I just got a Sig 1/4 scale J-3 Cub kit which will be my 3rd kit but the first real kit requiring more advanced building skills. I got out the plans and the instructions and looked through the "box of sticks" and it looks like it will be alot of fun but I did run into my first question. Several of the fuse parts are just printed on large piece of 5/16" balsa. I don't want to tackle cutting these out with hand tools as I'm sure I won't get the edges square and 5/16" is a fairly big gap if it isn't square. Ideally I'd love to buy both a power scroll saw and a tabletop disc sander to get these cut out and shaped. Eventually I will by them both but don't want to put that investment now if I don't have to. For now I'm thinking i can get by with the disk sander and just use hand tools to get the rough shapes apart. It'll make more balsa dust but I think i can deal with that.


Any other opinions? Any other powertools I should put on my wish list for the future? Any suggestions about disc sanders or scroll saws?

I have a scroll saw that was given to me and I have never used it. I do have a belt sander and when I am building, I use it constantly. Just about every stick I cut gets a finished edge with the sander. Take the time to set it up where the table is perpendicular to the belt. The way I build, for sticks as an example, is to mark one end lightly with a pencil at the same angle that the end needs to be. Then I touch it to the belt sander so that end is now set. Then I lay the stick on the plans, mark the other end close to the right length but at the correct angle. I cut that end at the right angle but just slightly oversized.. Then it's back to the belt sander until the stick is the right length. With practice, it takes one, maybe two trips. (I slide from building table to the sander on a chair with wheels.) You would be surprised how quick it goes.

Builders all have their own favorite techniques but the belt sander is the most important power tool for me next to the Dremel.

I guess the next most often used power tool for me is the band saw. That's for cutting harder woods than I would rather do with the razor saw but then everything ends up being touched by the belt sander.

I guess if it were me and I had a concern about those fuselage parts, I'd still go with the belt sander first. With the parts marked, I cut them out with the Exacto (you said they were balsa) outside of the markings and then lay them on the belt sander table and sand them to size. Like I said, if your table is set up right, then edges should be very true.

Hope that helps.

On the off chance that you catch me there, you can check out the webcam in my shop at:www.vintageaerocraft.com

your post is a little confusing, do you mean belt sander when you say band saw?

Oh geeze.  Some help I am.  I've edited the post.  So much for multitasking.

Thanks.

Get yourself a belt / disc sander and a bandsaw first.  You will likely need them both. <div>
</div><div>My first belt / disc sander was a Ryobi purchased from home depot for about $99. I have since upgraded to a 12" Jet disc sander but still use the Ryobi for certain tasks (mostly aluminum work). </div><div>
</div><div>Almost everything I make sees the Disc sander. </div><div>
</div><div>SunDevilPilot</div>

A combination 6" disk sander/4" belt sander is my most used power tool. I have both a scroll saw and a band saw and they do get used BUT the disk sander is used most. Then the belt sander and then the saws. If you get a disk sander at Harbor Freight, they are pretty reasonable.
http://www.harborfreight.com/power-t...der-97181.html

Sorry double post, and I thought RCU had frozen on me. Silly me.

The Dremel is "the" power tool that I use most and wouldn't live with it anymore...

Saludos,
Jean Paul

I too have a scroll saw that I don't really use. My go-to tools are the band saw, belt/disc sander and the ol trusty dremels, both corded with flex shaft and cordless stylus. From there, skys the limit on what to get for tools. I have from the typical hand tools to a lathe/mill and CNC router. They all get used more that a scroll saw. I'm sure the day will come that I will be glad I have it, but that day has yet to come.

Scott

I would only add, don't be afraid to look at used equipment, I have found some great deals on used equipment and much of it has hardly been used.

Neddy, When I bought the same plane your starting I had to go out and buy the reciprocating band saw for those cutouts. I think i paid maybe 100.00 bucks but have used it alot ever since. Like every one says, buy a disk/belt saw also( your most used tool, when building), and a dremel and that should build as many planes you can throw at them.
jason

You don't need to spend a pile of money on power tools but the better you can afford the better they work. In my case the sander I picked up at what is called a cheap tools sale, about $8.00 and it is total crap!! I think the $8.00 was an over charge. However it has worked for me for over 10 years, I hate it but I have built a lot of planes using it. My Scroll saw is pretty good, a Royobi {spelling?} and the Dremel tool. Over the years I have bought a lot of after market bits for the moto tool that makes it much more usable. I was also a dental lab tech and I still have my dental hand piece. It gets used every day that I am in my shop. I just happen to have one, at the price for the tool it isn't something most people would bother with. I also have cordless drills, a grinder and drill press. Before I moved to Vegas my shop was 1000 sq. ft. and now I'm in a really small little shop with no room for anything so I have stuff on the floor.
With the scroll saw sander and dremel as my main tools I have built countless planes from plans and I cut my own kits for all of them, I don't use a kit cutter. I now also belong to a wood workers club and use there equipment and that is even better.
In your case I think I would look around at hardware stores and harbor freight for a sale and pick up a scroll saw then keep my eyes open for a deal on a sander. A good palm/finishing sander will get you through this Cub Build. A band saw can be great, I use the one at my club all the time but you can't cut out inside of bulkheads with one. My first choice would be the scroll saw but it's a choice thing.
Good luck on the build, it's a very nice plane.

