OK, I admit it, I can't think of anything better to do. I have put together maybe 15-20 Arf's. Mostly mid to 1/4 scale planes. The big ones are the problem. Glueing the wing halves together is always a HUGE MESS, epoxy everywhere and on everything. There has to be a better way. I wonder just how much epoxy you really need. I am always afraid if I do not slop it on thick everywhere I will miss a spot or have a weak bond. Do any of you just brush on enough to wet the surface? I swear I am going to try this on my next plane. Comments, help? thanks, steve

Why not move to a plane with a 2 piece wing and aluminum tube spar? No glue involved, easier to transport, you can put the wings in wing bags to minimize habgar rash. There are quite a few planes with this design now, more every day.

TF

Here is what has worked for me.

First go to Home Depot or wherever and buy a gallon of denatured alcohol and some rolls of those tough blue paper shop towels. Wet the towels with the alcohol and use them to clean up the epoxy as best you can after you join the wings, this will be sloppy and nasty no matter what but try your best to keep up with it.

Use the plastic bags the wings come packed in as a protective cover when epoxying the wing. Just slide them down over the wing halves and secure them with masking tape leaving only a few inches exposed in the roots so you can later clean up the epoxy ooze. This way any epoxy on your fingers wont dirty the whole wing.

Then after glueing and cleanup I like to set the wing vertical, allowing the epoxy to set. There will usually still be some spots of epoxy on the covering so I get it off by rubbing with the alcohol soaked towels, this works well because even set epoxy barely sticks to monokote.

And finally as you are gluing the wing and the epoxy is oozing take a second here and there to clean your hands with the alcohol, this will make it easier to work as your hands wont be sticky.

Hope thet helps!

When glueing the wing halves together, what you should be looking for is maximum surface contact between the root ribs. I know this suggestion will elicit many flamers, but epoxy isn't needed on the root rib joints. Aliphatic wood glue, or white glue, either one, will make a strong joint, and is both easier to work with and clean up than epoxy. The aliphatic and white glues will "wick" into the root ribs, and create a bond which will survive structural failure of the wood, be it balsa or ply. Clean the root ribs with the denatured alcohol, already suggested, and allow to dry. The key to a good joint is ensuring the root ribs are in full contact with each other. For the skeptics, I didn't know epoxy was supposed to be used for anything other than firewalls for the first 10 to 15 years I was in this hobby/sport. Never had a wing failure due to adhesive failure. Had several spars snap before I started using celastic on the center joint, though. I always did post-mortems on my piles of toothpicks, and none of my glue joints ever failed. The wood was always the part that failed.

Sure wish they still manufactured and sold celastic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't been building for very long, but I always used tape.

I would put a healthy layer of epoxy on both sides of the wing. Join the two wing halfs. Put some 3M clear tape around the wing joint kinda like I'm taping the wing together. I usually let the exopy set up for a 30 minutes to an hour then I remove the tape clean up any residue with denatured alcohal and let it competely cure.

raistlin12,

Of all the above comments, yours seems the best alternative to the epoxy mess thing other than the "plastic bags and don't worry about it" method. Question, do you use the white glue for the entire glue job; or use epoxy on the wing joiner and white glue on the end ribs? thanks.

steve

I use a combination of several of the tips already given. I use epoxy with plastic bags on the wings taped into position, but I also use non-sterile latex exam gloves. They are perfect for this application as I can get as messy as needed while fully coating the wing and cleaning up. If I get too much epoxy on the gloves, I simply pull em off and put on another pair. Once clean to my satisfaction, I tape over the joint and wait about 30 min. Then I come and do the light cleanup work that is under the tape using denatured alcohol.

Whenever I do any glueing, I use the latex gloves, be it epoxy, CA, aliphatic, etc. I never have to worry about glue on the hands again.

I usually just "elmer" everything, then epoxy what needs to be fuelproofed. I've made more than my share of toothpicks (didn't have many instructors in the early 60's, and it wasn't "macho" to ask for help), but only had a couple of glue joints fail. Determined the reason was that the mating surfaces hadn't absorbed the glue, due to poor fit (my fault, not the glue or the kit). The reason I don't bother with epoxy when joining wings is the large surface area of the root ribs. The balsa and/or ply will break long before the glue gives way on a large surface glue joint, like that. Same goes for spars. If the wood mates properly, the glue will "wick" into it, and the resulting joint will be stronger than the surrounding wood.

I don't use CA because I'm allergic to it, but it would wick into the wood, as well. I like "Elmer" because I can adjust any alignment errors my bifocals hid from me, before the glue sets. CA wouldn't allow me the same leeway, unless I used the medium or thick versions, then the whole purpose behind using CA would be defeated, i.e., quick setting time.

JMHO

I apply strips of wide premium masking tape to the wing area oustide the center joint. (The premium masking tape is important - it has a coated surface which the epoxy doesn't stick to.) I then mix up and slather on the epoxy, making sure that no 'ooze' is allowed to run outside the taped area.

Once the epoxy gels and starts to set I carefully peel off the tape, epoxy drips and all. This leaves a clean wing surface and a perfectly straight epoxy join line.

Easy as eating pancakes.

Celastic is still available; it is used by modelmakers for theater props, etc. Do a Google search and you will find it.

Mike