ORIGINAL: buzzard bait

I take balancing seriously and I never use anything but my fingers.

Here's how to do it accurately: cut two thin strips of masking tape, measure where you want the balance point to be on each wing half, and then stick the masking tape to the bottom of the wing at the desired CG with the tapes running spanwise. Then put your fingers on the tapes...you will know instantly if it is tail heavy or nose heavy.

After that initial test, do your maiden flight and then adjust according to how it flies.

Starting very conservatively and adjusting by flight testing alone will work, but why go to all the trouble of getting the plane to balance at a point that is going to be too far forward anyway?

Jim