airplane, it takes more time to grease the pin, time to get the glue into the slots (not too little, not too much). Depending on what epoxy or glue you are using you may be able to glue only one surface at a time or even only hinge first the control and then attach it after the glue dries.

These are issues that prompted me to use CA hinges, but after the time invested in repairing split CA hinges of all different brands, I decided that the time necessary to install pinned hinges nicely was worth the additional hours. I still have a DP Ultimate waiting to have the hinges changed after the hinges cracked. The change will take more time than if I had simply installed my favorite pinned hinges to begin with.

Last year, I wrote an article on how to build an F3A airplane in the Pattern Forum entitled "ZNLine Factory: Enigma Building". If you look through that article you will find quite a few posts on how we hinge our models using pinned hinges (photos are done in quite good detail). I feel as though our methods provide the best, cleanest results possible for the type of construction and are applicable to almost all conventionally attached control types. I would be honored if you would search that article and take a look at the hinging work. I did not take any finished photos but the results are perfectly clean, no glue seepage, or fogging of the covering near the hinge locations.

On another subject, very small airplanes with tiny and thin control surfaces do not benefit from pinned type hinges and require other techniques to adequately attach the controls. Continuous monokote hinges or CA hinge slivers do work well in those types of installations. Of course, little airplanes are their own specialty.

Mark

Here is the link to the article with the hinging details. Hinging starts on page 5, post 134 or 135.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_53...factory/tm.htm

With ARFs, modifications of the process are obviously necessary, but the hinge locations are already defined so only enlgarding them and cutting recesses is necessary.

One reason Iv'e used CA until now is that I read about too many negative aspects of installation. I found the pinned hinges went reletivly well with an assembly plan. After preping the slots which was about the same as for CA. Trim mono, drill center, etc. Mix enough epoxy as suits your working speed. Installed all flying surface divided by four surfaces at a time. (left wing panel, right then elv.) Then followed same for control surfaces. at fifteen minutes per section it took two hours with another half hour for rudder. With epoxy there is plenty of tome to reposition and clean up as necessary. The results were flawless. No resistance and a nice hinge line. As far as the free swing of the hinge it translates as more servo torque to the control surface and less fighting a solid piece of plastic. Also it offerd a nice even hinge line. Joe