Hello to everyone,

After 19 years of not building balsa airplanes, I have finally returned to the sport that I love and missed. Things have changed very much in this sport, in this amount of time. After much time and thought, I am now finally able to return to this sport. This is whereI would like the help and the advise from everyone. I have added a new addition onto my house and part of that addition is a 15' X 11' model room, it is ONLY for the airplanes!!!Now I would like like to ask several questions,

1) What size building table, should I build for this room? (height, width,depth, and built from what materials)?
2) What tools do you think I should buy for this room (power and non-power tools)?

I know that the finally decision is up to me, but being gone for so long, from the sport, I would like everyone advise. Just to give you you some ideas of the planes that I am going to build,

1) Great Planes PT-60 (almost finished now)
2) Top Flite Giant Scale Cessna 182 (already bought)
3) Top Flite Giant Scale P-51D (already bought)
4) Top Flite Giant Scale F4U Corsair (already bought)
5) AMR Waco 33% (I will order it with-in the next month)
6) Any suggestion?

Thanks for your help in advance,
John
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Sounds nice to have a new shop t o build in. To start a decent bench should be minimum of 24"x 48" prefferably larger. Tools can go on and on but do include a Dremel with assorted bits, mainly drum sanders sm and large. Measuring scales, tapes, rules, micrometer. knives, X-acto etc. pliers several types. clamps of various types,files,jig saw, belt/disk sander, bench saw, drill press. On and on and on. this shall take time.I have about every concievable tool etc. but been in model making professionally as well as a hobby for 65 years. Now 85 and still love doing it.

Welcome back.

Power Tools. a band saw gets used a lot in my shop. A combo disk and belt sander also. Don't forget a nice drill press, for most things, a 3/8" capacity chuck is OK. A scroll saw is also a frequently used tool. One I use a lot is a Fordom Flex Shaft. Ilike the feel of it better than a Drumel and Ialso control the speed with the foot pedal. If your budget allows a Taig or Sherline lathe is nice to have. I have a Taig and it gets used a lot.

You can get by with a good 6" building table but an 8 ft table would be my choice. There is a good article in the Jan 2011 issue of Model Aviation on building a table/bench. In that article, they point out the drawers. A couple long drawers for holding balsa, 4' ply sheets and rolls of covering would be very nice. My Garage is my shop and it had cabinets along one wall. Not a single bay will hold a stick of balsa though. Some drawers or covered shelves at least 3ft and 4Ft would be better will be appreciated down the road. I've a 4 drawer file cabinet that is stuffed with engines, plans, manuals, etc. It makes good use of the floor space. Don't forget and arrange everything along the walls as you will need someplace to hang planes and wings later, epically if you have a low ceiling.

Hand tools that come to mind are some home made sanding sticks. Bulk roll sanding cloth from a wood workers supply, 1" width held to long straight boards by carpet tape are a must. Ihave one 4" wide made from the biggest belt sander belt Icould get at the hardware store. It is great for putting a straight edge on balsa among other things. Some Xacto Razor saws, the off brands are not that good and the price difference isn't that great. Another thing I find I use quite a bit is a Jewelers saw with some 4/0 and finner blades. Get one with a three or four inch throat. A small miter box comes in very handy also. A fine India Or Arkansas stone is kept on my bench to sharpen xacto knife blades. If I'm cutting covering, the blade gets a few swipes on the stone after each cut. It is surprising how long the blades last.that way. When they start to round on the tip I grind off the back to get to a sharp point again. That brings up a power tool I forgot to add. A bench grinder. Actually a 6" lapidary grinder with diamond wheels is a great addition.

On the bench, a 4" or so vise is a great tool to have. Ialso have a 4 ft length of 4 x 6 that is my engine building bench. It stands on end and makes a good platform to work on. I have a kiln ( I used to be a Jeweler) that Iuse for heating engines and that piece of wood makes a great platform for tapping out or in bearings. I've drilled a couple holes for crank shaft clearances for different engines.

Last, lights and power outlets. Lots of overhead lights and three times to many outlets. My garage came with three outlets, one on each wall and two special outlets for central vac and water softener. Five times that many would be about right, including some 20 amp ones. Speaking of vacuums, a good low noise shop vac is good to have.

This is in addition to a good selection of Metric and Imperial wrenches, sockets and Allen's. A set of small screw drivers is mandatory also. C clamps and bar clamps, along with some small spring clamps comes in real handy. A big box of rubber bands and masking tape Scotch Blue painter tape is preferred. These are holding things while the glue sets.

I'll think of a hundred things later. Don't forget the storage that can be blocked off from the balsa dust. A big build table makes the place to store stuff, See the above article.

Don

TedMo,

Thank you for your input. I can tell you that I will make the building table, at least 24" in depth, I think it will be 36" in height and at least 10' in length. I have thought about making it out of alum. with adjustable casters on each leg, so I can make sure that the table is level in all direction. I am not sure of what I will use for the table top.

I really am not sure of what all I should buy as power tools, but i do really want to set this room up with everything that I could use or need.

I do plan on using the wall space to store airplanes, or maybe to hang them from the ceiling. I am also going to put up a peg board, as you would see in a store, so i can keep all the part all nice and neat and I will be able to find them.

Again, thank you for your help and your advise,
John

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Don,

Thank you for your advise as I really thank you. It is also good to be back into this sport. I will have to say that I bought myself the PT-60 for Christmas. I wrapped it and put it under the tree, to me, from meI was like a little kid and I ripped into it and as soon as all of the gifts were opened, I started building it.