I'm happy with my Sears bandsaw, table sander, scroll saw, and drill press. It happened to turn out that I either bought these on sale, or they were presents. Being from Sears is coincidental.

Seriously, you can build just about any kit with next to nothing in next to nothing. When I was separated in a tiny efficient room I built several kits. I only had the bandsaw sitting on the nook sized kitchen area. My work bench was squeezed in at the foot of the bed. My table was a mini tv stand with a drawing board on top. I had to sit crosslegged on the floor. I didn't have a tv and found a lot of quality building time without one.

I later got the table sander. Wow. Turned that on one night squeezed in on the kitchenette floor and did some leading edges. Wow, what a great way to do a job I had hated doing by hand. I later went to get in bed and a mountain of balsa dust blew up from the blanket and my pillows. That ended using it until I moved.

Hello Neddy,

Allow me please to offer a different view.

IMO you do not really need power tools for this kit, and some tasks may be more difficult to perform accurately with a power tool than with hand tools.

You really only need a good MITER SANDER and a good RAZOR SAW. Also some flat and half-round files and a simple saw (like kids use for cutting out bits of wood).

The balsa although thick, is quite soft and easy to cut. Most parts have straight lines anyway (easier with a razor saw) and the tail parts can be cut with a hand saw and filed easily to shape.
The miter saw is essential for perfect spar fits.
I fail to see how a power sander can give you perfect fitting spar ends.

Just my 2 cents (based on my own experience with this and other models).

Let me throw another idea at you. A few years ago, I was working on a project that required holes and round end slots cut in the parts. After trying to sand the slots with a sanding drum in a drill press and fighting the wood the whole time, I found a convertible oscillating spindle/horizontal belt sander at Home Depot. It has become my "go to" sander ever since. While I still have my belt/disc unit and the assorted pad, belt and DA sanders, the spindle/H-belt still gets the lion's share of my work

Be sure... no matter how your cutting (though more important with hand / xacto cuts) or what your using to cut to look at the grain of the wood. You want to cut "away" from the grain so it doesnt draw the blade into the piece where you dont want it cut.

An orbital sander can be your friend but not a lot of people have one in there home shop. I'm presently building a couple of Swoose float planes from plans. I also cut almost every piece of wood in both planes, sheeting and sticks. Belonging to a super wood workers club is an even bigger help. One of the guys gave me three long blocks of balsa and it was enough for most of the wood I needed. Having a re-cut saw is also nice along with the micro sanders.
What I have at my club is outstanding but at home I have the normal tools found in any builders shop if the builder has been doing it for a while.

there's more than one way to grandma's house, but without the tools your just burning time. we only get to walk this once!

Nice shop. It's a neighborhood/homeowner association shop, right?

One more recommendation is good lighting. Do not under estimate it's importance. Good lighting is essential to producing a good product and helps eliminate error and fatigue.

Scott

I'd have to give that lighting suggestion a huge +1. It would be virtually imposable to have too much

I have to agree as well. Nothing worse than trying to see a lite cut line in a dark area

My benchtop tools are Ryobi, from Home Depot.

My sander looks identical to the Rockwell currently sold by Home Depot
Rockwell 6 in. x 36 in. Belt/Disk Sander Model # RK7866 Internet # 202791041
These are the other tools I have, or possibly a newer model
Ryobi 10 in. Drill Press Model # DP102L Internet # 100490179 Store SKU # 220416
Ryobi 2.5 Amp Band Saw Model # BS903 Internet # 100593258 Store SKU # 496766
Ryobi 16 in. Scroll Saw Model # SC164VS Store SKU # 490654

One of my favorite power tools is a Black & Decker RTX with flexible shaft attachment. It is very similar to a Dremel rotary tool. I got an IV pole from a medical supply company to hang it and make it portable.

Ok, now it's time to throw a monkey wrench into the whole thread here!!!!<div>
</div><div>All the nice tools are great and will really help you out in building a kit. Here is just a quick short list of most the tools that I use when I'm building a kit. 16' scroll saw, small band saw, belt/disk sander, 4 different dremels with different tools, mouse sander, and a few other odds and ends of power tools. And like I said they do get used all the time.</div><div>
</div><div>now for the twist.</div><div>
</div><div>Several years ago we had a huge storm roll through right before Memorial Day weekend, and the power was knocked out for the entire weekend. Sitting there Saturday morning trying to figure out what I was going to do I looked in the closet with my kits in it. Thought to myself, hmmmm what would be easy to build? I settled on a Sig Somethin' Extra. I opened the drapes and windows and the the light and breeze blow through and put the kit on the bench. I opened the box and started building with zero electricity. I had to quit when it got dark because I didn't have enough light to see anymore. By the end of the weekend I had the entire plane built, sanded, and ready to cover. All without the aid of one power tool!!!! And I have to admit, it was one of the more enjoyable builds that I had done in a while. </div><div>
</div><div>So what I'm trying to say is that all the power tools are nice to have, but they aren't needed. Especially if you have a good kit.</div><div>
</div><div>Ken</div>

These three tools http://www.btemodels.com/fourmost.html are super for making precise cuts on things made of sticks. The tail surfaces and ailerons of my Uproar are mostly 1/4 and 5/16 sticks. Miter tools like these make it easier to get a good fitting joint.