The power tools list that you sent to me, thank you very much. I will take your advise and buy some, maybe all of these things.

When you wrote about the lights and outlets for the room, I just smiled as we do think alike on this. I am a commercial electrician and I PROMISE, that I will have more outlets than I will every use and they will all be 20 amp circuits. I replaced the 200 amp main panel in the house and now I have 400 amps, to my house, just for that very reason. As for the lighting, it will be very bright in this room.

Thanks again,
John<br type="_moz" />

A sanding table will come in very handy toward the end of any build job. It's basically a pegboard table with sealed airspace at the bottom and a shop vac attached.

30" min on the bench. You will need to walk around the plane, so a table on wheels or an L shaped work bench is nice.

If you have any money left over, and want to treat yourself.. I bought a really nice sturdy rolling toolbox from Menards a few years ago.. roller bearing drawers and the works. I built a nice sturdy building top on it from two pieces of stacked plywood 2 by 4 feet sheets .

I built it so the top can be lifted off of it, it also has a sheet of ceiling tile attached to hold pins.

Now the best part of this setup is the drawers. I can keep ALL my airplane hardware in it, I have a drawer with drill bits and dremel attachments. one with all my collection of sorted nuts bolts washers, another drawer with the basic tools..

Of every cupboard drawer and storage item I have this thing wins hands down. Also you can roll it around when working or reworking something..with all those little bits and pieces right there at your fingertips.

Oh yeah...make some sand ,and or lead bags for sitting things on, or for weight to hold down drying parts ..

Have fun !

Jester s1

Now that is something that I have never had and never seen, but it is a very good idea. What is the usually size of a sanding table (2' X 4')? Thank you for the idea, I like this one. I usually sand and then I get into trouble for it, lol.

Again, thank you
John

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Scooterinvegas,

I think you are right, that the table top should be at least 30 inches.The building board that I am using now is 24" and I always have several rows of CA or small tools set at the edge of the building board, so the extra room is need. I have also thought about making a "L" shaped table. I could build on one side, sand on the other side or install the covering. I often find myself building on several different section of a plane at the same time and this would be good for that.

Foodstick,

Your idea for the tool chest is a great idea and I just happen to have a tool chest that I could use for this. Now I am thinking about going and buying a second tool chest and I could make make a table top to go across both of them. I will need the room as I do have several GIANT scale airplanes to build. The storage room in these box's are perfect of keeping all of the things that we need and use each day.

Again, thank you to everyone that have giving me such great ideas and advise.

John<br type="_moz" />

A sanding table just needs to be big enough for whatever parts you're working on. We don't generally have to sand a whole big part all at once, so maybe half as long as the biggest fuselage or wing panel you plan to build should work.

consider the magnetic building tools, and make your worktop out of metal.  With as many big building projects you have going on, you might like this idea.<div>
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sir_flies_alot,<div> </div><div>You are the second person that has told me about the magnetic tools, do you know the name of the company that makes these? Thank a lot for your help for the old, but new builder/flyer.</div><div>
</div><div>John</div>

Not to sound like a dummy, but I'm intrigued about this idea of a sanding table. What is that exactly, and how is that different from a building table?

Your in luck, brought to by our buddy, Minnflyer
http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/a...rticle_id=1059

I picked up lots of great ideas from all your posts but didn't see , though I may have missed it, and thats an air compressor with adequate hose and a good nozzle. I would be lost without mine.  Be sure to get enough capacity for your needs.

AltaTed</p>

AltaTed,<div>
</div><div>You are correct and my compressor will be in the next room, but it will be piped into my model room as well as the vac system will be piped into the room. The vac system will have a remote switch into the model room.</div><div>
</div><div>John</div>

This is not my shop...Ifound it on the boat forum under photo gallery.

That is a very nice room but I have two questions. Does anyone know what the box that is mounted to the ceiling is (DELTA)? If you look at his building table, there is a electric cord that is hanging from the table, is it for outlet that may be under the table?<div>
</div><div>Thanks everyone, you have giving me some very good ideas.</div><div>
</div><div>John</div>

Thats an air scrubber, I,m pretty sure. Love that table.

Okay, I have another question for everyone. I have always built with "PINS" and using a building board covered in wax paper. I have been told that it would be better if I go to a table cover with steel and use magnetic's, what is everyone thought on this?<div>
</div><div>Thanks in advance,</div><div>John</div>

That is an air filter for dust removal. I have one hanging from the ceiling in my shop and it does a great job of removing dust from the air.

Bruce

Hi JRM,

I used to build with pins before I switched to magnets. First, it takes some getting use to. If you go to www.airfieldmodels.com, you can learn more about magnetic building tables. I built the fixtures, although I do not really use them much. I bought welding magnets, as well as the little latch magnets shown on the website. It also takes some creativity in using them. For instance, I made tiny little fixtures for holding down spars to the table. One thing that I really like is being able to dry fit the parts with magnets, come up with a plan of attack, sands parts as needed, reassemble, and when I am finally happy with everything, I begin gluing. The biggest benefit - no pin holes in the wood. Overall cost is not too bad. I think you can have a really good, complete setup for about $200. It all really depends on what size airplanes you build. Good luck!

Happy flying and soft landings!

Ser00<div>
</div><div>Thank you for your advise and I will look into the information that you have giving to me. I really want to learn the best way and to take my building to a new level for myself.</div><div>
</div><div>Thanks again,</div><div>John</div>